Motorcycle Mania

Kawasaki’s ZX-10R evokes thoughts of rip-roaring power and handling best suited to race circuits. While that may have been the case of the original 2004 model, subsequent models have been diluted to the point where ZX-10R is regarded as a decent on the road superbike but not quite in touch with the competition of the latest Blade, techno-laden R1 and BMW’s S1000RR.
The 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R is the bike to change this. It is the first of the Japanese bikes to come out fighting against the storming BMW and, based on MCN’s first ride (at Qatar’s Losail circuit), the Kawasaki’s superb blend of handling, braking, usable power and decent suspension will make it a better road bike than the BMW. As for track use? At 198kg fully gassed, the ZX-10R has the best power to weight ratio, and it isn’t as intense to ride as the BMW and so

 Kawasaki claims the new ZX-10R produces 197.3bhp at the crankshaft from 82.7ftlb of torque, with a linear delivery of both to the rear wheel. And that’s exactly how it feels to ride. It is very tractable from low rpm, pulling cleanly and without any fuss. And on the track there’s plenty of go in the upper rev ceiling. It’s the bit in between that buyers will use more for road riding and from what can be gleaned from circuit laps the ZX-10R doesn’t lack anything here.
As expected, the motor’s an all new lump, with taller stacked gearbox to reduce size and maximise mass centralisation, and the cylinders are offset by 2mm to the crank to reduce thrust forces and enable shorter, lighter pistons to be used. A secondary balancer shaft keeps vibes to a minimum until near peak revs. Bigger dual-butterfly injectors ensure the bike keeps pulling at high rpm at speed. And for factory produced exhaust downpipes they are stunning to view (build quality) and only need a decent aftermarket end can and link pipe to extract more lunacy.

Up front is a pair of Showa 43mm USD Big Piston Front fork. For get the technical advantages but be aware these beauties allow big braking action while retaining the ability to soak up roads and deliver bags of feedback. At the back is a decent ‘horizontally’ mounted single shock. It’s not quite flat as the horizon but it and the linkages are mounted above the swingarm. Clever system and it works – minimal changes to the shock’s settings were made for track abuse.
The end result is a bike whose handling harks back to early 90s ZX and ZX-R 750cc WSB bikes where front end stability and feel is top notch and the bike is effortless at being hauled around.

The decent ‘horizontally’ mounted single shock: tick. Showa BPF forks: tick. LED bar graph tachometer: tick. Dash that switches to race-like info for track use: tick. Sports ABS on the ABS (doh!) version: big tick. Powerful but usable engine: tick. Wavy discs: tick. Adjustable footrest height: tick: Traction control: big thick tick x 3.
Kawasaki’s traction control system is stunning. It relies on front and rear wheel speeds matched to rpm, throttle position, gear selected and other sensors to predict tyre slippage and alter ignition/fuel settings to balance acceleration against loss of traction. Switchable power modes are via a bar mounted button, but greater power delivery can be instantly accessed according to throttle position i.e. fully open.

 Even on the pre-production bikes the panels all fitted perfectly. And the support-less fairing screen is a touch of genius – albeit a bit short for taller riders. Everything worked fine, too. Even the front brake refused to fade after repeated 170mph braking – something early ZX-10R owners will appreciate.

Value

The ZX-10R’s price drops it neatly behind the BMW by £1. Yep, a whole quid. And if it runs the BMW as close as we think it will, then it is good value. Granted £11,699 is a lot of money – and another £1000 for the ABS version (which adds 3kg) – but this is the price we are going have to pay for the elite of motorcycling. Kawasaki summed it up neatly by saying the ZX-10R features ‘trickle technology’, whereby new technology (sports ABS, revised cylinder mounting etc) will ‘trickle’ down to other models at lower costs.

		Top speed :mph 1/4-mile acceleration :dry Power :197.3bhp Torque :82.7ftlb Weight :198kg Seat height :813mm Fuel capacity :17 L Average fuel consumption :mpg Tank range :miles Insurance group :17 Engine size :998cc Engine specification :Liquid-cooled, DOHC, 16v four-stroke in-line four. Six gears Frame :Cast ally beam frame and swingarm Front suspension adjustment :Fully adjustable Rear suspension adjustment :Fully adjustable Front brakes :310mm petal discs with 4-piston calipers Rear brake :240mm disc with single-piston caliper Front tyre size :120/70 x 17 Rear tyre size :190/55 x 17