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The American Motorcyclist Association • www.AMADirectlink.com Posted January 25, 2006 |
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No compromises: The newest Ninja is optimized for one thing — just as Kawasaki intendedby Lance Oliver Folks, the 2006 Kawasaki ZX-10R is a dog. That’s right, a dog. Like maybe a greyhound with afterburners. With cornering skills like a caffeinated border collie nipping at wayward sheep. And brakes that bite like a pit bull. Let’s face it, with racing technology trickling down to the 600 class in mouth-watering quantity, and with stock literbikes turning lap times equal to race-only Superbikes of not many years ago, it’s a great time to be shopping in the sporting goods aisle of your local motorcycle dealership. Which brings us back to the ZX-10R. The Ninja Ten is the latest evidence of a new attitude at Kawasaki toward sportbikes. No more Mr. Nice Guy, no more sporty streetbikes with comfy ergonomics. Remember Kawasakis like the late-90s ZX9R? They were sportbikes you could ride all day without pain. But Kawasaki got tired of watching buyers rush past their street-focused sportbikes to buy harder-edged products like Yamaha’s R1. No more. “We’re no longer in the business of building sportbikes that make good street bikes,” flatly stated Karl Edmondson, sportbike product manager for Kawasaki Motors Corp. USA. Instead, the one and only goal of the 2006 ZX-10R is to get around a race track as fast as possible. Period, end of mission statement. That means that the ZX-10R, introduced in 2004, is all-new for 2006. This two-year development cycle puts Kawasaki on par with the most aggressive schedules of any of its competitors. The “old” (can a 2-year-old be “old?”) bike won more than its share of awards, but Kawasaki set out to improve it by systematically addressing the few areas that owners and the motorcycle press had complained about. Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden, who rode the previous ZX-10R in the AMA Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series last year, wanted quicker side-to-side transitions. Many ordinary riders wanted slicker shifting and a steering damper to tame headshake. Edmondson emphasized that all those issues were addressed with the 2006 model. Some of these goals were accomplished with changes that may seem counterintuitive to those of us without engineering degrees. For example, you want a low center of mass for good handling, forward weight bias for front-end feel and to resist wheelies, and bigger valves for more engine power, right? Not necessarily, it seems. For example, the new engine layout on the 2006 ZX-10R raised the crankshaft 20mm, giving the bike a higher center of mass to help with those transitions the Haydens were talking about. Kawasaki also bolted on a new swingarm that's 4mm longer and moved the steering head 15mm forward, which shifted the weight bias toward the rear. Along with a taller 55-section, 190mm rear tire (up from a 190/50ZR17), the engineers say the changes allow the rider to get on the gas sooner and stay on the throttle longer. With handling addressed, Kawasaki massaged the powerband. "Lack of horsepower has never been an issue with this bike," said Edmondson, so the focus was on creating a more linear powerband. The intake valves were reduced 1mm to 30mm, and the crankshaft, pistons, cylinder head and injectors are all new. Peak power remains the same, according to Kawasaki, but the torque curve is smoother. Changes to the transmission allowed easier shifting, and, to address the most common complaint of all about the previous model, the company fitted an 18-position Ohlins steering damper. Fortunately, Kawasaki’s focus on racetrack performance led them to rent California Speedway to introduce the new ZX-10R to the stateside press, so we didn't have to try to probe the bike's abilities on public streets — an impossibility with today's literbikes. These motorcycles reach speeds that can get your bike confiscated in some states — while still in first gear.
Consider it part of Kawasaki's uncompromising focus on racetrack performance — aerodynamics trumps style. Which is not a bad thing as I near the 13,000-rpm redline in fourth gear on the front straight, brake, downshift to second and tip down the 11-degree banking into the chicane. Having never ridden California Speedway before, I expected that spot, the fastest point on the track, to be the most intimidating. But the ZX-10R's excellent stability under braking, and nearly fool-proof shifting allowed by the revised slipper clutch and slicker transmission, made the end of the front straight just about my favorite spot on the track.
In the morning, we rode the bikes shod with a special-to-the-ZX-10R version of Dunlop's new Qualifier radial. In the afternoon, the bikes were fitted with Dunlop Sportmax GP DOT-legal track tires. The tires made a surprising difference. On one hand, the GP's were soft and grippy. On the other hand, the new Qualifiers are surprisingly good, and the Ninja showed far more willingness to shake its head with the stickier tires. Some riders clicked up the Ohlins damper to a higher setting, but with several first-gear corners to negotiate, too much damping could be a problem, too.
And the good news for us, and the bad news for that engineer, is that it is someone's job to make this bike better. “You keep thinking that the improvements from year to year are going to get smaller,” said Edmondson. “But they’re not getting smaller.” Instead, all the sportbike manufacturers continue to raise the bar. So as good as the 2006 ZX-10R is, Kawasaki is already working on the 2008. The one that will (and must) fulfill the big Ninja's mission of getting around a racetrack even faster yet.
© 2006, American Motorcyclist Association |
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