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2006 Kawasaki ZX10R

Monday, 21 August 2006

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I have to give some credit to the ZX's braking abilities too, with the brakes being somewhat new as well. The front master cylinder is now a radial unit and it's fully adjustable lever provided ample power from the front lever down to the twin 4-pot radial caliper, manhandling the dual 300mm petal/wave rotors. I never had any complaints from the originals, so it's all good in my book. For ergonomic sake I did have the Kawasaki engineers on hand rotate both levers down, obviously they were vastly over qualified for that particular job but it helped extend my riding day for sure.

The CA speedway has a slightly reconfigured portion to help keep riders away from the 51,000 cubic yards of concrete infield wall, the asphalt was a little bumpy and was the only time I was ever grateful for the race quality Öhlins damper. I had headshake there during a series of steering inputs for the right/left negotiation (just before you come under the pedestrian bridge) to be honest, it's a very bumpy corner where the bike actually leaves the ground for a split second. It would give fits to most open class bikes and apart from an occasional bumpy transition onto the straightaway banking due to a blown racing line, and I had no such problems elsewhere. Your mileage might vary here ‘cause I'm a bigger lad (just over 200lbs in my Shift leathers) it bothered some people more than others.

Lastly, Kawasaki has been putting to good use the wind tunnel that they bought on a buy her/pay here scheme. The aerodynamics on these quick Kwacks are downright slippery. This reference to aerodynamics brings me quite nicely round to the rear exhausts. I must admit here, I hated them. However in person (real life?) I didn't mind them one bit. They are tucked in high and tight and they contribute to the lack of turbulent air that is leaving the bike's rear end. No nascar [sic] drafting is available from the back of this slippery character, oh, and wait till you see a race can version, nuff said. The front end of the bike is not cookie-cutter in any way, and it's distinctly Kawasaki with two small twin convex lenses and that familiar (but bigger) looking ram air duct.

So, this new philosophy started with and tried to stay true to a remarkably grand concept, to provide the highest echelon of performance on a race track, to improve the cornering prowess of the original ZX10R and ultimately offer quicker lap times. This is a race bike that happens to be street legal, this is no soft compromise, there's another manufacturer that panders to that market, this is a cutting edge open class vehicle offering the fastest point from A to B.

How does this Kawasaki compare to the press released 2006 Honda CBR1000RR? Well the problem is, Honda decided that this year I wasn't worthy of a ride at the intro. However, being an expert interrogator, I managed to get the professional opinions of nearly every rider, present at that intro. Their uniform and strictly off the record thoughts were pretty eye opening. The smoke and mirror job that Honda did to the 2006 CBR amounts to a bike that is not as friendly as it used to be and at the same time still not as competitive in power as their competition. The Kawasaki, quite simply, eats it for lunch. All of the previous reasons to buy the Honda are apparently gone now, so why deny yourself a full powered alternative?

It would seem that with the new ZX10R, kawasaki have proven that one of the best can indeed be bettered. **

Mike Emery

**Better still, you can better that better-ness further with a range of roadrace accessories available from the factory (through Attack Kawasaki) that includes adjustable ECU's, race piston and rods, cams and tranny parts - build your own Hayden superbike replica.

Specifications 2006 Ninja® ZX10R

Engine	Four-stroke, four-cylinder, liquid-cooled, DOHC, four valve cylinder head
Displacement	998cc
Bore x stroke	76.0 x 55.0mm
Compression ratio	12.7:1
Fuel Injection	DFI with Mikuni 43mm throttle bodies (4)
Ignition	TCBI with Digital Advance
Max Power	175 PS @11,700 (172.6 BHP)
Power With Ram Air	185 PS @ 11,700 (182.4 BHP)
Max Torque	115 N.m @ 9500RPM (84.8lbs)
Transmission	Six speed
Final drive	X-Ring chain
Rake/Trail	24.5 and 102mm
Wheel Travel FR/R	120mm and 125mm
Wheelbase	1390mm (54.72 inches)
Tires FR/R	120/70 ZR17 and 190/55 ZR1
Suspension, Front/Rear	43mm inverted cartridge fork with adjustable preload, stepless rebound and compression damping Suspension, rear Uni-Trak with adjustable preload, stepless rebound and compression damping, ride height
Brakes	Front Dual floating 300mm petal discs with four-piston radial-mount calipers Brakes, rear Single 220mm petal disc
Fuel Capacity	17 litres (4.5 gallons)
Seat Height	825mm (32.5 inches)
Overall Length	2,065
Dry Weight	175kg (385lbs)
Color	Lime Green / Flat Stoic Black Ebony / Pearl Solar Yellow
MSRP	$11,199

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