Ninja zx10r

Updated: 29 April 2021 Kawasaki’s ZX-10R is an enigma. As a road bike it was a worthy rival to its Japanese counterparts, from its magnificent 2004 inception (forgetting the jelly mould 80s model), right the way until the BMW S1000RR came along in 2010. From that moment on, even with a major update in 2011 and a big tweak in 2016, it’s fallen ever further behind the competition. • Latest news: • Related: That 2016 ZX-10R was always smooth, stable, undoubtedly powerful and impressive when ridden in isolation, which explains its loyal fan base, but it quickly felt long in the tooth. The Kawasaki can’t match the BMW’s easy speed and practicality and doesn’t have the spine-tingling grunt of a crossplane Yamaha R1 or VVT Suzuki GSX-R1000. It also lacks the specialness of a Ducati Panigale and Aprilia RSV4, the grace of an old Honda Fireblade or the sharpness of the ’20 model. The ZX-10R’s brakes are also strangled by an overzealous ABS system that frustrates on a circuit and unless you’re a jockey-sized racer, it’s hugely cramped and uncomfortable. For the casual observer that sounds hard to believe, especially when you look at the ZX-10R’s achievements on track. It’s won multiple WSB titles in the hands of Tom Sykes and Johnathan Rea, as well as success in all levels of racing. But of course, once you fit competition suspension, brakes, wheels, engine, swingarms, electronics and even frames with more or less flex (which they’re allowed to do in WSB), a racer is far removed fro...

Rennie Scaysbrook | June 18, 2021 The bike that thoroughly dominated WorldSBK for the last half decade is getting a proper facelift for 2021. This is the 2021 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, and we headed to Fontana to smoke up some Bridgestones on it. Take the ABS fuse out and the 10R will let you do this kind of silly stuff. However, no ABS showed how friendly the chassis was as Rennie and Zack kept doing this lap after lap. By Rennie Scaysbrook | Photography by Brian J. Nelson If you have even a passing interest in WorldSBK, you will have seen the podiums sprayed with green for the better part of the previous decade. Since 2012, Kawasaki has taken seven rider’s titles (one for Tom Sykes and six for Jonathan Rea) and six straight manufacturer’s crowns, proving the company’s gamble of ditching MotoGP for the production-based WorldSBK series was the right one all those years ago. Kawasaki races WorldSBK on the ZX-10R because that’s the bike we can buy. We aren’t buying a MotoGP bike for the street, plus to race in WorldSBK requires about a 10th of the budget compared to MotoGP. The $16,399 Ninja ZX-10R has thus become the superbike of the 2010-2020 decade. It’s gone through three major updates since 2010, the last of which was back in 2016 with the arrival of the redesigned, over-square motor. That motor is internally the same for 2021 although Kawasaki has fitted a new oil cooler, throttle valves, a new exhaust system, shorter gear ratios in the first three gears, and reduced the ...

POWER Engine 4-stroke, In-Line Four, DOHC, 16-valve, liquid-cooled Displacement 998cc Bore x Stroke 76.0 x 55.0mm Compression Ratio 13.0:1 Fuel System DFI® w/47mm Mikuni throttle bodies (4) with oval sub-throttles, two injectors per cylinder Ignition TCBI with digital advance and Sport-Kawasaki Traction Control (S-KTRC) Transmission 6-speed, return shift Final Drive Sealed chain Electronic Rider Aids Electronic Cruise Control, Kawasaki Launch Control Mode (KLCM), Kawasaki Intelligent anti-lock Brake System (KIBS), Kawasaki Sport Traction Control (S-KTRC), Kawasaki Engine Braking Control, Kawasaki Quick Shifter (KQS) (upshift & downshift), Kawasaki Corner Management Function (KCMF) PERFORMANCE Front Suspension / Wheel Travel 43mm inverted Balance Free Fork, adjustable stepless rebound and compression damping, spring preload adjustability/4.7 in Rear Suspension / Wheel Travel Horizontal back-link with Balance Free gas-charged shock, stepless, dual-range (low-/high-speed) compression damping, stepless rebound damping, fully adjustable spring preload/4.5 in Front Tire 120/70 ZR17 Rear Tire 190/55 ZR17 Front Brakes Intelligent Braking (KIBS) (ABS only), Brembo dual semi-floating 330mm discs with dual radial mounted monobloc 4-piston calipers Rear Brakes KIBS-controlled (ABS only), single 220mm disc with aluminum single-piston caliper DETAILS Frame Type Aluminum perimeter Rake/Trail 25.0°/4.2 in. (ABS); 25.0°/4.1 in. (non-ABS) Overall Length 82.1 in. Overall Width 29.5 in. Overa...

POWER Engine 4-stroke, In-Line Four, DOHC, 16-valve, liquid-cooled Displacement 998cc Bore x Stroke 76.0 x 55.0mm Compression Ratio 13.0:1 Fuel System DFI® w/47mm Mikuni throttle bodies (4) with oval sub-throttles, two injectors per cylinder Ignition TCBI with digital advance and Sport-Kawasaki Traction Control (S-KTRC) Transmission 6-speed, return shift Final Drive Sealed chain Electronic Rider Aids Electronic Cruise Control, Kawasaki Launch Control Mode (KLCM), Kawasaki Intelligent anti-lock Brake System (KIBS), Kawasaki Sport Traction Control (S-KTRC), Kawasaki Engine Braking Control, Kawasaki Quick Shifter (KQS) (upshift & downshift), Kawasaki Corner Management Function (KCMF) PERFORMANCE Front Suspension / Wheel Travel 43mm inverted Balance Free Fork, adjustable stepless rebound and compression damping, spring preload adjustability/4.7 in Rear Suspension / Wheel Travel Horizontal back-link with Balance Free gas-charged shock, stepless, dual-range (low-/high-speed) compression damping, stepless rebound damping, fully adjustable spring preload/4.5 in Front Tire 120/70 ZR17 Rear Tire 190/55 ZR17 Front Brakes Intelligent Braking (KIBS) (ABS only), Brembo dual semi-floating 330mm discs with dual radial mounted monobloc 4-piston calipers Rear Brakes KIBS-controlled (ABS only), single 220mm disc with aluminum single-piston caliper DETAILS Frame Type Aluminum perimeter Rake/Trail 25.0°/4.2 in. (ABS); 25.0°/4.1 in. (non-ABS) Overall Length 82.1 in. Overall Width 29.5 in. Overa...

Updated: 29 April 2021 Kawasaki’s ZX-10R is an enigma. As a road bike it was a worthy rival to its Japanese counterparts, from its magnificent 2004 inception (forgetting the jelly mould 80s model), right the way until the BMW S1000RR came along in 2010. From that moment on, even with a major update in 2011 and a big tweak in 2016, it’s fallen ever further behind the competition. • Latest news: • Related: That 2016 ZX-10R was always smooth, stable, undoubtedly powerful and impressive when ridden in isolation, which explains its loyal fan base, but it quickly felt long in the tooth. The Kawasaki can’t match the BMW’s easy speed and practicality and doesn’t have the spine-tingling grunt of a crossplane Yamaha R1 or VVT Suzuki GSX-R1000. It also lacks the specialness of a Ducati Panigale and Aprilia RSV4, the grace of an old Honda Fireblade or the sharpness of the ’20 model. The ZX-10R’s brakes are also strangled by an overzealous ABS system that frustrates on a circuit and unless you’re a jockey-sized racer, it’s hugely cramped and uncomfortable. For the casual observer that sounds hard to believe, especially when you look at the ZX-10R’s achievements on track. It’s won multiple WSB titles in the hands of Tom Sykes and Johnathan Rea, as well as success in all levels of racing. But of course, once you fit competition suspension, brakes, wheels, engine, swingarms, electronics and even frames with more or less flex (which they’re allowed to do in WSB), a racer is far removed fro...

Rennie Scaysbrook | June 18, 2021 The bike that thoroughly dominated WorldSBK for the last half decade is getting a proper facelift for 2021. This is the 2021 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, and we headed to Fontana to smoke up some Bridgestones on it. Take the ABS fuse out and the 10R will let you do this kind of silly stuff. However, no ABS showed how friendly the chassis was as Rennie and Zack kept doing this lap after lap. By Rennie Scaysbrook | Photography by Brian J. Nelson If you have even a passing interest in WorldSBK, you will have seen the podiums sprayed with green for the better part of the previous decade. Since 2012, Kawasaki has taken seven rider’s titles (one for Tom Sykes and six for Jonathan Rea) and six straight manufacturer’s crowns, proving the company’s gamble of ditching MotoGP for the production-based WorldSBK series was the right one all those years ago. Kawasaki races WorldSBK on the ZX-10R because that’s the bike we can buy. We aren’t buying a MotoGP bike for the street, plus to race in WorldSBK requires about a 10th of the budget compared to MotoGP. The $16,399 Ninja ZX-10R has thus become the superbike of the 2010-2020 decade. It’s gone through three major updates since 2010, the last of which was back in 2016 with the arrival of the redesigned, over-square motor. That motor is internally the same for 2021 although Kawasaki has fitted a new oil cooler, throttle valves, a new exhaust system, shorter gear ratios in the first three gears, and reduced the ...