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New products: Kawasaki ZX-6R

The second in the league

In addition to the Honda CBR 600 RR, the Kawasaki ZX-6R is the second super athlete to be upgraded. First news.

Underseat or not? That is no longer a question. The new Kawasaki ZX-6R will have its exhaust on the right side. A return to the configuration that Kawasaki abandoned in the 2005 model year and resumed with the current ZX-10R. Which initially has technical reasons. Today’s exhaust systems require a lot of volume, are equipped with several catalytic converters, often even with flap or roller systems, and the weight that comes together with such an effort should be concentrated as close as possible to the center of gravity. Front silencers under the engine with side tailpipes are cheaper than silencers that hang at the maximum distance from the center of gravity.

In addition, the side exhaust port symbolizes the return to a simpler, more aggressive type of super athlete. And last but not least, the exhaust is always an important issue for sporty drivers; so there is no need to hide it almost completely behind black covers, as is done on the current ZX-6R.

The rumor, which comes along in all European languages, says that the 600s of the 2009 vintage are closely related to the 1000s of 2008, but avoid everything that is criticized about this. Predicting this does not require a great prophetic gift, and specifically what is meant is the placement of the front indicators and the harmonious design of the rear end. With the ZX-10R, it seems a bit too short and too high, which is why computer retoucher Guerin has opted for a more stretched shape.

technical changes

In terms of indicator design, Kawasaki has offered everything possible over the past few years, whether conventionally protruding from the side parts of the fairing, integrated into it, integrated into the mirror or as a separate unit attached to the mirror arms. The solution shown here is pure speculation and would certainly put the Federal Motor Transport Authority under extreme pressure, but it would have the advantage of compactly summarizing the various lighting elements.

The author was able to find out what technical changes the new ZX-6R needs last year at a test date with various Supersport World Championship motorcycles: It must be able to turn higher in the racing trim. The 600 series racing machines from Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha achieved significantly higher speeds than the Kawasaki and therefore more top performance. This cannot be due to the bore-to-stroke ratio, which is the same for all of them at 67 to 42.5 millimeters. But whatever materials or parts are changed, one thing is certain: Since tuning measures in the Supersport class are severely restricted, provided they affect the mechanics, what is built in with a view to racing is also the basis -, in other words, benefit from a series engine. Larger openings in the side parts of the fairing are necessary because the heat generated by an engine increases at higher speeds.

A direct comparison of the driving impressions and the technical data also shows that the current ZX-6R is the largest and heaviest of the Japanese 600s. A whopping 17 kilograms heavier and 35 millimeters wider than the light and narrow Honda CBR 600 RR of the current year of construction. There is enough excess material for a drastic diet. Whether the engine and chassis will have to be completely redeveloped for this, or whether the frame may even be changed to cast profiles such as those used by other Japanese manufacturers, is currently only known to the Kawasaki engineers. Honda has taken on the pioneering role in ABS for super sports cars: The new CBR 600 RR, which is also to be expected, will receive an innovative composite braking system with anti-lock function; nothing indicates that Kawasaki will follow suit.

Editor’s Comment – Kawasaki hangs out

This heading is rightly active. Because Kawasaki, it seems, is not left behind by the competition, but depends on itself. The reason: Even when implementing promising concepts, the Greens run the risk of stumbling, at the latest from the second edition, of losing direction in a jumble of highly artificial design and detailed solutions. The Z 1000 and Z 750 are just as impressive examples of this as the super sports cars ZX-10R and ZX-6R. Playful, stylish successors to simple, straightforward master models did not even get the luck from many drivers to show the technical progress they contained. If this did not suffocate anyway in excess weight and dubious first tires.

And for the restructuring of the model tidy that is ever needed today, Kawasaki apparently has insufficient development capacities, for whatever reasons. This was acutely and painfully evident in many areas this spring: in the sales figures on the German market, in the MotoGP World Championship, the Superbike World Championship and now even in the Superbike IDM, where the current ZX-10R just doesn’t really hit the ground Running is coming. Everywhere the competition is far ahead thanks to its continuity and greater stringency. In any case, the upcoming ZX-6R has to hit two targets exactly ?? the competition and the hearts of the fans.

Ralf Schneider, editor

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