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Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R in the PS driving report

Green danger

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As the reigning Superbike World Champion, Kawasaki proudly presents the new 1000, the innovations of which also come directly from the factory team from the World Cup. These range from the engine to the electronics and make the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R a bitter opponent for the highly armed competition. PS felt this on the Sepang Grand Prix circuit.

The is brightly packaged in the sense of a bold new design Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R in 2016 really not. At least at first glance. Maybe that’s a mistake from a marketing point of view – but the new ninja remains optically rather understatement. If you value technology and, above all, lap times, visual rumbling should be sausage, because at the end of the day, rideability and lap times are what count on a superbike. "When developing the new ZX-10R, we subordinated everything to the lap time," explains Yoshimoto Matsuda, father of the current Ninja. “What doesn’t immediately ensure better times was not an issue for us. We preferred to invest money for complex dashboards or the like in quick solutions. "

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R in the PS driving report

Green danger

Ninja ZX-10R, because the wider cockpit cladding and the slightly differently cut side cladding opening have clear functions. The first ensures better aerodynamics and more wind protection for the pilot, the second for better cooling of the newly made four-cylinder in-line engine.

First Euro 4 homologated superbike drive

It is now the first Euro 4 homologated superbike drive and has a nominal 200 hp. In view of the requirements for volume, exhaust gas and consumption, this is a real pound that the competitors have yet to achieve in the coming year. The most noticeable innovation is probably the revised crankshaft, the moment of inertia of which was reduced by 20 percent at the request of the World Cup team. The new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R greedily turns upwards to deliver its maximum power at 13,000 rpm. That’s why you step through the gearbox at lightning speed using the well-functioning automatic gearshift and sweep the long Sepang straight towards the braking point at breathtaking speed. But the new crankshaft also has a positive effect on responsiveness. The four-cylinder engine takes the initial gas command much more gently than its predecessor and reacts far less abruptly to corrections to the throttle valve opening.

In the five-digit speed range, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R was never weak before, but it seems to have improved again. In addition, thanks to the many innovations that range from the cylinder head (including new intake and exhaust ports and cam profiles) to the combustion chambers and pistons to the balance shaft, it should also be stronger in the middle. With the larger airbox and the new throttle valves, there are still two arguments for more power in the middle of the news sheet. The smoothness of the row four is also remarkable. At no time does it annoy you with vibrations and spoil you with an absolutely velvety run.

Control unit supplemented by a Bosch sensor box

Kawasaki has also changed the primary gear ratio. The transmission of the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is stepped closer between second and sixth gear. The long first course has remained. And unfortunately – at least in the Euro 4 trim – the weakness in performance at low speeds, even if it no longer lasts over a very wide range as with the predecessor. The main problem could now be the Euro 4 homologation, because a version with racing kit parts such as the kit control unit, wiring harness and exhaust that ignores Euro 4 and which we could also drive, rips out of the speed range with the slightest pluck so brutal that you have to hold on to the handlebars.

On the Sepang course, which has a few tight spots, the serial ninja didn’t pull thick slices of sausage off the bread even in first gear below 5000 rpm. But this can also be related to the traction control, which in the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R regulates very subtly, i.e. barely noticeably and sometimes slows down the propulsion after the tight bends when it is mercilessly torn open. The system known from its predecessor with the precalculation via the control unit is supplemented in the new Ninja by the Bosch sensor box and now also records the incline, movements around the longitudinal axis and the wheelie and stoppie inclination.

Blood, sweat and tears

Overall, this results in a complex system of calculation and reaction, "with which the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is much closer to the limit than the systems of the competition," says Matsuda. The calculations of the Kawa engineers are so complex that the data would occupy 50 percent of the company’s own control unit.

Matsuda didn’t want to reveal exactly how this works. Only his pride and the reference to the blood, sweat and tears that this system cost him during his time as a MotoGP developer let us trust it and continue to give full throttle on the next turn at the exit of the corner. No suspicious thing happened.

Chassis one of the biggest innovations

One of the big innovations on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is of course the chassis with the completely new Free Balance fork and the shock absorber based on the same principle (for function see PS 02/2016). The response behavior of both damper units was impressive. The fork proved this in the very fast right-hand turn number 6, which was tormenting inside with fine waves. With a lot of confidence in the chassis, you could turn the throttle boldly in full incline and keep increasing the speed, the fork led the forehead wheel sparkling cleanly over the bumpy surface. In addition, the feedback was excellent, you could feel exactly when the bike was pushing downhill over the Bridgestone slick at Turn 3, for example. The same applies to the shock absorber, so that even the riders could not really scare you when you power out in the slightly less grip curve 4. Of course, thanks also go to the new framework for the feedback.

But briefly back to the chassis components of the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. Their setting range seems enormous, because even minimal setup corrections resulted in noticeable changes in the damping. With increasing speed, we were able to eliminate the slight fidgeting of the handlebars when accelerating out with a quarter turn on the compression stage of the shock absorber and we also eliminated the slight rocking movement of the fork when stepping through the gears with a minimal turn of the compression and rebound stage. Even when switching from series tires to slick, only minimal corrections were necessary. Even more astonishing: Even with the extremely strong, much lighter kit bike (approx. 9 kg) the setting remained almost the same.

Anything but stubborn when turning

In general, the Ninja made a very good impression in terms of driving behavior and handling. Yoshimoto Matsuda already emphasized in the conversation that a lot of development work and the exchange of experiences with the World Cup team went into the chassis of the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R in order to get the best package for all handling issues. The aim was to achieve lightning-fast changes of direction and willing turn-in with high stability in an inclined position and when braking hard. The lighter crankshaft contributes to this.

In addition, there have been corresponding changes to the frame: The steering head tube has been extended by 7.5 millimeters towards the driver, thus achieving more feeling for the front as well as more stability and more confidence at the entrance to a curve – both on the brakes and when turning. The same applies to shifting in fast alternating curves. And indeed: where other superbikes are nervously dancing in the braking area, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R stubbornly stays on course. Nevertheless, she is anything but stubborn when turning, is a lot of fun when driving over the front wheel and inspires with her calmness in fast corners at deep lean angles.

New Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R a big step forward

The last important point marks the new brake of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. That’s racing – we exclaim euphorically. The super-light M50 calipers from Brembo with the 5.5 millimeter thick 330 mm washers worked perfectly even in the scorching heat of Sepang throughout the entire test period and impressed with a clearly defined pressure point from the first to the last lap. It couldn’t be better!

Which brings us to the conclusion. The new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is a big step forward for Kawasaki and anyone who wants a green superbike. If you only want to go to the racetrack, you should take care of the racing kit, which is unfortunately not so easy in Germany and certainly not available overnight. Only the kit exhaust is available directly from Kawa without any problems. We want to test both versions – series and kit bike – very soon, then we will see how great the danger in green actually is for the R1, S 1000 RR, RSV4 and Panigale.

Technical data Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R

Kawasaki

Visually, the new Ninja hasn’t really changed much; technically even more so.

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