Culture – Supersport Saga: the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 – Pre-owned KAWASAKI

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Supersport Saga: the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636

Culture - Supersport Saga: the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 - Pre-owned KAWASAKI

Before discovering our test of the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 currently carried out in California (USA), Site looks back on the course of this atypical Supersport motorcycle that appeared in 2002.

Before discovering our test of the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 currently carried out in California (USA), Site looks back on the course of this atypical Supersport motorcycle that appeared in 2002.

Kawasaki ZX-6R 636: the "Road Supersport"

It was in 1985 that Kawasaki launched its first 600c sports motorcycle, the GPZ600R. But it will take ten more years to appear the initiator of the Ninja ZX-6R saga.

A true Supersport in the "modern" sense of the term with its 599 cc in-line 4-cylinder, this ZX-6R significantly improved in 1998 and 2000, before being declined in two distinct displacements from 2002: a Ninja of 599 cc (the ZX-6RR) and another 636 cc, the ZX-6R 636 (also called ZX636R).

The objective is therefore to offer a more torquey motorcycle at low and mid-range in order to better meet the needs of bikers who mainly only ride on the road. The "636" saga is launched !

ZX-6R 636 model 2002

Closely derived from the ZX-6R, the first 636 adopts the same lines inspired by the ZX-9R of the time, the same perimeter aluminum frame and the same engine whose displacement goes "simply" from 599 cc to 636 cc.

The cylinder head, the valves, the feed by carburettors and the forced air intake "Ram Air", however, receive extensive modifications in order to improve the revivals and therefore the approval at mid-revs, the main objective of this "news" " motorbike. The suspension settings are also modified in this direction.

Impressive for the time from the top of its 113 hp, 71 Nm of torque and 173 kg dry, this bike would pass today for a sport-GT with its "real" bubble, its plate barely tilted on the front, its rather thick saddle and its large grab handles! But the following models will prove to be more exclusive…

ZX-6R 636 model 2003

A big turning point in 2003: the ZX-6R 636 and its 599 cc "track" version, the ZX-6RR, became very radical. The look is cut with a billhook and the technical sheet leaves you dreaming with its 118 hp (125 with Ram Air) and its 67 Nm of torque for the 636, and especially a featherweight of 161 kg dry !

Lively – even nervous – and extremely rigid, the "636" 2003 is entirely geared towards pure performance: goodbye passenger handles, the generous bubble and the relative comfort of the previous model’s suspensions. And naturally, it pays "cash" on the road…

Note that the Ninja ZX-6R from 2003 is the first production motorcycle to receive radial brake calipers, a technology hitherto reserved for competition..

ZX-6R 636 model 2005

The ZX-6R 636 and its 599 cc version abandoned ultra-angular shapes in favor of curved lines, inspired by the ZX-10R of the time. More voluminous, they also adopt a silencer under the saddle as is the fashion of the time.

Yet more efficient (130 hp and 70.5 Nm of torque), this 636 struggles to find its audience: its high power and its weight gain (+3 kilos, or 164 kg dry) are particularly criticized. Noting that the concept of "double displacement" does not really emulate – although it is costly in development – Kawasaki decides to abandon the "636" from the following vintage.

In 2007, there was only one Supersport Ninja left in the Greens’ catalog: the ZX-6R, whose deeply revised 599 cc 4-cylinder engine developed 125 hp and 6.7 mkg of torque. Two years later,: she loses 10 kg (191 kg all full) and gains three horses (128).

This is the vintage from which the Akashi firm designed the new 2013 ZX-6R 636 (read our), available from mid-November 2012 at a price of € 12,199 without ABS and € 13,199 with . Stay tuned on MNC to discover very soon its full test on the road and on the circuit !

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