posted December 13, 2003 05:37 AM
ZX10R prototype ride review these are not my words, copied/pasted from another website from this moment on):
Ya gotta register to read the whole thread (there are pics), here's an excerpt: (Pasted from: http://www.madisonsportbikes.com/ms...p?showtopic=576 by Salad Shooter, aka Aaron Frank from Motorcyclist Magazine)
OK, here's a five minute review of the ZX10R. Better than I expected. First, the production bike is a rocket ship. It's at least as powerful as the '03 GSX-R1000, likely faster, though it's hard to tell without riding them back to back. I'm betting at least 155 hp, or close to 160. The motor has loads of character too. It's especially quick-revving (like a 600), and, like all Kawasakis ,it sounds completely nasty so it seems like you're going even faster than you are. And keep an eye on that throttle handdespite a long swingarm, it wheelies and spins up the rear tire everywhere.
Second, it's freakin' tiny. It's basically the same size as a ZX6R, except for width. Because of the unique backbone/twin-beam frame (the frame spars go over the motor, not around it), it's actually a tad narrower than the six-hunnie. The back of the tank/front of the saddle is about six inches wideDucati narrow.
It feels pretty much like a 160 hp ZX6R, which is both good and bad. Small, short in the front (almost two inches shorter from the swingarm pivot to the front axle than the old 9R) and light, the 10R is a breeze to throw around at speed, especially in quick left/right transitions (Homestead has two). It's a great track bike, provided you know what you're doing. Geometry is right on the edge, so it doesn't suffer fools. It takes very little input to turn the bike, so if you're not a smooth, assertive rider it feels really nervous and gets ahead of you very quickly. Sorta experts-only, nowhere near as forgiving as the GSX-R1000 (yes, the Gixxer thou is surprisingly forgiving and easy to ride for such a monster). This is going to keep the 10R from winning any bike-of-the-year ballotingit's very track/speed focused, with no pretensions of being an all-arounder. Absolutely nothing like the old ZX9R. As a result, if you're not already a good rider, you're probably not going to much like this bike. Buy a Honda, pussy. Just kidding...
No steering damper and of course the Japanese engineers in attendance said it didn't need one. BS-it needs one like every 160 hp, 54-inch-wheelbase bike needs a damper. You could make the head shake at will, especially accelerating hard over the gutter up onto the the banking. The front end is always light.
Radial brakes are fantastic. Slipper clutch is also fantastic. How did we live without this stuff before? New stacked "tri-shaft" transmission is truly horrible, though, very clunky with tons of missed shifts all day for everyone. 3rd to 4th at redline was literally impossible. Kawi knows this too, and actually swapped out the shift linkage halfway through the first day with stiffer linkage shipped direct that morning from Japan, but this made virtually no difference. The likely culprit is the shift fork, which looks very flimsy in the cutaway tranny. Hopefully they'll sort this out before production begins in mid-January.
That's the basics. I haven't heard anything back on the CBR1000RR, but should hear some stuff by tonight. Can't wait to ride the R1, though, specially after reading the reports from Daytona.
____________
Enjoy the ride!
02' ZRX1200
00' ZX12R sold
posted December 13, 2003 09:22 PM
I can't get it to download properly. All I get is 9 photos and no article. There was a lot of space below the photos for text, but no joy. Tried going to the home page first with no luck either.
posted December 14, 2003 09:07 PM
ZX-10R Review Found this on Gixxer.Com:
Here is more from www.motorcycle.com. I am a member....
Homestead, FL 12/12/2003~ Squirming and hazing, the tire paints a swath of rubber out of Homestead's turn four lefthander. My head is shifted left and foreward almost over the clutch lever, while my knees tightly grip the tank and my knuckles ache, as I try to impart a light touch while hanging on tight enough to keep from being left behind by the rapidly accelerating ZX-10R. Fun? Hell yes this is fun! Thank you very much Kawasaki, it looks like you've jumped into the liter class war with both feet.
This isn't the first time weve heard the old "Open class power with 600 size and handling" cliche' from a sportbike manufacturer. However, to my knowledge this is the first time its actually been delivered. The 2004 Kawasaki ZX-10R has less frontal area and is both narrower and shorter than the current ZX-6R. Kawasaki claims the 10R weighs 375Lbs dry and there is normally a bit of fudge in a manufacturers claimed dry weight. However, after sitting on a ready to ride 10R, tipping it back and forth between my knees, then taking it out on the track, it's hard to tell the difference between it and the feathery 416Lb wet weight we measured for the 2003 ZX-6R. My hunch is that Kawasakis weight claim is fairly accurate.
I didn't get a chance to ride the bike on the new OEM Dunlop D218ZR tires that were especially designed for it, because the press fleet at Homestead was fitted with the slightly shorter profile and more triangulated Dunlop D208GP Star "DOT" race front and a one-off hand-cut Dunlop superbike slick rear. On these race spec tires and with the forks raised 5mm in the triple clamps, the biggest Ninja actually turned-in and changed direction quicker and easier than the ZX-6R I raced in the Fontana AMA Superstock event this year. It was also quite stable under power and as my trust in the tires and chassis grew, I started giving it ever larger handfuls of throttle while still on the side of the tire. I repeatedly verified that -should you choose to do so- the uber Ninja is quite happy to smoothly spin the tire through corner exit and most of the way down the following straight. Yes, these were really good tires, but this is a great chassis and it isn't hard to make the tire or ride height changes that these press bikes had, although I suspect that street riders would be better served by keeping the stock tires and standard fork position, due to the increased stability they provide. As configured, I actually had more problems with the bike wanting to run off the inside of the corner, than I did with the bike pushing or running wide. Sure, if I gave it a big handful of gas while traction was good, the bike would lift and skim the front tire causing some understeer, but this only happened when I was being lazy and not keeping my weight foreward and to the inside. It seems true then, this actually is a 155+ Hp full-steam-ahead liter bike that handles as well or better than most modern 600s.
If you think it takes a lot of power to spin a superbike spec slick in a straight line, or start effortless wheelies at over 120mph without using the clutch, you're right. Kawasaki claims 175Hp at the crank without ram-air and 184Hp at the crank when air is being pushed in at speed. The last GSX-R 1000 that MO tested made 157Hp at the rear tire and this new Kawasaki feels at least as fast at lower speeds and noticeably faster at higher speeds where the ram-air is most effective. Overall power delivery is excellent, though the fuel injection is quite sensitive. This can make for jerky mid-corner speed changes, if you're as ham-fisted as I am. A few of the turns at Homestead are technically first gear corners, but most of us took them in second. We did this because there was still enough low-end grunt to overwhelm the tires when leaned-over, while the taller gear smoothed out the bikes reaction to an unsteady throttle hand. At the other end of the straights, the top-end rush is quite impressive and the engine revs quite freely through its 13,000rpm redline and hits a very soft rev limiter shortly thereafter. Several of us spent time on the limiter, using the overrun like a 600, to avoid up-shifting mid-corner.
Kawasaki switched to new "petal" type semi-wave rotors for the 10R and though a simple rotor swap isn't usually a big deal, this bike stops almost as well as the new Aprilia Mille Factory R -you know the one; WSB spec Brembos, $17,000 etc.- I was able to fade the stock ZX-6R brakes, when I track tested it at the beginning of the year. However, I had no such problems with the faster ZX-10R. I've yet to sample finer brakes on a Japanese sportbike. In addition to the excellent brakes the new "slipper" clutch that Kawasaki is using worked flawlessly through out the track sessions. The slipper enables the rider to take maximum advantage of the brakes, without being preoccupied about locking the rear wheel when downshifting.
Like the 2003 ZX-6RR and ZX-6R, the new ZX-10R shows good attention to detail throughout. Unlike the 600s, the 1000 has slightly more comfortable ergonomics and a seat that doesn't slope nearly as steeply. The more comfortable -though still racetrack aggressive- ergos are nice, but the flatter seat isn't ideal for a bike that accellerates as hard as the new ZX-10R does. Our test bikes didn't have the optional seat cowl/butt-stops on them so my hands and forearms quickly grew tired from trying to hang-on as this beast accellerated down the front and back straights. I suppose this isn't such a bad problem to have.
Lest you think you're reading a Kawasaki infomercial, I must sadly mention that several of the bikes on hand at Homestead had a sporadic problem with refusing to change-up from 3rd to 4th gear during rapid clutchless upshifts. This would cause a second and third failed attempt and eventually the rider would grab the clutch in frustration, at which point the bike would shift fine. This happened about 5% of the time on about 30% of the bikes at the intro. At first the mechanics on hand thought it was the positioning of the shift-lever, so they adjusted them for us, but this didn't do much to help the situation. After that, they installed heavier linkage rods on the rearsets, thinking that perhaps there was some flex in the mechanism. This didn't cure the problem either. As of press time the latest word is that it was a pre-production setup issue and that it will be rectified before the production units hit the showroom floor. I hope this is true, because the occasional missed shift was the only non-rider-induced problem on an otherwise amazing new motorcycle.
It is with much regret that I must inform you that there isnt any on-bike video from this test. Click here for a good explination why. Stay-tuned for a street impression of the ZX-10R in a month or two and a full-blown Open Class Shootout in three to four months. Honda and Yamaha also have all-new or heavily revised open class sportbikes for 2004. I hope for their sake, that they've been doing their homework, because the 2004 ZX-10R isn't pulling any punches.
posted December 15, 2003 09:29 PM
hey psycho, if 5% of the time of 30% of the bikes have a problem with WFO clutchless 3rd to 4th gear upshifts and everything else is said to be top of the line then kawasaki has a super bike! Let's see, 5% would be once every 20 times. And what speed would redline be in 3rd gear (maybe 120plus). I see this being a real problem on the street. Hey kawasaki, maybe you shouldn't release the 10r. Or better yet maybe they should put govenors for 65mph on all their bikes then we won't see this problem. Come on psycho, if Kaw doesn't fix this problem before releasing it you'll still never see this problem.
____________
Dan
04 ZX10r (Track only)
08 Concours14
posted December 15, 2003 10:01 PM
The R1 and the R6 sitting in my garage both shifted like shit when new. A true "box of rocks". Now they are fine. And they haven't broken anything. It took about 10k on each to get broken in.
posted December 15, 2003 10:01 PM
The R1 and the R6 sitting in my garage both shifted like shit when new. A true "box of rocks". Now they are fine. And they haven't broken anything. It took about 10k on each to get broken in.
posted December 16, 2003 06:27 PM
I was talking with Roger Hayden last night about the zx10r he rode around Daytona and some of the particulars about the bike. Before you ask, no he didnt have any dyno numbers. And I dont want to get him in hot water, but i'll tell ya some things we talked about. One topic was some of the data collected and what we thought it might mean. And about the tire problem and what the general concensus was. Also about suspension and where the bike is for setup etc. He thinks i autta sell the 12r for this one.
Basically, it looks small, and it feals even smaller riding it. Its got wicked power up top. And its "Fun Fun". You just think about turning this bike and it leans right in. This was not a production 10r but it also wasnt a "race ready" bike. They have alot of work to do as expected. I didnt ask him but it sounded like they hadent had it for very long. Not much time to spend with it before the tire test. They go back in january for more tire testing.
The acceleration of the engine off the banking he said was "scarry" strong "superbike" strong. The data from the rear wheel was unreal. Its no wonder these liter bikes are killing tires. Its becoming "the topic" right now with the riders. They were told in the riders meeting the "problem" was found and corrected and this type of thing wouldnt happen again.
Well guess what. It did. Its time they stoped using the banking part of the track and built a good course in the infield. Whats it gonna take? Someone killed!
____________
Y2KZX12R
CompetitionCNC.com
posted December 17, 2003 11:50 AM
PSYCHO1122, yes, it was the center of conversation for the most part. Along with the tire problem. Traction is going to be the difference in superstock this year. Its would imagine its where the most improvements will come as the season go's on.
If you guys are good maybe santa will bring some stuff the elfs have been working on lately and if youve been really good all year, maybe an "extra pretty" one they made just for the RRealy good boys. But I dunno how many boys will deserve one of these just yet.
____________
Y2KZX12R
CompetitionCNC.com
posted December 17, 2003 10:22 PM
On www.2wf.com the same rider, MikeE, tested both the ZX-10R and the CBR1000RR. Fatigue may have been a factor because he tested the Honda the day after the ZX with a cross country trip thrown in. But if you read both write-ups, he sure seemed to have a lot more passion for the Kaw. The ZX10 report sounded like he had FUN. Lots of fun... The CBR1000RR write-up didn't come off that same way to me.
posted December 18, 2003 06:02 AM
I do not know if anyone noticed in the AMA review, "Run first gear up to redline and it's good for 105 m.p.h or so, surprisingly. "
posted December 19, 2003 11:08 AM
PSYCHO, I wanted to make sure it was cool to post numbers before i did.
So the 10r on that day with those tires, was spinning the rear faster than the front for 65% of the total distance around the course at daytona.
The highest differential being off the banking at 7%. Now you can see why they never let the formula extreme guys race there before.
The AMA will have to step up and mandate a harder tire even thou it will reduce traction and increase lap times.
____________
Y2KZX12R
CompetitionCNC.com
HOME
NEW TOPIC
posted December 13, 2003 05:37 AM
posted December 13, 2003 01:41 PM
.
Edited By: 