Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(loca ted down by th e ri de r's righ t a n kle) is easi ly reach ed w hi le in transit, if th e m akers rea lly wanted th e operato r todo so they wou ld h a ve positioned it inside h is left a n kle so he wouldn 't have to remove his right ha nd from the twistgrip. The stock radial tires wo rk well for general str eet riding, but sporting riders would benefit from a switch to something stick ier when th ese wear out. We had an opportunity to ride a ZX-IO fitted with Metzeler Laser s and found th ese to work excelle nt . . Brak es a re impressiv e front a n d rear - strong, yet pred ictabl e, with th e best lever feel o f a ny OEM's (co urt esy of Kawasaki 's synthe tic fiber brake lines) - o n ly'aft ermarket, sta in less steel-bra ided , tefl on lines work better. Rather surprisingly for a bike this powerfu l, th e ZX-IO is quite userfrien d ly. The powerband co u ld o n ly be ca lled linear - roughly co m parab le to a BMW K-bike o n stero ids. T he m otor is happy ch u rn i n g through tow n in the lower parts o f the rev range, bu t ro lli ng the throttle o n hard in first gear will produ ce 50 mph wheel ies sooner th an yo u can say "s hi ft to seco nd. " Fifth and six th gears genera te the kinds of hypersp ace speeds ca pab le of fol di ng the mirrors back a ga ins t th e bod ywork. Co nsidering, for a moment, the na tional speed lim it as th e speed of light, then the ZX is good for just over warp facto r th ree. Crea ture comforts are far from 0 'a lien, A g lo ve box loca ted inside the left side of the fa ir ing doses with six snaps, providi ng the pe rfec t storage place for to ll road change, ti re gauge, phaser gun, etc. T he left rear side cover opens with the ig nition key to reveal a generous tool kit and a co n ven ient cha in lock - no more removing th e sea t to gain access to th e tools, and no more worryin g about unfriendly Klingo ns in th e quadrant hijacking yo ur perso na l starsh ip. The brak e a nd clutch lever s fea ture four-w a y eccen tr ic a dj usters fo r Iev er- ro-handgr ip di st an ce. Th e g ri ps, by th e wa y, have to go th ey're bett er su ited to a '70s tr ia ls bike th an a n '80s ro ad burner. The re tracta b le passen ger grab ra il is secu red by two a lle n scre ws wh en in use, a nd scre wi ng th em in is a real wa ste o f time; if you ri de wi th a passen ger at a ll, yo u 'll find yo ur self leavin g th e gra b rail up permanentIy. A push -to- cancel turn signa l button , bungee co rd hooks, a slig h tly awkward helm et lock and an easyto-use cen te rstand co m p le te th e pa ckage. T he s lee k bodywork includ es fa ir ing d ucts which dra w cooling air in and direct heat ed air aw ay from th e rider. Even s , excessive engine he-at rea ch es the rider in stop-andgo traffic, but ou t on the open road only his inner thighs get toasty - a blessi ng in co ld winter wea ther, but a rea l pain in the . . . in the summer. And by the way, we liked the o ld pai nt sche me (b lack with red Japanese lett erin g ) bett er. A comparatively tall windscreen docs an adm ira ble job of deflecting wind off th e rider's chest at . th e expense of so me mild helmet buffet ing. Down in th e cockp it, th e da sh sports a l 80-l}lp h speedometer, tr ipmeter , tac ho me ter, temperature and fuel gauges. The tem perature gauge needl e never strays from th e m ark which presumabl y means a ll 's we ll , w hi le the fuel ga uge is pessimistic - it reach e em p ty long before th e s gas tan k does. An engine ba la nce r and rubberi zed front engi ne m ounts e ffecti ve ly iso la te vib ration from th e rid er , a llo wing hi m to dr ain the 5.72ga llon fuel ta nk wi thou t having to stop a nd stre tch h is legs. 0 "To boldly go where no man ha s gone before" The Kawasaki ZX- IO Ninja is light yea rs a head of the competition in terms of achievin g a bala nce betwe en sp orti n g prowess'and everyday streetability. It' s more co m fort ab le tha n th e Yamaha FZRJOOO or Suzu ki GSXRlIOO, and ha ndles better than th e Suzuki Ka ta na. On ly the (now di sconti nued ) H o nda CBRlOOO Hurricane comes close. And at $6149, th e ZX- IO is at lea st a few hundred dollars ch eaper than the others. With the ZX-IO, th e open road is th e final fro ntier. 5th • • • . • . • , • , , , • •••• 156 4 t h •• •• • • • • _ • • • _ • _ •• 135 3rd •••• • • •• • • • •• •••• 113 2nd • •••••• ••• ••• • • • • 90 1 st •••••••• •• • •• • ••• • 64 Frame • •• Box-section aluminum perimeter-style Rake •••••••• •••• • • • • 26.5" Trail • •• •• •• • • ••• • • • 101 mm Front suspension ••• • •• Kayaba t elesc o pi c fork Fork tube d iameter ••• • • 41 mm Front wheel travel •• •• • • 5 .4 in . Rea r suspension ••• • • • Un iTrak w ith single Kayaba shock Rear wheel trave l •••• •• 4 .B in . Fro nt brakes •• ••• Dua l 300mm f loating d iscs with single-ac t ion. twin-p iston ca lipers Rear brakes • •• •• • 250mm d isc w ith floating sing le-act ion. twin -p iston caliper Front wheel . • • •• 3 .50 x 17 in. three-spoke ca st alumin um Rear wheel • , , • •• 4 .50 x 18 in . three-spoke cas t alumin um Front tire •• •• • •• 120/70VR 17 Dun lop K455 tubeless radial Rear tire • •••••• 160/60VR18 Dunlop K455A tubeless radial Claimed dry weig ht . . 488 .4 lbs, Overall length • • ••• • • • 86 .8 in . Overall width •• • • ••• • 29.6 in . Overall height. ••• ••• • 49.6 in . Wheelbase ••••••• • •• 59.6 in . Seat height •• ••••• •• 31.6 in . Ground clearance •• • •• • 5 .0 in. Fuel capacity ••••• 5 .72 gallons Colors • •••••• •• Ebony/Silver. Ebony/Firecracker Red. Firecracker Red /Pearl Alpine White Retail price • •• • ••• ••• $6149 0

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