Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

covers, were design ed wi th curved and different-thi ckness surfaces, all of which Kawasaki claims reduce harmoni c resonance by keeping p orti ons of th e case from vibra ting at the same frequen cy. No ex penses we re spa re d w hen it came to the ZX-6R's chassis, an expensive yet lighter and stro nger alu minum perimeter, one- piece fra me is used over the previou s stee l "conventional" frame of the ZX-6. Kawasaki cla ims the fram e is approxim ately 6.5 pounds lighter than the ZX-6's frame. The frame tubes an d sw ing arm tube s in co r p o ra te r u b ber ins erts to ab so rb vi b ra tion a nd ha s a de tachable a lu mi n u m rear su bframe. The rake and trail is fa irl y stee p at 24 degrees / 87mm, and the wheelbase is relatively sho rt at 55.7 inches . Suspension dut ies up front are delegated to a 41= conventiona l cartr idge fork with 12:way reb ou nd and ll -way compre s s ion d ampi n g a dj us tm e n ts , including threa d ed s p ri ng prel o ad ad justers. In the back, a single, remote rese rvo ir shock is used, and it features 19-wa y co m p re ssio n a n d four-w ay rebo und d am pin g ad justments, as well . as threaded preload adj us tmen ts. Th e fork offer s 4.7 inches of travel. the rear 5.4 inches . The wheels re volve around 20mm hollow axles. Kawasa ki up d a ted th e ZX -6 R's brakes by installin g 0.5= thicker d iscs to b ette r d is s ip a te h e a t. T o reduce un sprung w e ight, th e re ar d isc h as a sma lle r 230mm d iameter. The 300 m m d ua l d is cs up fro n t a re g r i pped b y opposed, four- pis ton calipers, w hile the rear di sc uses a single- pis ton caliper. Un chan ged is the w id th of the fro nt three-spoke cast alu minu m wheel, but the rear wheel h as been ex p an ded to five in ch es, sa me as th e YZF600 and CBR600 F-3 . The ZX-6R u ses a lightw eigh t #525 X- Ri ng ch a in wh ich Kawasak i claims ru n s cooler and las ts lon ger than an O-ring chain. At last, riding the beast. As men tion ed earlier, th e ZX-6R is fast. Very fast. Ka w a sak i obv io u s ly knows how to build po werful motors, as evid en t by the ZX-6R' s mill. It s tar ts p u lling as low as 4000 rpm b u t really star ts taking off around 7500 and eve n more so around 10,500. It' s righ t around here where the fun starts, as the little ZX en ters warp drive. The needle dips in to the red zone at 14,000. Thi s thi ng really screams. But there is a hitch in Kawasaki's getalong . At around 4000-4500 rpm, there's a noticeable lean spot, or hesitation, tha t reall y ge ts on you r nerves after awhile, but is on ly n otice able when yo u' re pulling away from in tersections or rolling th e throttle on out of tight, slow turns. Howev er, there is an easy cure, just slip the clutch. After the surge the Z X pull s cleanly . Ac cord ing t o Kawasaki, th e lean spot is a re sult of st rict EP A regulat ions th at Ka wasa ki and all motorcycle manufacturers have to abide by. "We have to lean 'em out as mu ch as possibl e to make them legal," sa id a Ka w asaki sp o kes m a n . "So metime s y o u w ind up wi t h the s e lean spo ts." Lean or not, th e ZX-6R lo ves to b e revved out and flogged . It wi ll respond by deliveri ng mind-bo gglin g (for a 600) h o rse p o w e r, and d o n 't th ink for a mome nt that the ZX-6R is a ha ndful to rid e, either. Despite its tig htly wound motor, the ZX-6R is rela tive ly simple to m an age and ca n be ri d den b ack a n d forth to work comfortably. But passing requ ires a little bit of effort on the freeways; for instant power while cruising along in top gear at about 60 m ph, you need to make a couple of qu ick downshifts before opening up the throttle. Cya. This bike lives in the u pper range of the powerba nd . And wha t abo ut vib ra tion? Ther e is non e, or at least very little. The ZX-6R is u n b e li e v abl y s moo th as yo u cl ick th ro ugh its su pe r- posit ive, six-speed gearbox. It bu zzes abo ut as much as a Hon d a Gold Wing. Honest. While the ZX-6R is fairly quiet for a 600cc sportbike, it still makes a d ecent .roar when you twist the right grip, but nothing like the lou d su cking sound that em u la tes fro m the Yamaha YZF600 ' s airbox. The ZX is a quick handli ng motorcycle. It is extremely sensitive to the rider's input and , as a result, it requires al mos t no effor t at all to flick the ZX through th e tu rns . Once leaned over, th e Z X hold s its lin e quite we ll as long as the rider rem ains fairly still, because eve n the s lig h te s t a mo u n t o f b od y mo vement causes the ZX t o re act. Thi s wo rks o u t w e ll w h en n eedin g to make small corrections. A par t o f th e ZX' s u ltrasen s itiv ity ha s to d o w ith the bike' s weigh t, as it feels ex tre me ly ligh t . Yo u can easily ma nhand le the ZX through ' the esses withou t working up a sweat. It rea lly is qu ite rem arkabl e h o w well it co rne rs . Unlike so me Z Xs o f th e pa st, th e re is n o evidence of drive lash w hen roll in g the thr ottl e back or forth . And the brakes, th ey 're s im p ly a w e s o m e. An y more than one finger on the front brake lev er is overkill - it's extre me ly stro ng ye t progressive. It still demands respect, how ev e r; g rabbing a hand fu l a n d sq ueezing wit h reckless aba ndon cou ld get you into trouble. After all the ZX-6R is a performance b ike. The rear brake works in h arm ony with the front brakes and has excellent feel. Th e ZX-6R is su rprisingly comfortable, even for a little sportbike . We spent sign ificant time on the open highw ays on th e ZX-6R and it wasn't too bad. In fact, we've ridden spo rt touring b ikes th at w ere mo re uncomfortabl e than the ZX. We managed to squeeze al mos t 190 m iles out o f the ZX's fuel tank be fore turning into the gas station. It has a fuel warning light as well as an on -offreserve pe tcock . Unfortu nately, jus t abo ut the time we were ge tting wa rmed up to the ZX-6R, we were forced to give it back, but, we can certainly say that our first im pression of the ZX-6R left u s beggin g fo r more - more time on the bike, that is. Our on ly complaint was the small . glitch at 4000 rpm, but was really no big deal. Otherwise, we simpl y loved th e ZX-6R. Okay, we agree that it might be a litt le on the expensive side, but at least from what we can tell - you certainly get 1:N wha t yo u pay for. While Cycle New s believes the foregoing test reliable, it is the opinion of the reviewers only and should not be relied upon in determining the performance or safety of the vehicleis ). Th e reader should make his or her own investigation. Kawasaki ZX·6R Specifications ENGINE Type Four-stroke, four-eylinder, dobc, 16-valve, liquid-eooled Bore x stroke 66.0 x 43.8mm Displacement 599cc Compression ratio 11.8:1 Carburetor Keihin CVKD 36mm (4) Lubricationsystem Forced lube, wetsump Starting system Electric Ignition system . . . . . .. . .... .. . . . .. . . . . .. . .Battery & coil (TCBIwlDigital Advance). DRIVETRAIN Drive system Final reduction ratio Clutch type X-ring chain 40/15 Wet, multi-disc CHASSIS Frame Tubular, diamond Suspension Front Rear Telescopic, cartridge, fully adj. fork Un i·Trak swingarm, fully adj. shock w/remote reservoir Wheel travel Front Rear Rake & trail TII'l!S Front Front Brakes Front Rear DllErISlOll!lCAPACITlES OIAlength OIAwidth OIA height Wheelbase Ground clearance Seat height Claimed dry weight Fuelcapacity Full Reserve PEIlFORIIAHCE (cWIED) MIX.torque Max. speed Min. turning radius Stopping distance Min. weight Max. weight Mtsca.1.ANEOUS Colors W.-.ly MSRP 4.7 in. 5.4in. 24°13.4 in. 120160ZR17 Bridgestone BalllaxBT -SOF Radial E 160160 ZR17 Bridgestone Balllax BT -SOR Radial E 265mm dual disc 194mm single disc 79.9in. 27.2 in. 44.5in. 55.7 in. 4.7in. 31.9in. 402.4 Ibs. ~. 4.8 gal. ~ A 8 1.1 gal. 47.71b-ft @ 10,000 rpm 157 mph 10 .5ft. 153 ft. @ 60mph 163 @ 60mph ReG'purplelblack; green!whilelpurple 12 mo. unlinIted miles $7899 27

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