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the 16-valve cylinder head, different camshafts (still with offset gear drive to them, rather than chain), revised ignition, an all-new Akrapovic exhaust system, and carb settings adjusted to suit. Above the shrill scream issuing from the Siovenianmade pipe, when braking for a turn off the gas you can also hear the trademark rattle of a dry clutch, here used for the first time on the shortstroke ZX-7RR. However, though it's a slipper-type design like the old oilbath unit, this is not Kawasaki's own such design, which first appeared at the end of '98. Instead, the Eckl team runs an alternative version made by former GP rider Eskil Suter in Austria, which, after side-by-side tests with the factory's own dry clutch, proved to be more consistent in operation, according to Eckl. Another benefit of the improved engine response is that you can once again reap the advantages of the Kawasaki chassis layout which had so impressed me when I tested it back-to-back with the RC45 Honda at Sentul at the end of '97. In spite of the wide bodywork with its twin air ducts, which gives a false sense of bulk, there's no doubt the Kawasaki changes direction better than other four-cylinder Superbikes. A key factor in making this happen is the position of the crankshaft, which sits lower in the frame relative to the wheel axles than any of its rivals. The Kawasaki feels very balanced, with a relatively low rear ride height and 51/49-percent weight distribution. This not only allows you to lay the bike into a turn quite easily and change direction faster in a chicane, it also permits pretty conservative chassis geometry, in search of stability. However, in spite of the 24.5degree head angle, 92mm of trail, and a quite long 1420mm wheelbase, as well as lots of work on suspension refinement, the Kawasaki still moves about quite a bit - though not nearly as badly under power as before. "Yep, it's a shaker!" admits Kano, "but now we have it shaking mostly where it doesn't matter!" I'll go with that - even if it's nice to be riding a bike that gives you more confidence by being stable everywhere I wonder if the ZX- 7RR chassis is as stiff as it could be? However, this year's Kawasaki is much less nervous out of turns. You can maintain corner speed by using more angle cranked over in the turn than in '98, thanks also to greater feel from the front suspension and what seemed like extra grip from the front tire. I thought at first that this was entirely due to the smaller 42mm Ohlins forks the team reverted to this season, instead of the fatter 46mm ones they used in '98, which apparently exacerbated the problems caused by the snappy engine. The smaller forks do give more feedback - but seemingly at the cost of stiffen- (Left) Air induction goes big on Akira Yanagawa's bike. (Right) The factory team uses Akrapovic exhausts. (Below) Who needs fuel injection? The only non-fuel injected bike in Wor1d Superbike racing, the ZX·7RR won the final race of the 1999 seasona ing the steering. However, that wasn't the case. It turns out that I was riding a 16.5-inch front Dunlop for the first time, which also helps explain the increased corner speed and extra front-end grip. The ZX-7RR's new-generation four-pad radial-caliper Brembo brake package's action is extremely fierce. At the beginning of the season many Brembo users complained of them locking up. "Brembo did extensive testing on the new four-pad calipers after that," says Larry Kano, "and found that if the pad heated up very quickly from being very cold, like at Donington in springtime, without the rider warming it up progressively, then the pad expanded an extreme amount, but the new caliper wasn't transferring so much heat, so didn't expand so much, and locked the pad to the disc. It was a metal co-efficient thing - but I have to say, we wondered why they bothered. Akira says that with the old monoblock calipers we used last year because of a consistency of response problem with the four-pad ones, he could only use two, maybe three fingers to brake with. Now, with these, they're so fierce, he uses only one. If it ain't broke, don't fix it - but since all the R&D goes into the new ones, that's what we have to use and in the end we made them work." I was pretty impressed with the way the Kawasaki stopped in Austria, especially with the way the balanced chassis setup seems to minimize weight transfer and keep it stable under heavy braking, even into the downhill turns. You can also use quite a lot of engine braking, too, thanks to the slipper clutch, and with such a With at least one more season with the existing model before the much-rumored new Kawasaki superbike comes on line in 2001, the Eckl team will be hoping for a title-winning season to round off Kawasaki's five-year plan with the present ZX7RR. If this is the case, it would be quite an irony if what is basically a very simple motorcycle by current Superbike standards - which does a lot of things very well, seems to have a very balanced feel to it, but still doesn't have fuel injection - were to consistently embarrass its apparently more-sophisticated rivals. Is the lack of EFI likely to be a key factor in preventing the Kawasaki achieving its championship goal at the world level? "This is not a handicap in terms of power figures, which are as good as an EFI bike's," Eckl said. "But with the carburetor you are limited in the speed you can do things - finding the optimum setup on each individual racetrack is difficult and timeconsuming, and though our digital ignition is programmable, we have to do it the old-fashioned way and cook a new EPROM each time - you can't re-map it on line. Also, adjusting carburetion for changes in the weather also takes time - though here the fact the Kawasaki engine is not so sensitive to different climate conditions is helpful. If this was a problem, I think we'd struggle more, but this is a real tractor engine - it's reliable, has a wide spread of power, and even if we increase revs and power, it likes it. For sure, there's more to come from this most traditional of superbikes - and 2000 is our year to get it." eN high compression ratio there's more of this available than on most other four-cylinder superbikes. Yanagawa uses a beautifully shaped short brake lever, which your fingers just nestle in and which gives lots of feel, as well as extra leverage - but in addition to a hefty foot brake, he also has a thumb lever for the rear brake, nestling under the left clip-on. After trying unsuccessfully to make this work as it should, I gave up and sought help. "I use this to get most advantage from the engine's high rpm power," says Yanagawa. "I prefer to use 13,000 rpm or more in order to get best drive as soon as turn opens. I use hand and foot brake to slow down entering the turn, hit entry, let off foot brake, trail hand brake till speed is correct, then use a little thumb brake before middle apex. Then I start to feed power, maybe little harder thumb brake, rear wheel starts sliding smoothly, then hit power hard, let off brake, go straight. This gives me early strong drive - but only possible with good tires." Dunlop's big step-up in superbike tire development this year was a key factor in Kawasaki's good season though only after a dismal start to the year, which saw Suzuki and Aprilia joining Harald Eckl in a crisis meeting with the Anglo-Japanese tire company. But Dunlop responded brilliantly, with a new design of Britishmade 16.5-inch rear tire from the Nurburgring onward that closed the gap with their Michelin rivals. The general consensus by season's end was that the French tires had more grip, but the Dunlops gave more feel and also lasted a race better. cue I e n e _ S • JANUARY 26. 2000 27