Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128309
Kawasaki retired from 500cc Grand Prix racing at t he end of 1982 "in o rder to concentrate our company's race activities on those classes of fo ur-st ro ke raci ng directly related to our customer products ," it said on the company's official press releas e on the subject . In other words, Kawasaki would be focusing on World Endurance, in which it was the reigning champ ion, AMA Superbike (ditt o), and, in due co urse, the World Superbike Championship, wh ich Scott Russell wo n for it with the ZXR750 in 1993 : The Green creamies have since concentrated exclu-based road racing, w ith Ducati comi ng fro m nowhere to lead its very first race and wind up on the rostrum in it with a bike that was created from scra tch, engine included , in exactly the same timeframe that Kawasaki spent working on the ZX-RR. Kawasaki team manager Harald Eckl will be hoping for much better things in 2004 , w ith an all-new, smaller bike employ ing an uprated vers ion of the current four-cylinder in-line 990cc 16-valve motor, which has already registered promise in end-of-season testing and, most impo rtantly, already has a full winter of on track development in front of it. But the chance to ride Andrew Pitt's 2003-model ZX-RR at Valencia the day after its seasonclosing GP answered a lot of quest ions about a bike that has struggled to get on pace in its first full season of competition. It also held out some ho pe for the future even if it ended on a low note when I found out the hard way what t he Kawasaki ZXRR'sriders have bee n com plaining about all season ... by crashing it! First , though, I discover ed that t he Kawasa ki has a frankly ungainly riding position , mu ch mo re so than th e Ducat i pointy vestigial screen is broad enough to protect at least your head , though not much else . However, the wings of the fairing nose actually do a goo d job of de flecting airstream over your shou lders . It's act ually a pretty well-thought-out aer odynamic package, as we ll as looking so , er, original in appearance. O nce straightened up and flying right out of a turn , the Kawasaki has a fair turn of speed that fee ls comparable with the MI Yamaha. This was noticeable in the race the day before when another Valencia faller, Nicky Hayden , unable to pass the ZX·RR duo of Pitt and McCoy down the pit straight aboard his V5 Honda, was forced to wait fo r the exit from slowe r midfield turns to assert the RC2 1 I V's supe rior drive and more forgiving power delivery. The Kawasakiengine fee ls pretty potent at high rpm, but it has a rather narrow powerband that, coupled w ith what is a pretty unruly chassis package , makes this a hard bike to ride at any co nsistent speed. It fe els like an old-fashioned o ne- liter Supe rbike fro m 20 years ago in its power delivery, which is q uite peaky and very sud - point t hat's the pro blem, especially on the Dunlo p tires, which have proved least effect ive of the t hree manufact urers ' products contesting the MotoGP class, perhaps simply beca use only Kawasaki has been running them all year (WCM on ly race d half the season), so the re's been much less feed back and on -track develo pment than even Bridgestone has enjoyed with the Protons and the Pramac Honda of Tamada . That aggressive, peaky power de livery is what makes the Kawasaki so hard to ride. Even if the numbe rs are pretty much there in te rms of bhp , it's broadening the spread and smoothing out the delivery that have to be Kawasaki's main targets this winter, w ith better midra nge power and a wide r spread of torque key objectives. Every lap exit ing the final turn onto the Valencia pit stra ight. the Kawasaki wou ld wheelstand in the bott o m fou r gears , forcing me to try to ride the w hee lies out on the throttle, which I'll adm it takes some practice on a 230-bhp motorcycle - with the result that more often than not, the fro nt whee l bum ped down fo r a brie f mo ment before reac hing for the stars again in the next gear. Unlike Yamaha's high-zoot computerized version, the ZX-RR's slipper clutch is a mechanically operated unit, giving good feedback on deceleration. The beefy rear swingorm fea· tures a cast pivot section with The ZX·RR employs either 305mm or 290mm Brembo corbon.fiber front bra kes. The norm in the class is 32Omm. Speculation is that the lesser grip of the Dunlop tires neces· sitates the smoller binders. very late to join the MotoGP mafia, with the result that they 've done most of their development work under public scrutiny as, indeed , has no less an authority than Kenny Roberts done with his Proton V5, before anyone gets too carried away criticizing company men in suits with no understanding of the realities of racing! But with just 23 World Championship points shared among all three ZX-RR riders this season, and with Kawasaki bringing up the rear in the manufacturers' points table, even behind Proton and the equally disappointing Suzuki effort, it's fair to say that things haven't gone to plan. That's especially so pressecl alloy spars . Kawasaki went thl"OUQh a t least five chassis configurations on the ZX-RR last season. Desmosedici and especially the M I Yamaha - both of which I rode later that day, after hosing the dust from the kitty litter off my leathers! Whereas you sit in the Ducati and feel a part of the quite compact, well-balanced Yamaha, you appear to be perched right on top of the very tall-feeling Kwacker, whose impression of bulk is con firmed by the engine 's having the frame spars wrapped around it, rather than up and over to reduce width, as on the slimmer-seeming MI. The ZX·RR's fuel tank seems high and wide, too, though there's a recess in the top to tuck the chin of your helmet in down the straight, and the very den at higher revs, though it's pretty forgiving low down by MotoGP standards, pullingcleanly from 7000 rpm out of a slow turn. But there's not as much grunt down there as on Kawasaki's own 750 Superbike - not 't il a sudden rush of power around I 1,000 rpm , where the engine takes off and in no time the green (of course!) lights are flashing on the dash at fourteen grand , telling you to change up wide open at the peak power mark of 14,500 revs before the revlimiter cuts in 500 rpm later. Whew! When that happens, the Kawasaki really motors in a straight line, is undeniably fast and sounds it, too. But it's getting to that www.cyclenews.com The traditional direct link between throttle hand and tire that is any world class rider's nirvana is mostly absent from the Kawasaki, even if the wide-open powershifter is one of the sweetest I've yet used on any racer - just graze the lever w ith your toe soon after the lights flash on the dash at 14,000 rpm , and it slots smoothly up a ratio . Another problem with the narrow powerband is that you must keep the revs up to get maximum drive out of a bend , so I found myself using a gear lower in many comers than on the other two bikes. That meant using bottom gear a lot on the ZX-RR with all of Valencia's CYCLE N EW S • FEBRUARY 4,2004 29