2016 KAWASAKI ZX-10R
FIRST RIDE
P82
higher up and further forward
in the chassis than before. The
chassis is compact and tight,
and this is before you've even
gone out on track. The fairing,
seat, tank, exhaust, mirrors,
they're all changed, reshaped or
reduced. About the only thing
familiar is that horrible dash and
those budget-looking switches.
Matsuda-san decided to keep
this dash rather than go for a
fancy new item like the Yamaha
YZF-R1 so as to devote more
money towards the end game of
making the 10R faster.
It's easy to see why Kawasaki
chose Malaysia's Sepang to
showcase the new 10R – it's a
very front-end reliant track to
highlight steering prowess, with
tire shredding corner exits that
show off a good TC system. If
the bike doesn't steer, you're
in deep crap here, so it's lucky
this new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R
BONE MATTER
Take the old frame and chuck it –
that's the motto with the new 2016
ZX-10R. Modeled closely on what
Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes and their
crews found when developing their
championship winning bikes over the
years, the new chassis has the engine
mounted higher and more forward
in the frame to get more weight over
the front end. To this end also is the
steering head, which is 7.5mm closer
to the rider. All this is designed to
increase that crucial feel the rider
needs to be confident on braking,
turn-in, and flicking from side to side.
SHOCKING BEHAVIOR
The rear shock is Showa's BFRC
Lite, which is a lighter, more compact
version of the Showa Balance Free Rear
Cushion shock originally developed for
the Honda CBR1000RR. Like the fork,
the damping force is generated in an
external damping force chamber with
independent compression and rebound
damping adjustment at the base of
the shock. Preload adjustment is the
old-school collar and ring system. The
shock comes with high- and low-speed
compression and rebound damping
adjustment.
First gear, full gas. Modern wheelie control is very good indeed.
