2016 KAWASAKI ZX-10R
FIRST RIDE
P76
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KAWASAKI
K
awasaki's ZX-10R Project Leader,
the famed Yoshimoto Matsuda, put
it very succinctly when he spoke
of his new baby to the U.S. motorcycle
press in the Sepang garages.
"A fast bike to ride is an easy bike
to ride. It should work with you, not
against you. That's how you go faster."
Truer words have never been spoken.
A bike that's your friend will always want
to make you push harder than a bike
that hates you, but for me, Kawasaki's
ZX-10R has been perplexing machine.
Blindingly fast in certain hands, the
Ninja's known as a knife-edged bike,
with power high in the revs and a chas-
sis that takes a particular riding style to
extract the most performance.
The 2011 machine is a case in point.
Rarely did this machine finish in the
top-three of any magazine superbike
tests, but it won two World Super-
bike titles and populated superstock
grids around the globe – and this was
towards the end of its lifespan. It's the
NINJA
DIARIES
THE FOURTH GENERATION
OF THE KAWASAKI NINJA
ZX-10R HAS ARRIVED
LOADED WITH HARDWARE
AND SOFTWARE TO RIVAL
ANYTHING CURRENTLY
ON DEALER FLOORS. HOW
GOOD IS IT? WE WENT
TO MALAYSIA'S SEPANG
MOTOGP CIRCUIT TO
FIND OUT.
