Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Review : Lethally Sublime

Performance and Efficiency

I’ll be perfectly honest with you. If anyone lesser than a pro-level rider tells you that he has thrashed a post-2000s superbike to its limits, and that too on a public road, take it with a pinch of salt. Even seasoned automotive journalists, exposed to a wide array of exotic machinery and a variety of racetracks, will be hard-pressed to find the limits of a ZX-10R.

That said, a superbike is no less fun for lesser mortals too, provided you know what you’re doing and give the bike what it deserves.

That’s actually pretty easy in this case if you keep the specs in mind. The 2014 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is powered by a liquid-cooled 998cc inline four engine. It produces 197hp (200PS) of peak power at 13,000 rpm, a figure that climbs to 207hp (210PS) with ram air. The peak torque figure of 112 Nm comes in at 11,500rpm.

Now, handling all that power obviously necessitates some really sophisticated electronic whizzbangery to keep it all in check. That’s where Kawasaki’s S-KTRC (Sport-Kawasaki Traction Control) and wheelie control comes in. In C, the most docile of three modes, the Ninja gives you 60 percent of its full power, which should be more than sufficient for most activities. B mode ramps the power all the way up to 80 percent. And if you’re feeling particularly adventurous or have a whole track to play around in, just press A for the full-blown 200 horsepower experience.

This is where the blokes at Kawasaki have managed to pull of their greatest trick with the ZX-10R. Even in A mode, the power delivery is so linear and progressive that you never feel like things are getting out of hand or the bike wants to throw you off it. It is a supremely refined engine that, thanks in part to the traction control too, manages to flatter both new riders, goading them gently to go faster and trust it to sort out everything. The ZX-10R is almost as easy to ride as a 600cc sports bike.

Until you hit the 8000rpm mark, that is. At this point, the whole bike changes character and you finally begin to understand the common saying, “You may meet the nicest people on a Honda but you will have more fun on a Kawasaki.” The note from those huge 4-into-2-into-1 titanium exhaust cans, already a sweet baritone note, changes into a shrill bark now, echoing off the hills and telling everyone to clear the road ahead well in advance. Everything around the road, both natural and man-made, turns into a barely comprehensible blur and so does the numbers on the digital speedo. The LEDs on the tacho are having a rave party of their own too, a party that won’t stop till you cross the theoretical rev limit and hit a stratospheric 14,500rpm.

But, even as the tendons and ligaments in your arms are coping with the full brunt of 200hp, the bike is barreling down the straight with nary a whimper. This is also due to the new Öhlins steering damper, fitted onto the ZX-14R in last year’s update. With its own ECU, the damper firms up the steering as you go faster, rendering it less susceptible to small undulations on the road and small inadvertent body inputs from the rider, like headshakes. Before you know it, you’re clocking 160kmph in first gear. That’s more than what most Indian “performance” machines will clock in top gear, even if they’re set loose on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

See what we are dealing with now? No? Okay, here’s more.

0-100 km/h is accomplished in 2.9 seconds, 0-160km/h comes up in a mere 5.2 seconds, and the ZX-10R is electronically restricted to a top speed of 299km/h. You know, because of the gentlemen’s agreement and all that. Breaking that agreement is as easy as a trip to your local superbike anorak, and then it is all set to do 330km/h or thereabouts. Where you stretch its longer legs is another story altogether. Maybe the autobahns of Germany or the Isle of Man, I don’t know.

No matter what revs you are doing, the ZX-10R never loses its smooth and calm demeanor. For such a powerful machine, vibes are practically absent throughout the rev range. The quickshifter and easy clutch action makes it easy to barrel through the six-speed gearbox with minimal fuss and a slipper clutch is on hand if things get a bit hairy and you need to slow down fast.

With the new Kawasaki Intelligent Braking System (KIBS), braking is also a stellar display of Kawasaki’s engineering prowess – and supplier Bosch’s. The front is taken care of by twin semi-floating 310mm petal discs with four-piston radially-mounted calipers while a 220mm petal disc with aluminum single-piston caliper take care of the proceedings at the rear. These Nissin units aren’t as grabby as Brembo’s ferocious Monobloc calipers, which is something less skilled riders will appreciate. There’s little initial bite, but then it all comes flowing progressively and the bike stops without any fuss or muss. And oh, there’s ABS too.

If you’re in the market for a litre-class bike, fuel efficiency would be the last thing on your mind. Still, if you manage to ride it with a restrained right wrist, the Kwacker will return anywhere between 15 to 16 km/l, which I think is a fair price to pay for all the fun to be had.

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