Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Review : Lethally Sublime

Design and Features

For 2015, Kawasaki is offering the Ninja ZX-10R in just the trademark Kawasaki lime green and black colours, along with a special 30th anniversary edition livery. Like with other Kawasaki CBU offerings, some may complain about the lack of colour options, but hey, if it is good enough for James Cameron’s deep-sea submersible, this colour is also fine by us. Besides, why would you buy any Kawasaki sportsbike, leave alone the big daddy, in any other colour but green, right?

In this green and black, the Ninja looks purposeful and ready for anything even Sykes himself can throw at it. There’s nothing superfluous here; every design element has been carefully considered and adopted to slice through air as efficiently as possible. More than making its rider look cool, it is more preoccupied with plastering a grin on his face at the end of his lap or a fast ride. Everything else is an afterthought, an accessory to the core mission. It is this purity of purpose that gives the ZX-10R its beauty.

Case in point: that RAM air intake. Sandwiched between the twin front headlights and directly beneath a blink-and-you-will-miss-it LED pilot lamp, it rams fresh air into the engine, raising the already incredible 197 horsepower to a stupefying 207hp. Then there are the rear-view mirrors-integrated turn indicators with twin bulbs and clear-lens coverings. They subtract yet another go-slower bit necessitated by the road, a practice that is becoming increasingly popular with most sports bikes.

Moving on, the instrument console is fully digital, complemented by an LED tachometer that lights up like a Christmas tree when the going gets fast. Or fun. It is comprehensive and even comes with a fuel economy light (on a litre-class superbike, seriously!), apart from the lap timer and the usual bits. The console also displays the selected power and traction control mode – more on both later – and they’re controlled by a big push button on the left handlebar. Another interesting bit: the pass light also functions as the start-stop button for the lap timer. Like we said, all in the interest of making you go as fast you can without being distracted by unnecessary functions.

There really isn’t anything new to say about the styling of the ZX-10R at this point. As you’d expect, the riding position is focused, but it is nowhere as extreme as we have experienced on some of the Italian and Bavarian superbikes. On the contrary, it is pretty comfortable and you can actually cover some decent miles on it if your body is up for that type of hijinks. And if you’re going to do that often, we recommend lowering the adjustable footpegs by a good 15mm, something that your legs will thank you for at the end of the ride.

My only personal gripe was with the tail section. Styling is subjective, and I seem to be the only one of my colleagues to point it out, but I would have wanted a more extreme tail piece to go with the rest of the superbike bodywork. As it stands, though, it is broad and pretty comfortable, ending in a stubby rear end with integrated tail lamps and indicators. You know, less bits and bobs dangling around that could break off anytime. But practicality be damned, this is a firebreathing superbike, and if I bought a ZX-10R, it won’t be for ferrying people, guys or girls. Again, I’m complaining about a perfectly good tail section but a more radical – even at the cost of practicality – tail piece would’ve really sealed the deal for me. And oh, can we please have something a bit more stylish than the plain Jane three-spoked alloys in the next update, Kawasaki?

Styling aside, there’s the more important issue of electronics and it is where the ZX-10R shines. Superbikes have seen a spurt in power and torque figures like no other category, to the point that they would be virtually unrideable now by the average guy if it were not for the electronics keeping everything in check. The Ninja comes with three power modes, three traction control settings, and a whole host of acronyms to help you catch slow moving helicopters without actually bumping into them, a la Die Hard 4.

Up until the 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1 and some other European machines came along, this Kawasaki was the best equipped superbike in the business. It still packs a punch, with goodies like a slipper clutch, a quickshifter, an Öhlins steering damper, and Showa big-piston forks upfront. We will explore each of these features when we get to them.

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