Table of contents:
With the audacity of a brand that does things out of the box, Kawasaki continues to push all-in directly towards the World Superbike Championship and has revealed this weekend what will be its weapon for next year: A Kawaski Ninja ZX-10R renewed and even more effective on the track.
Akashi's motorcycle is following year after year a constant evolution to be the reference in the WSBK and for this 2019, with the threat of the new Ducati Panigale V4, it was not going to be less. Jonathan Rea will have the best bike again, at least on paper.
Kawasaki ZX-10R: The Queen of the WSBK
In front of a select and very small audience, this weekend Kawasaki presented in Japan and with the presence of Jonathan Rea himself the new generation of its sports bikes. The ZX-10R incorporate changes that in street models represent a slight increase in power, but that will have great benefits within the circuits.
The great novelty hidden in the heart of the Superbike Ninja is a new rocker set for valve actuation with a set 20% lighter than traditional tappets, with more aggressive actuation profiles and a new DLC coating that reduces wear.
If last season the Kawasaki ZX-10RR released a cylinder head with the possibility of using competition camshafts, now the Kawasaki ZX-10R receive this same red cylinder head which raises the power of its propeller up to 203 hp and 114.9 Nm of torque, an increase of 3 CV over the previous model.
Externally, the new Kawasaki ZX-10R changes little, but we can differentiate it by an even more elaborate decoration similar to that of the racing models with the traditional green-black-gray scheme with red details reminiscent of factory team racing bikes.
As in last season there will be three variants: ZX-10R, ZX-10RR and ZX-10R SE. All will incorporate as standard (finally) the bi-directional semi-automatic shift (for both up and down gears) KQS, in addition to revised suspension settings and slight changes in the terminations to offer a higher perceived quality. In addition, all will be able to benefit from the Performance variants.
One step above is the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, the version with which Jonathan Rea (and another driver yet to be confirmed) will contest the 2019 season in the Kawasaki Racing Team. This model receives 400 g lighter titanium connecting rods (reduces the moment of inertia of the crankshaft by 5%) that raise the maximum power up to 204 hp and 115.7 Nm of torque, with a 600 rpm redline higher up.
It may seem like a tepid increase, but Kawasaki claims that engine behavior also varies and what they don't say is that the mechanical potential goes much further once the racing engineers get their hands on it. Will only occur 500 units worldwide available exclusively in Lime Green color and with Marchesini forged wheels.
As in the previous generation, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R SE It will also make an appearance as the most technologically advanced version. The KECS semi-active suspension system is capable of adjusting the fork and shock settings according to the type of handling and behavior on the asphalt, regulating compression, rebound and preload.
The extra equipment translates into an increase of only 2 kg compared to the normal model, remaining in 208 kg for the same 203 hp and 114.9 Nm of torque. On the outside, the ZX-10R SE can be differentiated from its sisters apart from the cables connected to its elements of the cycle part, by a black decoration with green nuances and by also equipping the Marchesini rims.
The new Kawasaki ZX-10R, ZX-10RR and ZX-10R SE will arrive in European dealerships next month December at a price that is yet to be confirmed.
Kawasaki ZX-10R 2019 - Technical sheet:
Share More wood! The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R debut up to 204 hp as standard with a new cylinder head
Topics
Sports
- Kawasaki
- Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Motorcycle news 2019
