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The circumstances had me concerned. Less than a month after crashing at another press intro (my fault), suffering a concussion and injuring my left shoulder (not to mention my sore ribs), I was on my way to the world press launch for the all-new 2008 Kawasaki ZX-10R in Qatar. Twenty-one hours of plane travel, and the jet lag associated with virtually turning your day upside down didn't help. Nor did the fact that the beautiful Losail Circuit is notoriously slippery if you stray off the racing line (due to the constant presence of sand blown in from the surrounding desert). Add to this the fact I would be riding an unfamiliar, mega-horsepower motorcycle in a Muslim country (albeit, a relatively friendly one). The last thing I wanted to do was visit the hospital with a banged up, American body. I was more than a little tense.
While we stood as a group of American journalists in the first Middle Eastern airport (where midnight was noon in California, and visa versa), it was more than a bit surreal. After a steady diet of Muslim suicide bombings on television, I began to wonder whether I should have made this trip in the first place. Sensing the presence of a relatively large minority of European and Australian travelers, however, put me somewhat at ease.
Kawasaki was nice enough to fly us in a couple of days early so that we could transition a bit better to the local time zone. This helped, but my sore shoulder and aching ribs made it difficult to get a good nights sleep.
Two laps into my first session aboard the 2008 ZX-10R, I rolled through the second gear right-hander leading onto the front straightaway, stood the bike up, and wound the throttle to the stops. Tucked in over the tank, I was greeted by a low power wheelie that began at 103 mph, carried the front wheel for roughly a second and then rather nonchalantly placed it back on the tarmac. As the handlebars danced lightly in my hands, I glanced down at the very legible speedo to note the 103 mph figure. I was already comfortable enough with the new ZX-10R that I rather enjoyed the experience, and considered it a polite "hello" from the newest open class sportbike on the market. Despite being as fast as any bike I had ever ridden, I knew the ZX-10R would do exactly what I asked it to do -- nothing more and nothing less. It was about this same time that I began to feel better about the whole trip, but I am getting ahead of myself.
There is plenty to discuss regarding the technical aspects of this all-new motorcycle. To begin with, Kawasaki's development approach was relatively unique. Development started on the race track in the Japan Superbike series underneath former WSB race winner Akira Yanagawa. Kawasaki built a race bike, first. It then adapted that race bike to the street. In the motorcycle press, we like to use the phrase "race bike with lights". This is the real deal.
The thing that stood out for me during our technical briefing at the Losail Circuit (that preceded our first ride on the bike), was the emphasis on top-end power. One of Kawasaki's goals was to maintain low-end and mid-range power, and increase top-end. This made sense for a race bike, but it had me wondering just how usable that power might be. After all, the 2007 ZX-10R already packed quite a wallop up top.
In addition to increasing high rpm power, the Kawasaki engineers were tasked with increasing feedback to the rider, providing "track friendly ergonomics", making the bike easier to change directions on, and developing extremely precise engine control (primarily through a re-designed fuel injection system and the KIMS system - Kawasaki Ignition Management System, discussed a bit later in this article).
The new backbone twin-tube frame was the subject of extensive testing and refinement. Ram air efficiency was increased significantly by opening up, and straightening the passageway around the head tube. In the process, Kawasaki somehow strengthened the head tube area of the frame. A resonator hole in the frame near the tail end of the ram air passageway is intended to reduce noise generated from the air box.
I had a chance to review notes taken by one of the Kawasaki engineers regarding significant features of the 2008 ZX-10R. I was not allowed to photocopy the notes, but I hand copied them verbatim (including the drawings). There was a very interesting note regarding the design of the backbone frame.
These notes showed that the frame rigidity was addressed, and tuned, in multiple sections from the head tube backward towards the swingarm pivot. Several frames were produced, and tested on the race track. At one point in the frame testing, a rider (presumably, Yanagawa) complained that there appeared to be too much frame flex near the center of the frame. Kawasaki took a unique approach to addressing this issue. It drilled through the frame, and inserted a pipe perpendicular to the frame rail, which was then welded in place. According to the engineer's notes, this pipe was tried in three different positions before Kawasaki was satisfied that the final position was optimal from a handling perspective.
To further illustrate the somewhat obsessive approach to the new frame design, Kawasaki emphasized that certain pressed parts were created with a convex press process, rather than the concave process used in '07. According to Kawasaki, this alleviated certain stress concentrations in the frame, and also assisted in the fine tuning of the frame's rigidity.
The front portion of the new rear subframe is mounted directly to the frame's upper cross member, which directs tire and suspension load more directly to the rider's seat, enhancing feedback. The rear portion of that subframe is a separately bolted-on aluminum piece that can be easily removed when installing bodywork for racing.
Continuing with the feedback theme, frame rigidity was increased in the swingarm pivot area, and ribbing was added to the interior of the pivot plate where it joins the frame's upper cross member. According to Kawasaki, this slightly slows down the feedback from the frame to the rider, giving the rider a better opportunity to determine what is happening at the rear contact patch.
Geometry-wise, the new frame is significantly different. The head pipe is moved 10 mm forward, and the rake of the front end is actually increased from 24.5° to 25.5°. The swingarm pivot was lowered 2 mm, and the swingarm itself is 2 mm longer. Overall, the 2008 ZX-10R has a wheelbase 25 mm longer than the 2007 model.........
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