2016 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R review, test ride

The suspension setup on the 10R feels absolutely marvellous; it actually came as a bit of a surprise to me. Frankly, you don’t really expect a motorcycle capable of hitting 300kph on a racetrack to handle our Indian road conditions all too well. But the 10R has just obliterated that theory. It handles bumps well at low and high speeds. Sure, you may feel some bumps at lower speeds, but that can be forgiven. The Showa BFF at the front and the Showa Balance Free Rear Cushion (BFRC) do an absolutely stellar job of helping you hold your line. Even through the corners, this setup won’t get you unsettled while riding through the bumps. It’s really impressive how much feel and feedback there is from the suspension. This can be credited to the external nitrogen chamber on the suspension that controls the compression generated by the pistons. And this is the first time the BFF setup is actually available on a production motorcycle. Everything is separately adjustable; the compression, the damping and the pre-load. This allows for an even more focused machine on the track.

With a motorcycle this capable, you’d expect equally good stopping power. And the 10R in no way disappoints. It comes equipped with the extremely competent twin Brembo M50 monobloc, four-piston calipers, attached to 330mm discs (300mm on the older model) up front and a two-piston Nissin caliper attached to a 220mm disc at the rear. Input is transferred through race quality steel-braided lines and these brakes provide an immense amount of stopping power. The front-brakes rotors are even cross-drilled and have a circumferential groove on the outer edge to help with heat dissipation. The initial bite on these brakes is highly impressive, followed by great feel and feedback from the brakes all the way. Couple this up with the Bridgestone Battlax RS10 tyres, carried over from the Ninja H2 platform, and you have a very generous amount of traction available at all times.

With all these 'go-faster' upgrades, it’s clear that this new 10R’s focus is firmly on the race track and to help riders shave those precious milliseconds off their lap times, the ergonomics too feel a lot more aggressive. The outgoing model certainly felt a lot friendlier in that regard.Get aboard this new bike and the first thing you notice is the foot-pegs; they now sit higher up, allowing for a more aggressive seating posture. Keep in mind, this posture would be way more demanding of the rider;it is primarily forward biased to add more weight over the front tyre. Like I’ve mentioned a few hundred times already, this machine wants you to go faster. Its setup is not intended for lounging around at lower speeds. On the flipside, longer stints in the saddle can begin to get painful. Especially for taller riders; the new riding-position can feel more cramped than before. So tucking in may become a bit of a problem and even I experience somehelmet buffeting at higher speeds.

All in all, the new 10R provides you with the absolute cream of racing technology available on a production motorcycle. However, being a track-biased motorcycle, you can expect a rather extreme and intense riding experience; far from the more easy-going nature of the older model. That being said, the 2016 10R would be highly competent when stacked up against the other litre motorcycles. On and off the track, this Jap should definitely give its European counterparts a run for their money; power-wise and technology-wise. The great part is the pricing. At Rs 16.4 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), the new 10R makes an immensely strong case for itself. Kawasaki has done a stellar job no doubt, but this Ninja’s intense track focus makes it rather far from an everyday machine.