I have a pet iguana with a split personality; one minute he’s sitting contentedly in my lap, the next he turns into this aggressive and snapping green monster.
Much like the Kawasaki ZX-10R I’ve just tested. The much-awaited 2011 one-litre Ninja, all new from nose to tail, is civilised in a way that the original hardcore, bad-to-the-bone ZX-10 wasn’t.
But yank its tail and it turns into a snapping, aggressive thing that wants to bite your head off. As one would expect of a machine with a claimed 147kW on tap (155 with Ram Air) but weighs only 200kg.
But let’s start with the civilised part. For a bike that is unequivocally intended to return Kawasaki to racing glory and comes with the most powerful engine in its class (well, joint most-powerful with the BMW S1000RR), I was surprised at how well-mannered and useable it could be on the road.
It feels cultured and refined in a Honda Fireblade sort of way, with a surprisingly compliant and comfortable ride for such a sports machine. The suspension felt very road-friendly on my 160km Johannesburg breakfast run and the Kawa didn’t judder over bumpier sections of road or threaten to detach my retinas, while the steering damper prevented head-shake.
The suspension is completely new for improved ride and roadholding. The new fully adjustable Big Piston Front forks feature a main piston almost twice the size of that on the older bike, allowing the oil inside to act on a surface area nearly four times as great.
No doubt the adjustable suspension can be set to spine-jarring racetrack firmness but it’s nice to know that the new Ninja can be a well-mannered breakfast-run machine too.
Electronics also play their part in making this so, and the new ZX-10R for the first time offers three-mode traction control as well as three different engine mappings that allow riders to tune the bike to their riding requirements. ABS is optionally available.
I didn’t get to ride the ZX-10R on a track so the traction assistance went untested, but I fiddled with the different power delivery settings (Full, Middle and Low) and they made a significant difference.
With the engine mapping set to Low, the Kawa feels cultured and refined, content to buzz around without the throttle feeling snatchy. Never slow, mind you - the pace on offer is always insane - it’s just that you can yank the twist grip without it feeling like you’ve pulled the trigger on an RPG launcher.
But in its most responsive F setting (which I’ve nicknamed Frigging Furious), the bike is just stupidly, dementedly fast. As fast as a busted politician’s denials. When all 155 of its kilowatts are summoned it blasts off with a capital F, blurring the lateral scenery in a way that feels like you’re being sucked through a wormhole in a sci-fi movie.
I longed to find an R1, ‘Blade or similar at the lights so I could see just how much faster this Ninja is, but on this day there were unfortunately no takers.
The brakes are the business too, with deceleration that feels like you’ve slammed into an airbag armco.
The rev counter’s cleverly designed so that it indicates when to shift gears while taking a minimum of the rider’s attention off the road or racetrack. It’s a bar-style digital display that sweeps across the width of the fascia, lighting up progressively in first orange and then red as the revs rise. When the engine nears its rev limit and it’s time to change up, the whole coloured bar starts flashing in a way the rider can’t miss.
The comprehensive instrument panel includes a gear indicator and fuel-consumption meter, though strangely there’s no fuel gauge - just a low-fuel warning light.
The new Ninja’s styling is a bit more angular than the old but generally rather unassuming - nothing very progressive. The finishes are all first-class though and Kawasaki has definitely upped its game here.
It’s a compact bike, light and manageable, and the newly lowered seat will appeal to shorter riders. It has the typical high-footpeg, low-handlebar seating position of a sports bike but doesn’t feel unreasonably cramped - my body wasn’t screaming for mercy after the 160km ride.
All round, a monster of a manically fast but well-mannered machine. But fear not ye hardcore-seeking Ninja faithful, it’s a case of civilised aggression rather than being aggressively civilised.
The new Ninja is in Kawasaki showrooms now at R149 000. The ABS model should be here by the end of January 2011 at about eight grand more. - INL Motoring