Zx Marks the Spot

ZX MARKS THE SPOT

NEW FOR 1990

KAWASAKI UNLEASHES THE NEXTGENERATION NINJAS

BYRON HINES, DRAG -RACE tuner without peer, is a man who lusts for horsepower— and not just in the quartermile rocketships he built for partner Terry Vance. In 1988, when Kawasaki's ZX-10 was the quickest, fastest, meanest thing on two wheels, he purchased one, then crated it up and put it on a shelf. His reasoning? “They won't build one with this much steam again," he said. Well, someone forgot to tell Kawasaki, because for 1990. it has built one with that much steam. And then some.

The new bike is the ZX-l l. a motorcycle that promises to be the mostpotent of the Ninja series. Hines'

cherished ZX-IO. like the 1989 version and the 1990 version released earlier this year, churned out a claimed 135 horsepower and. tuned crisply, would nudge l 70 miles per hour. The new ZX-1 l. with a claimed 10-percent bump in power, should easily burst through the 170-mph barrier, making it the fastest stock motorcycle in the world by perhaps 10 miles an hour.

Performance gains on the ZX-1 1 come mainly by way of a larger-displacement engine—up from 997cc to 1052cc—and T'rom an air-intake system composed of four 40mm carburetors breathing via a large airbox that draws air through an oval-shaped inlet at the front of the fairing.

Further helping the ZX's quest for more power is a new feature: An electronic monitor in the intake tract determines when auxilary main jets in the carburetors come into play, providing more fuel at higher speeds. Kawasaki claims the intake system acts on ram-air boost principles, giving the engine a kind of supercharged punch at high speeds. Kawasaki credits a 4-into-l-into-2 exhaust system for taking care of mid-range power.

Kawasaki wrapped its biggest Ninja's engine in a new' chassis. The frame is more muscular than the ZX10's, with thicker aluminum beams. The steering geometry has changed slightly, and now has a steeper rake and longer trail, which should lighten steering a little. The swingarm has also been strengthened, now having taller side beams. In keeping with the beefier frame, the fork stanchion tubes are now 43mm in diameter, rather than 41mm as on the ZX-10. and the fork comes with adjustable spring preload and rebound damping. Finally, the ZX-I 1 arrives with 1 7-inch wheels at both ends, shod

with Bridgestone radiais.

As with the ZX-10, Kawasaki has eschewed tailoring the ZX-1 I as a repli-racer. Instead of going apex-toapex with GSX-Rs and FZRs, the ZX takes the well-rounded approach of its predecessors, with fuller bodywork and a more-expansive riding position than either the Suzuki or Yamaha. Look for the ZX-1 1 to squareoff against Honda's new ('BR1000 for best-all-around-big-sportbike honors. As of presstime, a price for the bike wasn't available, but somewhere in the $7000 range would be a good guess.

Kawasaki claims to have struck a similar balance between performance and comfort with its other, totally new Ninja, the ZX-6.

Kawasaki used a clean piece of paper to design the ZX-6, rather than simply upscaling the Japanese-market ZX-4 or racier ZXR-400 as had been rumored. That fresh approach yielded a 599cc, liquid-cooled, inline-Four that has its cylinders canted forward about 15 degrees. The engine breathes through four 34mm, semi-downdraft carburetors, and. like the ZX-1 1, uses a 4-into-linto-2 exhaust system. Kawasaki declined to give horsepower figures, but our sources say the ZX-6 produces at least 100 horsepower, which, if true, will make it the strongest of the production 600s and — if its bodywork is as aerodynamically slick as it appears-the fastest, as well.

Furthermore, unless Suzuki shows a GSX-R600 for 1990. the ZX-6 will be the only bike in its class to come with an all-aluminum frame and swingarm. Additionally, its fork has 41 mm stanchion tubes, and its nitro-

gen-charged shock has adjustable spring preload and rebound damping. The bike rolls on premium rubber. with a new-style 160/60 17-inch Dunlop radial mounted on the 4.5inch rear rim and a 120/60 17-inch Dunlop radial up front.

While the new ZX-6 and the oldstyle Ninja 600, already released, will coexist for 1990, ultimately the ZX-6 will replace the Ninja. And despite the bike's many new features. Kawasaki claims that the ZX-6 will sell for just under $5000. on par with the 1990 Honda CBR600 and slightly less than the Yamaha FZR600.

Though rumors persist that sometime in 1990 we'll see a bigger Zephyr standard—currently on sale as a 400 in Japan (see Roundup, CW. September, 1989)—the only other new bike that Kawasaki is announcing at this time is the Vulcan 500, though a revised dual-purpose Single, the Tengai 650, was unveiled last month. Intended for the rider who prefers around-town cruising to backroad scratching, the Vulcan is powered by an engine that comes from the EX500, though the liquidcooled, parallel-Twin has been tuned for more mid-range power, with different cams and altered cam timing. The Vulcan looks longer and lower than the 454 LTD from which it derives and which it replaces, though, at $3700, it is $550 more expensive than the 454, available in 1990 as a carryover model.

While most of the rest of the Kawasaki lineup returns with only minor changes, the ZX-7 sportbike has had some significant, though almost visually unnoticeable, alterations. It has lost 10 pounds, gained a new swingarm, and its engine now comes with many of last year's race-kit parts, including a curved radiator, and new carbs, pistons and camshafts.

With a new. big-bore ZX promising to be quicker and faster than the already-searing ZX-10, with a ZX-6 that looks to have the 600 class' best combination of horsepower and handling and with a ZX-7 that’s been improved and upgraded, it's clear that Kawasaki is going hard after the performance-bike buyer in 1990. hoping that he'll put his old sportbike out to pasture and sign up for one of the new Ninjas. Those doing so may want to check with Byron Hines: He’ll probably have some extra shelf space to rent very soon. 0