Kawasaki Zx-6r

KAWASAKI ZX-6R

New clothes for the king of the class

SPECIAL 600 SECTION

BEING A SEMI-CRIPPLED LUDDITE OF Convenience like many of my gearheaded brethren, I'm more and more prone to Choosing a certain level of' technology (usually dated) with which I am most comfortable. and sticking with it. Typewriters, tube radios, cars or bikes, I tend to pick what 1 like and reject fur ther ad~ances as sort of blasphemous. tintil. ol'coursc. it becomes too inconvenient to reject them any longer.

Unfortunately for the blinder-wearing nostalgist in me, this job is a con stant reminder of why new stuff gets sold: Because it's good. And in 2000. Kawasaki's ZX-GR was better than good it was the best, the state of the game in the 600cc class. Ilandily took its berth in our Ten Best voting with nary an argument-heibre the appeti/ers even showed up. in f~tct. "ZX-oR? Best Middleweight Streethike? Yes? Lxcellent. Pass the garlic hread...'~ [he Kawasaki is a tasty melange of motorcycle qualities mixed just so. making it a tidy trouble-free package to tool around on at two-tenths as you creep to work on Monday morning, while it seemed like just estcrday (since it was) that you were wailing full-roost, 14,500-rpm shifts on your best twisting byway just before a leisurely breaklhst. On Sunday, a little two-wheel athletics, on Monday, not a had place to sit as you consider with some distaste what might lie ahead in your workday. At least the bike's there for you when the whistle blows, like the day just did.

So, the ZX-6R definitely had it all in 2000. But now it's 2001 . And with manuflicturers' overlapping development cycles seeming to mean that every year we get a newly developed cycle, it is very difficult to remain on top of this class without takin~z serious action.

But the ZX-ÔR returns in 2001 with fresh colors (the Pictured yellow'purple is new, to go with the more traditional green/purple combo also available) as the only tweak. Problem? Well, revisiting the bike suggests it I11UV not be, lbr we were reminded oithe fine balance the ZX-bR possesses. And it seemed all the more impressive after a long stretch of riding only my quirky old Laverda.

Excellent ergonomics and a good fairing arc allied with a torquey 599cc, carbureted (antiquity rules!) inline-Four and positively seamless sixspeed gearbox. The fully

adjustable suspension and twin-spar aluminum chassis help make it a super-capable racetrack mount-only nominally slower-steering than the class flickmeister, Yamaha's YZF-R6-without crushing you in normal streetbike life. Hauls ass and coddles it, too.

In fact, if you head out to the dry lake at El Mirage, you might comfortably see 154 mph (tops in our “3x3” comparison with last year’s R6 and Triumph TT), and knock off a 10.96 in the quarter-mile along the way, less than a tenth off the screaming Yamaha's time. And while those particular numbers point out that the Kawi docs rip on top, it’s the midrange surge that truly moves you in real life. So nice. All this and 40 mpg.

Perfect, then? Of course not. Along with the comfy ergonomics, superior stability, excellent cornering clearance, ample’n’smooth power and light, neutral steering, you also have compression damping that's noticeably firm front and rear, and an oddly shaped seat that bothered some.

Hardly gnats in the ointment, though, for overall there is great ease of use and a high level of polish. It's the kind of bike you ride, then wonder to yourself rhetorically, “How can they get any better?” Of course, they always do. That's because excellence has a lot going for it. This year Kawasaki stuck with a level of excellence and technology it was rightly comfortable with. Next year it might not be as convenient to do so.

Mark Hoyer