It’s not often we get a head start on the rest of the world here in Australia, but it was in the case of the release of the 2016 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.

After details were released just less than two months ago, Australia played host to the first ride on the 2016 production superbike at Wakefield Park Raceway in New South Wales this week.

At a quick glance the new 10R looks not too far removed from the previous generation of ZX-10R, right?! Yes, it looks similar to the previous Ninja ZX-10R, but those with a keen eye will notice how the upper fairing cowl, front mudguard and seat are all slightly different.

These changes are for one reason and the same reason as the host of all other changes on this new machine – to make the ZX-10R the closest production machine on the market to a World Superbike.Marketing spin you say? Hardly.

This fine-tuning of the bodywork to improve the drag coefficient is an aspect of the 10R that, through experience and feedback in WorldSBK, and under the guidance of ZX-10R Project Leader Yoshimoto Matsuda, the team at Kawasaki has sought to roll in a raft of changes to make the production machine an even better package on the racetrack.

He knows a thing or two about developing machinery as project leader of the Kawasaki MotoGP effort before the company ceased the project in response to the effects of the GFC. And it’s sort of experience in developing what is essential for a machine to be better at the pinnacle of racing that has helped Matsuda-san focus on what is vital for the new Ninja.

Image: Keith Muir.

“When we started this project I said to management that we need to get closer to the World Superbike Championship-winning machine,” Matsuda san said. “We don’t need a prettier looking bike, we need to put our mind, energy and budget into the essential features we need for pure track riding.” Hence a similar looking 10R you see!

The release of Kawasaki’s 2016 Ninja ZX-10R comes on the back of winning this year’s WorldSBK championship with Jonathan Rea, of course. They won it with Tom Sykes in 2013 before that and were runner-up in 2012 and 2014.

Obviously, the previous generation ZX-10R was a great machine with features like traction control, ABS, Showa Big Piston Fork and a significantly more powerful engine taking it to the front of the pack in 2011, but things have changed.

“There’s a lot of competition in the supersports market now and everyone is catching up,” says Matsuda-san. “We have the benchmark machine [in the 2015 ZX-10R] but we have now raised the benchmark with this machine.”

With electronics one of the foremost areas of innovation these days, it’s no surprise to see the 2016 Ninja improve immensely in terms of what’s on offer.

At the heart of the system is the class-leading Bosch Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Feeding information it picks up from roll and pitch rates, and G-forces, the new IMU gives a better real-time picture of what the motorcycle is actually doing to the ECU. The ECU calculates the yaw from these readings and then dials in the electronic controls to help you out.

Image: Keith Muir.

With these additional measurements now at its disposal, the 10R can maximize drive by allowing power wheelies and rear wheel slides on acceleration all as a function of traction control. There are now five traction control modes with two dedicated for racing, and the other three varying for trackday riding through to riding on the road in the wet.

The electronics suite on the 2016 ZX-10R also includes launch control and engine brake control. It’s also got a quick-shifter, three power modes, is wired up for a data logger and there is an optional ABS model that also features cornering ABS, but all the bikes at the launch didn’t have it.

The extra functions mean the LCD element of the dash has more to say, but then it’s still the previous 10R dash carried over to the new machine. The dash might not be the latest TFT type, but as Matsuda-san put it the money was better spent elsewhere on this project.

Having ridden the latest superbikes dripping in the latest electronics, there’s no denying that the new ZX-10R is on par with the best in terms of the system’s sophistication. It’s equally simple to use and is all operated off the left-hand switchblock.

The changes brought on between each of the traction modes provide noticeable changes, and with more track time on the bike it’d be nice to explore just how varied each of them are.

Where the biggest and most dramatic change came about in my time was from the engine brake control feature. With reduced engine braking effect the character of the 10R transformed as the better feeling and control out of the chassis on braking and turn-in. This is an aspect of the handling dynamic that Kawasaki has aimed to achieve.

Image: Keith Muir.

The chassis changes come from pulling back of the steering head 7.5mm to the rider and the lengthening by 15.8mm and optimization of flex in the swingarm. These chassis changes in unison are to get better feel under brakes and turn-in as well as quicker steering on fast direction changes.

With little more than a click or two here and there on the suspension and with the engine braking rolled off, the 10R was a dramatically different feeling machine.

Turn-in is an area of focus and there was no doubting that this is perhaps the strongest and most impressive aspect of the 10R’s handling dynamic. Equally so the stability of the chassis at speed wasn’t wavered – something that can be compromised when you have a bike that is so flickable at low speed.

Sure, racers will need to dial things in more as they are much more capable of exploring this machine’s limits, but for a majority of riders out their they won’t challenge the base level of handling performance this machine now delivers straight off the showroom floor.

A big player in the 10R’s handling is the Showa suspension. It’s come as a result of a close collaboration with Kawasaki in GPs and continued to see the creation of the Showa Big Piston (BPF) Fork on the previous generation and now the Showa Balance Free Fork (BFF) on the 2016 ZX-10R.

Unveiled at EICMA in 2014, the BFF is a system that features a nitrogen-pressurised chamber, which is the red cylinder you see on the fork leg lowers. This area looks after the compression damping of the fork and oil enters it bypassing the rebound damping cartridge until the direction of fork stroke changes and oil works its way back out.

Image: Keith Muir.

The rebound control is taken care of in this pre-chamber with the aid of a one-way valve and a series of oil circuits. The result of getting these two functions out of the fork leg Kawasaki says is less oil cavitation and therefore a more responsive suspension system. As much as it looks like the system used in WSBK, it isn’t far off. Aside from cast, instead of forged, lowers and smaller stanchions, it is the same item.

At the back, the Showa Balance Free Rear Chamber (BFRC) is a shock that works much the same way as the fork system and was run on the previous 10R. For 2016, the BFRC lite is a lighter and more compact version of the same unit on the previous model.

The change in the chassis measurements has also shifted the rider. The seat height is a lower 823mm, the bars are 7.5mm closer, while the bike now has a higher centre of gravity – a contributing factor to that sure footedness on corner entry Matsuda san says.

There’s no going past the addition of Brembo brakes on the front of the ZX-10R as top-notch equipment, and for looks. M50 Monoblocs no less, they take place of the radial mount Tokicos and run on the same size discs, but they are Brembo discs too. The rear caliper is the same Nissin single piston caliper, but the wave disc is now round to match the front ones.

Like every other detail on this machine, Kawasaki has ensured the entire braking system is up to spec with a Brembo radial-pump master cylinder taking care of control while firmer, braided lines ensure there’s perfect pressure regulation down to the calipers.

Braking is as sharp, strong and precise as it gets. There was no ABS equipped models at the launch, but with the additional capability of the Bosch IMU the new system should be better again.

Image: Keith Muir.

One of the other things to benefit the handling has come from one of the many changes to the engine. By reducing the gyroscopic effect of the crankshaft and reducing the moment of inertia by 20 percent, engineers have sought to quicken up the steering and lighten up the handling as a result of less force being thrown against the front-end.

The new crankshaft has also brought about quicker acceleration and deceleration and is part of a package that includes everything from larger exhaust valves, straighter, polished ports, more efficient cooling system, stepless cam tensioner, greater valve overlap from new cams and shorter lighter pistons sitting below a reshaped combustion chamber. The list goes on with more changes like journal sizes, oil strainer design, cylinder wall thicknesses and lighter counter balancer.

Yep, there’s a lot of small details that have been refined throughout this machine from one end to the other and the result is an engine that is just as powerful before, but stronger in the lower rev range and faster revving through to redline.

On take off, the 10R is pleasantly smooth and controllable under light acceleration. Flick on the launch control, clutch in and throttle pinned and it’s another story! It’s made for racers, but I reckon you’ll see a few traffic light races won easily thanks to it.

With all gears shorter aside from 4th and 5th, the 10R delivers a hard-hitting punch lower in the rev range that makes for faster corner exits ultimately. It’s always predictable, smooth and linear with a lot of work gone into removing that emissions control dip through the range.

This is a very rider friendly package and more so than the previous ZX-10R thanks to the efforts to get things working better lower in the rev range and through a wider rev range than before.

Image: Keith Muir.

For this the fifth generation of Ninja ZX-10R, instead of reinventing the machine, Kawasaki has done a thorough job of evolving an already proven and still successful product.

It’s the refinement and advancement of the suspension, brakes, engine and electronics that have made the 10R a machine with more confidence inspiring handling, stronger acceleration and sharper braking.

Kawasaki has done to the production 2016 ZX-10R what they did to the 2015 WorldSBK racer. You know, the bike they won the championship with. Bettered everything to make the bike a better machine on the racetrack and as a result taken a lot of time, money and effort out of what most riders and racers will do to their superbikes as soon as they can.

If you want to go further there are plenty of race kit parts that of course include a race ECU for more detailed adjustment of the electronics, ABS deactivation dongle, engine kit parts and chassis parts.

There are also offset steering head and swingarm mount collars to get the chassis geometry more finely tuned. No doubt, like the rest of the production machine, these parts have been created from the experience learned from the Kawasaki Racing Team.

There’s that old adage of ‘racing improves the breed’ and in the case of the 2016 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R it couldn’t be more true. The best just got better.

Specifications

Capacity: 998cc
Power: 154kW @ 13,300rpm (with Ram Air)
Torque: 114Nm@ 11,500rpm
Wet weight: 204kg
Seat height: 835mm
Colours: Lime Green KRT
Price: $22,000; ABS $23,000 (plus on-road charges)
Warranty: 24 months, unlimited distance
Detailed specs: www.kawasaki.com.au