18-21 FirstRideKawiZX6R 11/17/08 10:47 AM
the trail was also changed from 110 to
REDEFINING
GOALSBY THOMAS MONTANO
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KAWASAKI
O
kay, I’m hip with the idea
that the name “Kawasaki
Heavy Industries” certain-
ly gives away the fact that
Kawasaki builds a lot of
different things. But I still couldn’t help
but wonder what I was doing staring up
at some massive container ship from my
vantage point at the Kobe Works Ship-
yard.
Wasn’t I here to ride Kawasaki’s brand-
spanking new ZX-6R?
Don’t get me wrong – the shipyard,
which opened in 1981, is pretty impres-
sive, but what about this new bike and the
Autopolis racetrack we were going to test
on? It didn’t take me long to realize that
Kawasaki takes tremendous pride in all of
its endeavors, and with the amount of
resources and technology available to
them it’s of great benefit to the company
when it comes to the development of
motorcycles. After all, Kawasaki has been
building ships, trains and other things for
well over 100 years. And Kawasaki was
the first to build a personal watercraft –
the Jet Ski – so maybe the point of the
shipyard outing was simply to show us
how big and diverse the company really is
– and that it can basically build anything it
sets its minds to building. Who knows,
but it was impressive nonetheless and it
left me with a whole new respect for the
Kawasaki brand.
But back to that bike... the new ZX-
6R. Kawasaki’s engineers went into the
project with a bike that worked well. But
they wanted it better and they started in
that direction by fine-tuning the chassis,
adding some power via motor modifica-
tions and making the whole package a bit
more user-friendly. And they also wanted
to make it easy on the eyes, as well.
Okay, that’s all well and good on paper,
but how good of a base was the 2008
model for them to work from – and how
much work were they willing to do? We’d
find out shortly.
Having a racetrack like the Autopolis
track in the hills of Oita Prefecture in
north Kyushu nearby has to be a big boost
for Kawasaki. It is, after all, quite a place.
18 NOVEMBER 26, 2008 • C Y C L E N E W S
Page 18
2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R
Kawasaki set out to make
some big changes with its
ZX-6R. We ride it to see if
those goals were met.
It was built in 1990 to host Formula One
cars and Grand Prix motorcycles, but it
never quite panned out. So Kawasaki pur-
chased the complex in 2005 and has been
using it for development of its sportbikes
and its MotoGP racer.
The course layout is pretty cool, with a
three-mile loop consisting of long
straights paired with fast and slow cor-
ners and plenty of hard braking areas –
everything you need for a good test track.
The real fun comes from all the elevation
changes, giving you the feeling of a high-
speed rollercoaster ride.
Mr. Yasuhisa Okabe, the ZX-6R project
leader, explained that they wanted to
reach the best outcome in terms of racing
and street use – and they wanted to make
the ZX-6R easier for the less-advanced
rider to experience what the new bike
had to offer. According to Okabe, the
2008 ZX-6R was a well-balanced bike and
a proved to be a great starting platform
for the new ’09 model.
Obviously some parts of the old bike
were not up to par and serious attention
was needed to remedy these problems.
The bike’s lack of top-end power was a
major complaint at our Middleweight
Shootout last year and even the handling
characteristics of the mid-sized Ninja
were not overwhelmingly accepted.
Surprisingly enough, these were two
areas that Kawasaki felt the same about
and worked hard on improving.
The new ZX-6R is styled like its sibling, the ZX-10R.
103, which also helps with that front-end
feel. A new rear-motor-mount cast sec-
tion has been fitted to increase rigidity –
losing the previous bolt-on steel-plate
mount in the process. This, combined
with added rigidity around the swingarm-
pivot section, has enhanced the feedback
the rider gets and helps with rear-wheel
traction in mid-corner and under hard
acceleration out of corners.
The new main frame and two-piece
aluminum die-casting design sub-frame is
The basic layout of the 2009 ZX-6R is
the same as the 2007-2008 models, but
also now almost 4 1/2 pounds lighter. At
first glance, the frame looks similar to the
’08 model, but it is quite a bit different.
Additional weight loss occurs up front
with a new one-piece ram-air duct/res-
onator box that also incorporates the
stays for the instrument panel and mir-
plenty of subtle revisions were made to
enhance the handling and power of the Kawasaki engineers used the 2007
bike. Starting with the chassis, Okabe ZX-6R as a platform to develop the
explained that rider feel was their main ’09 model.
concern, so in order to achieve the best
possible solution, chassis rigidity was
addressed.
A lot of how a bike feels is directly
related to the inherent flex of the chassis
– change the way it flexes and you change
the way it feels. And don’t forget weight
loss and weight distribution – all of which
are also very important factors with
regard to handling and overall feel.
The ’09 Ninja gets a new frame and
some of the changes include the lengthen-
ing of the front motor mount up to the
head stock, and the addition of a web at
the back of the mount for stiffness. Just
behind the front motor mount, the frame
has been modified by changing the shape
of the box section to help control lateral
flex. The engine has been mounted with a
steeper cylinder bank-angle rotated
around the output shaft, thus raising the
engine’s center of gravity 16 mm. In the-
ory, that helps a rider get the ZX-6R
turned in easier while also helping get the
corner finished in a tidier fashion.
The head stock, which also features a
new casting, provides a steeper head
angle of 24 degrees compared with the
previous model’s 25-degree angle, and
18-21 FirstRideKawiZX6R 11/17/08 10:47 AM
rors. Newly designed bodywork and
fewer mounting brackets add to an overall
weight loss of almost eight pounds. It may
not seem like much, but combined with
the extra weight savings of the motor, the
little Ninja has gone on a serious diet that
you can really feel when riding it.
Another main contributor to the new
handling package is the introduction of
Showa’s Big Piston Fork (BPF) – a first for
any production bike. The 41mm inverted
fork is fitted with a larger 37mm main pis-
ton – up from the standard 20mm piston
– and it has 3.4 times the surface area.
This allows the reduction of damping
pressure while keeping the damping
forces the same under load. The action is
smoother through the stroke, allowing
for greater control as the fork compresses
under heavy braking and the bike’s weight
Page 19
is transferred forward. The Kawasaki
engineers claim that this is a big plus in the
stability department as you enter the
corners.
The simpler design of the BPF fork also
helps eliminate many internal compo-
nents found in cartridge-type forks – fur-
ther reducing the weight of the forks by
some 370 grams. Compression and
rebound adjusters are found in the top
fork caps while preload is now adjusted at
the bottom of the fork leg where the
spring is located. A new lighter one-piece
front fender combined with a new rear
fender saves another 510 grams.
The Kawi guys didn’t leave anything
out when it came to weight reduction. In
the ergonomic department, the new han-
dlebars are turned in more and are some
280 grams lighter. And a new, lighter rear-
brake reservoir has been moved forward
of the swingarm mount to free up space
for the footpegs to be relocated. The gas
tank, which is modeled after the one on
the ZX 1000E, is more flared around the
top, making it easier for the rider to rest
his arms on it while leaned over. It has
also been slimmed down at the back so
that a rider can grip the tank better with
his/her knees.
The new seat is slimmer in the front
section and 5mm lower than the previous
model, making it easier to reach the
ground, and the rider positioning also
provides a racier feel. When reaching for
the bars, a welcome change awaits you as
the length has now been reduced so you
feel more over the front of the bike.
Make sure you don’t forget to adjust the
new Öhlins twin-tube-designed damper
ZX-6R
C Y C L E N E W S • NOVEMBER 26, 2008
mounted on the top triple clamp – another
new item on the 2009 ZX-6R.
The first time you swing a leg over the
midsized Ninja, you instantly feel the
more aggressive riding position – yet you
don’t lose any of the comfort that is need-
ed for long rides.
And, lastly, Kawasaki has gone back to
the side-mounted exhaust for the ’09
model. A pre-chamber that is mounted
under the motor allows for a smaller muf-
fler section and lower weight, further aid-
ing with the bike’s mass centralization. All
these changes to the chassis are intended
to help the overall handling and feel of the
new ZX-6R, but do they work as claimed.
They certainly do.
Kawasaki’s last complete motor
redesign was in 2007, so the engineers
opted to take that platform and build on
19
18-21 FirstRideKawiZX6R 11/17/08 10:47 AM
it. As mentioned earlier, the ’08 bike was
lacking in top-end power and the men at
Kawasaki had a plan to remedy that prob-
lem. They started with a redesigned injec-
tion system. First, the air box was
changed in order to facilitate the motor’s
more upright positioning and the lack of
space under the gas tank. This created a
problem for airflow, so the engineers
came up with two solutions. First, cylin-
drical guides were added to the top of the
air box at the secondary injector location
to help with better spray and a more effi-
cient mixing of fuel for better combus-
tion. And the new injector-mounting plate
saves another 80 grams.
Next came the double-bore intake
funnels (“velocity stacks”) that feature
two different height openings – kind of
like variable velocity stacks. The upper
opening is for low- and mid-range and the
lower opening is for top-end. Quite
clever. Further down, the throttle bodies
have an increased distance of 10mm
between the oval sub-throttles and main
throttles, and the transition between the
oval sub-throttles and round main throt-
tles has been reshaped for a smoother
airflow, resulting in better drivability.
A new throttle assembly contributes
another 30 grams of weight loss (hey, it all
adds up). The fuel enters the combustion
chamber via revised intake porting and
the valves are now actuated by new
400-grams lighter chrome-moly steel
camshafts. The intake cam has the same
duration as the previous models, but lift
has been increased from 8.3 to 8.6 for
better top-end. On the exhaust side, the
cam duration has been shortened and lift
is also down from 7.5 to 7.2 to increase
the midrange. The ignition coils get a 12-
percent increase to the secondary coil
current, which is vital for better combus-
tion performance. The pistons receive
new profiles and improved crowning plus
a molybdenum coating on the skirts for
reduced friction loss. Piston-ring tension
has been lowered as well for less mechan-
ical loss, and the new cam-chain guides
stabilize chain motion for less mechanical
loss also.
20 NOVEMBER 26, 2008 • C Y C L E N E W S
Page 20
2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R
Okay, so we have the fuel in the motor
and it is being burned at a phenomenal
rate, but getting the exhaust out is just as
important in obtaining power gains. Thus,
the exhaust system needed an overhaul
to get the most out of the mods, so the
engineers kept the length of the four
headpipes the same while increasing the
length of the two-pipe mid-section. They
also took the catalyzers out and a new
single catalytic converter resides in the
one pipe section before the pre-chamber
and muffler.
The increased flow of this design helps
with power delivery and smoothness,
plus there are benefits with noise reduc-
tion and weight loss. It’s somewhat
impressive that all these small changes
add up to a power increase of eight
horsepower, giving the new model 126
horsepower at 13,500 rpm compared
with the 118 horsepower of the ’08
model. Max torque on the new bike is
66.7 at 11,800 rpm.
Plus all this power is delivered
smoother than it ever has been with the
addition of the revamped fuel-injection
system. Some other features of interest
include new lightweight magnesium
engine and valve covers, and the optional
removal of the noise-reduction pads
inside the covers that reduces weight for
a total savings of 950 grams over the pre-
vious aluminum style.
New narrower transmission gears and
a revised geardog shape remove another
170 grams of weight off the cassette-type
transmission. The oil pump and starter
gears have also lost 70 grams and, by
monitoring inlet pressure pulses, the
removal of the cam-angle sensor saves
weight as well. Even the coolant tank is
new and loses 150 grams while the
revised and relocated heat pads in the fail-
ings shave off another 170 grams.
One other new addition is the rev-lim-
iter feature that cuts fuel first and then
ignition to better smooth out the hit
when you’re on the rev-limiter. This is so
the bike doesn’t fall flat on its face when
it’s being overrevved. In total, the chassis
loses just over 15 pounds and the
motor loses almost seven, equaling 22
pounds.
That’s good stuff because any
weight loss helps with the overall
performance of the bike.
So what
about the
style of the
new ZX-6R? How
has it changed from last
year? Well, when you first
look at the new Ninja, you
notice right off the bat that
it’s more similar to its big
brother, the ZX-10R. Okabe
explained that recognizing the
Kawasaki brand and DNA is crucial
to the design – plus a rider must look
at the new ZX-6R and say, “Yes, I would
very much like to burn some laps on that
bike.” You know what he is talking about
when you see it in person.
The front fairing is very similar to the
ZX-10R by way of the headlights and the
ram-air duct, with the exception that the
mirrors are of a conventional mounting
design without the addition of turn sig-
nals. The way the exhaust pipe is
covered up at the lower back
section gives it a stealth look
so you don’t see the big
p r e - c h a m b e r.
For 2009, there are four dif-
ferent color schemes available, but for
our launch they only had the classic Lime
Green style. It looked the business – very
cool and much better than last year’s
Only the muffler is visible – unless you bike. Some of the other available colors
take a closer look. The new fairing design are Metallic Diablo Black/Flat Super
is pretty cool looking and some new ducts Black, Candy Surf Blue/Flat Super Black,
are visible at the lower front (for better and ebony with Monster Energy graphics.
cooling) and the turn signals blend in nicely That’s a lot of info about the bike, but
in the front midsection of the fairing. what we really wanted to do was ride.
After all, there’s no better way of finding
out if all those changes amount to any-
(Below) The Ninja loves flicking in
and out of corners. thing.
For the first couple of sessions, getting
familiar with an unfamiliar racetrack was
the main concern, especially since the
track is three miles long and very
involved. You have to remember this is a
real racetrack, so you can’t be afraid to
give it the berries, just take some caution
at first.
After you enter the track, the first turn
you hit is a tight right. Once up to speed,
most people were using third gear for this
turn, but it seemed like after several go-
arounds that the 6R want a lower gear for
better acceleration. By the end of the first
day, second gear seemed better for the
extra acceleration needed to get out of
the corner properly.
So would doing four downshifts from
153 mph upset the chassis in any way?
Not all. The stock slipper clutch worked
perfectly in this turn as it did all around
the track. And that is no BS – the last
speed indication I saw was 153 mph in
18-21 FirstRideKawiZX6R 11/17/08 10:47 AM
Showa’s Big Piston Fork, a first for
any production bike, allows for
greater control as the fork
compresses under heavy braking.
sixth gear before I had to sit up and start
braking for turn one.
Checking all that information was a
breeze because the new dash, with its
design taken from the ZX-10, is easy to
read. The no-nonsense, conventional tach
is great and the gear-selection readout is
actually very handy.
The next portion of the track, a down-
hill section, is fast – fast enough for fourth
gear and the little Ninja had plenty of
power to get you there really quick.
Throttle response was smooth and shift-
ing was both effortless and precise – cer-
tainly a step up from the last ZX-6R. The
next thing you know, you’re on the
brakes hard for the first of four second-
gear turns and the junior Ninja was well-
composed under heavy braking.
The braking force, plus the added
weight transfer of the downhill nature of
the track, was no problem at all for the
new BPF forks. They did an excellent job
of keeping the initial dive under control
and you can feel that the fork action is
much improved over the conventional-
type cartridge setup.
The brakes were also top-notch – the
semi-floating 300mm stainless petal discs
matched with radial-mount calipers and
controlled by a radial-pull master-cylinder
delivering plenty of power. The brakes
were easy to control and the lever feel
was smooth. It didn’t come on too strong
– but when the braking pressure ramped
up, it just worked nicely with excellent
stopping power, and two-finger braking
wasn’t a problem if that’s your style.
Entering corners on the Kawasaki was
easy, as the bike falls on its side naturally.
And in the slower corners, the ZX-6R
seemed to be able to hold its line well.
But the next section of the track caused
some issues, as the bike seemed to have a
mind of its own. When you exit the turn-
six hairpin and head up to the next set of
corners, the speed increases dramatically.
As you get it up to third gear, you throw
Page 21
Kawasaki has gone back to a
side-mounted exhaust for the 2009
model.
The Öhlins twin-tube-designed
damper is new for the 2009 model.
it on its side for a fast left-hander that
leads to a faster right-hand kink with a
fourth-gear upshift at mid-corner. You fin-
ish the section with a straight run up the
hill. This is where the Ninja had trouble
finishing the corner – unless you gave it
some help. By easing up some on the
throttle, you could hold the bike down,
but it was at the expense of lost drive
mid-corner.
Most of the testers felt the same and
some remedies were found by adding
more preload and compression to the
rear to keep weight on the front. For my
part, I took some preload out of the front,
but no real comfort level was ever found
– though I’m sure with more time on the
bike, we could have solved the problem.
The bike just did not want to stay turned
under semi- or heavy acceleration and the
front-end feel was not as planted as it
needed to be to instill the confidence to
fully attack the corner. I think the rear
stock was at its limit, but once again the
smoothness of the power delivery was
great and that is a big plus when modulat-
ing the throttle mid-corner.
The second hairpin of the track came
up next and both the braking and down-
shifting was precise and controlled. That
is the start of the rollercoaster section
and when you come out of the hairpin it
instantly falls off down the back side, lead-
ing down another straight. You grab two
upshifts and find yourself haulin’ ass down
a steep hill to the fast turn 11 – a right-
hander. On a few occasions, I tried only
one upshift to avoid the extra downshift
at the bottom of the hill, but I got into the
rev-limiter. The cutout was smooth as
they had explained. There was no lurch-
ing, but no gains in lap times were evi-
dent. From there, you drop down one
gear to third and leave it there for the rest
of the lap, finishing out the final turn and
beginning the long climb back to the front
straight.
Added rigidity around the
swingarm-pivot section improves
feedback and traction.
All these left- and right-hand corners
have their little tricks to them – mostly get-
ting the right line out of one turn to set up
for the entrance of the next. But this was
another area where the Ninja wouldn’t hold
its line completely – and the front felt as if
it was pulling you out of the turn mid-cor-
ner. It seems there’s not enough weight on
the front, causing you to run wide instead
of the bike turning in with you.
I was one of the smaller guys on the
trip and some of the other bigger journal-
ists were less affected by this – maybe
their body positions were more forward
than mine and that helped them get more
weight on the front. Who knows? But if it
doesn’t feel right, don’t push it. Some did
and their day ended in tears.
For me, third gear had enough grunt to
pull me up the hill, but a few of the bigger
guys threw in a downshift to second to
get a bit more out of it. In the final corner,
a decreasing-radius right-hander, you
could always enter faster than it seemed
safe – partly because of the feeling that
you may not be able to finish out the cor-
ner. Still, even if you ran wide, there was
plenty of track left – but that’s not the
point. You should be able to attack with
aggression and not have to second-guess
while rolling on the throttle, but that
became difficult with the front-end feeling
like it did. Again, we’re only talking about
a few corners of the track where this
reared its ugly head, but it’s definitely
worth mentioning.
Where the Ninja shines is when you’re
flicking it back and forth from left to right
and vice versa. The reduced weight of the
bike and the control the BPF fork pro-
vides makes throwing it around a simple
pleasure. And it’s got plenty of power.
Even in the high altitude of Autopolis.
If you have never been a big fan of the
ZX-6R, you may want to reconsider your
position, as I have, and look closely at the
latest Ninja for the ’09 riding season.
Kawasaki has done its work and met the
goals they set when laying out the plans
C Y C L E N E W S • NOVEMBER 26, 2008
The new dash was inspired by the
ZX-10’s and is easy to read.
(Left) Two-finger braking is easy
with the top-notch brakes.
for the new ZX-6R. Every bike has some
sort of issue and the 6R is no different,
with just a few chassis-attitude problems,
which could be resolved fairly easy.
Overall, the bike is comfortable and easy
to ride and they’ve done an excellent job
of making the little Ninja sportier in feel
with better styling. Most importantly, they
have improved performance. We look
forward with anticipation of how it will
stack up against the rest in the super-
competitive 600cc Supersport class.
We’re also confident that it will more than
hold its own. CN
S P E C I F I C AT I O N S
2009 KAWASAKI ZX-6R
MSRP ............................................$9799
ENGINE ........Four-stroke, liquid-cooled,
DOHC, four valves per cylinder, inline-four
DISPLACEMENT ..........................599cc
BORE X STROKE ..........67.0 x 42.5mm
COMPRESSION RATIO..............13.3:1
FUEL DELIVERY SYSTEM ..Fuel-Injection
w/ four 38mm Keihin throttle bodies, oval
sub-throttles, two injectors per throttle body
TRANSMISSION ......................6-Speed
FINAL DRIVE ....................X-Ring Chain
RAKE/TRAIL ..................24 deg / 4.0 in.
FRAME TYPE ........Aluminum perimeter
FRONT TIRE ....................120/70-ZR17
REAR TIRE ........................180/55-ZR17
WHEELBASE ..............................55.1 in.
FRONT SUSPENSION ..............41mm
inverted Showa BPF/4.7 in. travel
REAR SUSPENSION ........Bottom-Link
Uni-Trak/5.2 in. travel
FRONT BRAKE ........Dual 300mm petal
rotors w/ dual radial-mounted, four-pis-
ton, four-pad calipers
REAR BRAKE Single 220mm petal rotor
with single-piston caliper
FUEL CAPACITY ........................4.5 gal.
SEAT HEIGHT ............................32.3 in.
CURB WEIGHT ......................421.2 lbs.
COLORS ....Lime Green, Metallic Diablo
Black / Flat Super Black, Candy Surf Blue/
Flat Super Black
21