The days of whizzing round the massive Nardo test ring at thirty billion miles an hour and circulating Anglesey just a couple of seconds off a ‘proper’ sportbike seem a long way away now. I was in a cosy bed not ten minutes ago, but now the onboard temperature gauge on the new-for-2016 dash is showing just four degrees, the tyres have yet to be scrubbed in and the top heavy feeling of the bike means that my first few miles on the effectively H2-equalling machine feel cold, awkward and downright miserable.
It’s awkward initially, but the ZZR soon gets into its stride…
But, like Bagpuss, as the ZZR starts to wake up, so do I. With town safely negotiated, albeit a little awkwardly given its girth, the revs finally begin to creep northward. It’s imperceptible given the progression of the power curve, but all of a sudden I appear to have acquired some serious speed. All the best bikes do this; their ability to turn foreground into background paying homage to the confidence you have in its ultimate ability.
On fast, sweeping roads the ZZR makes so much sense. You’re still at base camp in terms of the engine’s performance, but it swallows everything in its path with the occasional incursion higher up the rev range. Get to the 11k redline and prepare for a cerebral meltdown. Almost drowning in torque, top cog dispatches anything without resorting to changing to a perkier ratio. Drop down and you disappear, it’s as simple as that – and without resorting to a heavy supercharger, too. There is a flatspot, but it’s gone in an instant. Once you open the taps up the speed that’s acquired is hard to shake off. Not because the brakes are bad – they’re not, the Brembo M50s and the braided lines fitted are just the job on this edition over the nonbraided Nissins – but because you’re now aware that both you and the bike can cope with all this extra speed.
The comfortable riding position, generously appointed seat, rubber pegs and decent weather protection – the lip on the screen being the perfect final touch – insulate you well from the reality of anything up to double the speed limit on a single carriageway road. It feels normal and safe, leaving you wondering why everyone else is going so slowly.
Try as you might, provoking the electronics is almost impossible on the road – much like it was on track. Even at Anglesey, as far out of the ZZR’s comfort zone as is imaginable, the sight of the TC light flashing was rare indeed. So on the road you just have to comfort yourself with the knowledge that it’s got your back should you suffer a set back – something only ’Busa riders can dream of.
This electronic safety blanket suddenly starts to seem like a good idea when things start to get tighter and bumpier. It’s here when the ZZR stops feeling like a comfortable litre sportsbike and more like the quarter of a ton on the hoof bike it actually is (a bit more than that, if you’re being pedantic). Given how well hidden away it is, you’ll have to take it for granted that Kawasaki fitted the Öhlins TTX39 shock to the rear. There is more support offered by the Swedish shocker, of that there’s no doubt, but it doesn’t mate with the untouched front as well as it could. Anodizing the fork tops green is one thing, but I would have revalved the forks for a more supported and progressive feel before making them shiny and flash on the outside.
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Issue 323 February 2017
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