Barni Racing‘s Lorenzo Savadori led for nine of 11 laps on his way to earning the first every Superstock 1000 Cup victory for the 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale.
Racing in mixed weather conditions at Italy’s Monza circuit, Savadori took the lead on Lap 3 from his teammate Eddi La Marra.
Savadori would hold that lead until the end, crossing the finish 1.651 seconds ahead of BWG Kawasaki‘s Christoffer Bergman and 1.884 seconds ahead of La Marra. Continue Reading »
Attack Performance officially announced it will race in the 2012 U.S. Grand Prix and Indianapolis Grand Prix on a Kawasaki-powered Claiming Rule Team machine.
Reports the Huntington Beach, Calif., racing parts manufacturer was granted a wild card to the two American MotoGP rounds surfaced last week, the AMA Pro Racing regular officially confirmed the news just as the 2012 MotoGP World Championship got under way.
Attack Performance is building its own chassis and will use a modified Kawasaki ZX-10R engine to compete in the two races against other CRT entries and factory prototypes. Attack Perforamnce faces a daunting task, but this is the kind of scenario MotoGP organizers were hoping for when they instituted the CRT rules. Continue Reading »
We’ve already reported on the Ducati 1199 Panigale’s domestic racing debut (and first race victory) but the 1098 successor has finally made its international racing debut in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup.
Barni Racing‘s Eddi La Marra captured pole position on the Ducati 1199 Panigale and led for the first six laps before the race was red-flagged after Team Brazil racer Heber Pedrosa crashed his Kawasaki ZX-10R. Continue Reading »
The last time we assembled the superbike offerings from the Big Four Japanese manufacturers to determine the alpha male model was 2009. The CBR won that confrontation, but a lot’s changed since then. For 2012 Honda revamped the CBR1000RR, Yamaha added traction control to the R1, the GSX-R1000 lost a muffler and last year Kawasaki introduced an all-new ZX-10R.
We have, of course, reviewed these models and pitted them against various other rivals, (2012 Honda CBR1000RR Review [Video], 2012 Yamaha YZF-R1 vs. 2011 Aprilia RSV4 R APRC [Video], 2010 Literbike Shootout: RSV4 R vs S1000RR vs CBR1000RR vs ZX-10R,) to name a few, but the time is nigh to once again determine the dominant Japanese superbike.
Kawasaki is issuing a recall on 2008-2011 Ninja ZX-10R and the 2009-2012 Ninja ZX-6R sportbikes due to a defect affecting the batteries.
According to documents released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the regulator/rectifier on affected units may not sufficiently charge the battery. As a result, the battery may unexpectedly be fully discharged, causing the engine to stall.
The BMW K1600GT has been voted International Bike of the Year 2011 by a panel of motorcycle magazine journalists representing 25 publications from around the world.
The six-cylinder BMW K1600GT received a score of 41 points from the jury to top all contenders. Second place went to the Ducati Diavel at 32 points. The Aprilia Tuono V4 APRC came in third at 22 points followed by the BMW K1600GTL at 18 points. Tying for fifth place with 16 points each was the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and the BMW S1000RR. That gives BMW three models in the top five in the International Bike of the Year selections for 2011.
Today’s Friday Fun Video comes courtesy of the marketing department at Icon Motorsports. Following the success of their first motorcycle drift video, featuring Nick Brocha on a stretched Kawasaki ZX-10R scorching rubber with Jim Guthrie on a Corvette-powered Mazda RX7, the guys set out to one-up themselves. With this video, I think it’s safe to say “Mission Accomplished.” Continue Reading »
A recall has been issued on the 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R due to a problem with the wiring harness.
According to documents released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a portion of the wiring harness on some 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R models may get pinched between the subframe and the rear fender, or between the subframe and the bolt holding the seat cover. This may result in damage to the harness and wiring, potentially resulting in a short in the electrical system, which could cause the engine to suddenly stop.
A new, somewhat clandestine, video surfaced on YouTube just today revealing that Kawasaki’s new 2011 ZX-10R produces over 170 hp at the rear wheel in stock trim.
Taking this at face value, that’s at least 17 hp more than the 2010 ZX-10R produced for us in our 2010 Literbike Shootout.
This puts the new big Ninja within swinging distance of BMW’s S1000RR, that in the same shootout gave us just under 176 hp. Furthermore, rumors have swirled — and some even claim confirmation — that the Beemer doesn’t play by U.S. EPA rules. We have it from a good source that Kawasaki is 100% in compliance with emissions standards for the U.S.
And if the techs in this video are on the up ‘n’ up, the simple act of using a slip-on exhaust and some “Power Commander” type of ECU modifier give the new ZX potential of nearly 190 hp!
If the video’s results are accurate, this then puts to rest recent rumors that the 2011 ZX-10R has only the same horsepower as the previous model.
UPDATE: Check out the preview article on Motorcycle.com
Very little in the way of detail has been announced, but Kawasaki says the literbike will have a new engine, frame and suspension.
Kawasaki has created a new site for the new Ninja at http://www.kawasaki-challenge.com/ with a brief teaser video. Kawasaki has also set up a Twitter feed to reveal more hints about the new ZX-10R.
The ZX-10R received some updates for 2010 most notably in its ZX-6R style bodywork, but it looks like the 2011 model will see more substantial changes.
