Loyal fans of Suzuki’s iconic Hayabusa have something to be seriously worried about. Kawasaki has overhauled its fast and smooth ZX-14, adding a bigger and more powerful engine that promises to outgun the venerable ’Busa.

I just spent a day hammering the new ZX-14R In Las Vegas, beginning with a blast through the desert and ending with several runs down the quarter-mile dragstrip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Even though atmospheric conditions were unfavorable, calculating to a 3000-foot altitude, the 14R posted a blazing 9.77-second run!

Think about this: Here’s a completely stock and EPA-legal production streetbike that can from a dead stop accelerate to nearly 150 mph in just 1320 feet!

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It appears as if Kawasaki is gearing up to launch a revised version of its ZX-14 Ninja. We already showed you a video teaser featuring a crop-circle-like number 14 in a farmer’s field.

Now we’ve unearthed a new video that includes the sound of a large-displacement inline-Four motorcycle engine revving out, which you can see after the jump. A green flash across a twisty backroad broadly hints at a Kawasaki origin, followed by a “10-10-2011” date and ending with “Witness the phenomenon.”

We think the October 10 date coincides with Kawasaki’s annual dealer meeting, so we’re reasonably confident we’ll see a thoroughly revised ZX-14 for the 2012 model year. Or maybe you think it’s something else? Let’s talk about it in the Comments section below.

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