2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R

Although seven years have elapsed since Kawasaki introduced its first modern superbike of liter-size displacement, it seems like only a couple of years that the ZX-10R first hit racetracks and streets.

Even harder to fathom – especially in light of the rapid progression of product development in the literbike wars – is the fact that the all-new 2011 kawasaki ZX-10R is the first ground-up redesign of the master assassin since the ZX’s introduction in 2004.

This iteration of the Zed-X received such an overhaul this go ’round, during the 2011 model’s recent press introduction at the hilly Road Atlanta race circuit in Braselton, Ga., Kawasaki’s Karl Edmondson cautioned the moto media to “forget everything about previous ZX-10R models.”From top to bottom, almost nothing went untouched in the new 10R’s engine. About the only thing retained from the previous 10R is its bore and stroke. Check out Ed-in-Chief Duke’s exhaustive technical preview for full details.

Camshafts are now made from chromoly steel rather than cast iron. A soft-nitriding treatment that Kawi revised for the new camshafts reduces deflection (an “untruing” if you will, of the straightness of the camshaft) during the metal hardening process by upwards of 30-40%, according to Kawi. Cam lift and valve overlap are increased as part of the update – a move generally used to increase peak power.

All this rather dry talk of cams gives us some early insight to how intent Kawasaki is about rebirthing the 10R’s total package.

Valve tappets are designed to work with the new high-lift cams, and the intake valves’ diameters are increased to 31mm from 30mm for improved cylinder-filling efficiency. The exhaust valves (in the head) are the same size, but stronger valve springs are employed all ’round.

Cylinder intakes have increased volume and are hand-ported, while, according to Kawasaki's Rob Taylor, the exhaust ports are redesigned to reduce engine braking and allow the rider better control over the bike via more precise throttle control. Piston skirt size was minimized for the sake of reducing engine noise. Use of “dummy” heads bolted in place during cylinder boring means a more accurate machining processA new instrument cluster for the ZX rivals the complexity of Ducati’s MotoGP-derived instruments, and it’s much prettier, too!

A prominent LED (not lesser-contrast LCD) bar-graph tachometer doubles as a programmable shift light that can pulse or flash at a couple different rates of your choosing and will change from yellow to red at the shift point. Also, the tachometer LEDs are colored rather than just backlit with color, and you can adjust LED intensity or allow the ambient light sensor on the dash to adjust them automaticallyThe remainder of the instrument panel is all LCD and is switchable between standard mode and race mode. Standard mode features mph/kph as the central figure, with gear position to the right and the current selections of power mode and S-KTRC to the right of that. Basic data, like trip meters and engine temp, are also displayed.

In Race mode, gear position takes center stage where road speed is normally displayed; the mph display takes the clock’s position in the lower right, and the odometer becomes a lap timer.

With TC enabled, and regardless of which view you have the instrument set, a graduated bar graph at the bottom center of the screen indicates TC activation. No bars displayed, naturally, means traction control isn’t currently in play. But when it does activate, the segmented bar graph will increase and decrease as an indicator of how much S-KTRC is working to prevent you and your new bike from wadding up.