A buddy of mine picked up his brand new '11 ZX-10R this weekend. I asked how he liked it and he threw me the keys and said "Ride it and see what you think". The bike is still tight with only 108 miles on it so I stayed well away from the rev limiter, 11,000 rpm is as far as I went. OK, here's my honest opinion. I have a garage full of sportbikes right now including an '08 ZX-10R with an Akra Evo and full Ivan treatment so I have a pretty good idea how a sportbike should run. Bad news first, this thing is absolutely gutted in the midrange! A 6th gear rollon at 80 mph produced intake noise and not much else in the way of forward motion. My '08 would annihilate it and my '09 ZX-6R with Akra would probably hang with it..... Not much going on between 6 and 8K! Looks wise, I thought both my 6R in Lime Green and 10R in Diablo Black looked better....but that's just an opinion. Windshield seemed to buzz and vibrate and offered not much in the way of wind protection. That's it, everything else was ace! This bike handles superbly, the low CG allows you to throw it down into a turn and achieve crazy lean angles, I dragged a toe slider at 125 indicated on a freeway overpass...rock solid planted front end feel and not a trace of instability! Suspension felt superb front and rear with excellent chassis composure under braking. Brakes are the same as my GenIII, enough said! Gearbox was flawless, light and short accurate throws....even better than my 6R's box. Ergos were spot on and the instruments easy to read even in bright ambient light. I'm not a fan of the LED tach, prefer analogue but that's nitpicking! Only thing I'm not sure of is topend power. I did 9000 to 11,000 and it seemed to pull hard but not sure if it would hang with my GenIII. Bottom line, this is the best handling machine I've ever swung a leg over. KMC got the handling and suspension right this time, only question is, where's the power?

He hasn't got the ECU upgrade yet does he?

Negative, bone stock, he had just picked it up the day before. One other thing I failed to mention, vibration or rather the lack thereof. His bike was uncanny smooth, smoother than my ZX-14 or 6R and both those are very smooth operators.
I'm pretty sure they went to a double crankshaft balancer. The buzzing in the windshield was airflow related apparently.

Kruz

* Last updated by: Kruz on 2/28/2011 @ 12:07 PM *

Sounds good Kruz.Now...your opinion about the possibility of using it like the 14?Hours in the saddle comfort...stuff like that.

The buzzing in the windshield was airflow related apparently.

I got used to the look but I'm not at all surprised if it vibrates.

Well..as I mentioned before...I went down and sat on and checked out the new 10...Black.First thing that I did not like about it was....it's size.The bodywork just seemed,IDK,not matching somehow.Beautiful bike...but not for me.The one BIG thing I like about my 14 is the bodywork and size of the bike itself go together visually(IMO).The second thing that I love about my 14...is the weight and physical size of the layout.It seems to match perfectly with my size and mindset.That ten..to me...would be too light,and "smallish" feeling to me.I wouldn't feel comfortable on it.But it is a sweet fast azz bike...no doubt.If I was doing track only...then I would think seriously about it.But not here..too many wide open deep curves and straights.It was quite light feeling however.If it had been moving,I'm sure it would have felt even lighter.IF they could drop some weight from the 14...I'd be good with that.But she's fine the way she is to me anyway.

Blue07, they're from two different worlds, if you like the instant torque response and all day riding comfort you get from the 14 then you'll probably be disappointed with the 10R. It makes it's power by spinning way fast and on a race track or canyon road I think this bike is going to be unbeatable; especially after they figure out how to uncork it and get some midrange. I thought the ergos were great for a track bike but then again I ride a 600 a lot and those are pretty cramped. If you're roads are mostly straight with high speed gradual bends, the 14 is pretty hard to beat in that type of environment, I don't think the 10R would do you much good and it's not going to be near as comfortable. I see the 10R as a compliment to the 14 not a direct replacement, their performance envelopes overlap to a great extent but they each have areas of competence where they stand out. Rook asked me if I'm going to be trading in my '08 ZX-10R for an '11.... in a word, no. The bikes are being brought over in limited amounts and my dealer said no discounts this time. That means almost $14,000 drive out plus a pipe, Euro spec ECU, PCV etc. you're almost $16,000. If I were going racing, I'd have to have one but for the type of riding I do , my Gen III version is just fine.

Gearbox was flawless, light and short accurate throws....even better than my 6R's box.

wow, did not expect to here that.

Kruz, thanks for the ride report. At 6'4"/235, I'm always thinking damn am I missing out with other superbikes. I know I am in some aspects but I wouldn't trade the 14's power & comfort for nothing. I still want to test one though...

* Last updated by: Shogun1 on 3/1/2011 @ 10:05 AM *

I didn't know you could embed off of hulu! Cool.

Great write up Kruz!Everything you mentioned in comparo to the 14...ya...the 10 just wouldn't get it for me.I have a pic actually of me sitting on that new bike.In the riding position.Somehow,it just doesn't look right

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"Gearbox was flawless, light and short accurate throws....even better than my 6R's box. "

Romans wrote

wow, did not expect to hear that.

Yea kind of surprised me too, the 6R is kind of a hard act to follow but this one shifted like buttah! If the new 10R just had midrange I would probably be down at my Kawi dealer right now negotiating a deal, they're that good.

BTW, he dynoed it yesterday with under 200 miles and got 165 HP on the rear wheel, if it weren't for the fact that a stock BMW S1000RR cranked out over 175 on the same dyno that would have been impressive, that's about four more than a stock GenIII and about 10-15 more than a stock CBR Honda.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 3/2/2011 @ 6:41 AM *

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You're not missing out on any info, Russ. Just a funny joke.

Wasn't this thing we're all on called the worldwide web about 15 years ago?

If the new 10R just had midrange I would probably be down at my Kawi dealer right now negotiating a deal, they're that good

You know that power is there just waiting to be uncorked... better get on the horn.

Oh the cost! The cost of the bike and then the cost of the uncork.

"Only" $16K and you're in business...yikes......I was able to buy the ZX-10R and ZX-6R for just under $18K total. Bikes are starting to get pricey folks, if you wanna play....you gotta pay!

BTW, he dynoed it yesterday with under 200 miles and got 165 HP on the rear wheel, if it weren't for the fact that a stock BMW S1000RR cranked out over 175 on the same dyno that would have been impressive

Did your buddy say how the Kawi did compared to the BMW below 10,000rpm ? Would love to see those two Dyno sheets together. Nice to see real world info.

I'll see Art this weekend and see if I can get copies of those dyno reports. My understanding is the Beemer was slightly stronger in the midrange and also up top. Some of the Euro spec 10Rs are reported to be laying down more ponies than the Beemer. I think when all the smoke clears, the ZX-10 is going to be the better machine due to lighter weight, better handling and better TC. Both of these monsters have all the power most of us could ever use.

Off Topic
"Both of these monsters have all the power most of us could ever use"
thats been true for years! doesnt stop most from thinking we need the next best thing. I watched the first round of WSB and no one beat the lap record set a few years ago. If these guys cant go faster on the next gen more HP bikes what chance do us mere mortals have?
Im glad to see the development going into handling and TC instead of more HP. i like the look of previous gens better but the new one could grow on me.

Correct Hoopie, I have all the performance I need parked in the garage already, I'm focusing on skilzs, as Dogo would put it. That's where the big payoff is going to come from, all of these bikes are already plenty fast.

Rook wrote:

Oh the cost! The cost of the bike and then the cost of the uncork.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 3/4/2011 @ 7:12 AM *

Im glad to see the development going into handling and TC instead of more HP

Yea, that's exactly what KMC delivered in the new 10R, world class handling, suspension, brakes and TC but everyone is crying cause it's a couple ponies shy of the Beemer. It's still easily the most powerful production literbike ever to come out of Japan. I think this thing will spank the Beemer on most tracks anyway, look at how fast...and quick the CBR Honda's have been with some of the lowest HP in the liter class. They're tough to beat at the track.