Mary-Lane Kamberg - Kawasaki: Worlds Fastest Bike

For Rowin Rohrback

Published in 2014 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2014 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kamberg, Mary-Lane, 1948

Kawasaki: worlds fastest bike/Mary-Lane Kamberg.First edition.

pages cm.(Motorcycles: a guide to the worlds best bikes)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4777-1860-5 (library binding)ISBN 978-1-4777-1874-2 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-4777-1875-9 (6-pack)

1. Kawasaki motorcycleJuvenile literature. I. Title.

TL448.K38K346 2014

629.2275dc23

2013026250

Manufactured in the United States of America

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #W14YA: For further information, contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York, at 1-800-237-9932.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

T oday, the Kawasaki Motors Corporation manufactures jet skis and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Its best known, however, for its motorcycles. The bikes have high horsepower, quick takeoff, and speed. In fact, Kawasaki builds some of the fastest bikes in the world.

Kawasaki Motors Corporation Japan started in 1924 as Kawasaki Aircraft. After World War II, the company created a new division for making engines for motorcycles. It built its first bike in 1954. Six years later, Kawasaki bought Meguro, the oldest motorcycle company in Japan and one of the top ten producers in the world. Kawasaki learned from Meguros skills. In 1966, Kawasaki started an American corporation now known as Kawasaki Motors USA, based in Irvine, California.

Kawasaki has a reputation for high-performance bikes, including its best-selling Ninja sport bikes. It is also known for off-road, dual-sport, touring, and naked bikes.

Sport bikes are built for performance with racing technology. They have racy styling, are lightweight and fast, and steer and handle well. They stop fast. But comfort is not an issue.

Off-road bikes, called motocross bikes, are built to race in the dirt. These bikes have no headlights, taillights, mirrors, fairing, or windshield. They are illegal to ride on the street.

Naked bikes, also called standards, lack fairings and bodywork. They are bare-bones bikes that some riders think look mean and nasty, and they like them that way. A sport standard has a little more style. Riders sit a little more upright than on a pure naked bike.

Touring bikes include tourers and sport touring bikes. They are both built for road trips. The bikes are heavy, and they have soft seats. Speed is not a main focus, allowing riders to enjoy the trip, taking in scenery along the way. They appeal to older riders, so some riders call them geezer gliders or old mans bikes. Sport tourers have the power and aerodynamics of a sport bike. They run faster than touring bikes, and they have a more comfortable ride than sport or naked bikes.

Overall, Kawasakis are built for funno matter how you define it.

The 1973 Kawasaki 900 Z-1 is the great-grandfather of todays Z1000. Nicknamed The King, the bike has a four-cylinder, 903cc engine. It is the forerunner of all of todays superbikes, no matter the manufacturer.

CHAPTER ONE

THE WORLDs FASTEST BIKE: NINJA ZX-14R

D o you have a need for speed? The Ninja ZX-14R is built for you. The 186-horsepower (hp), 1,441cc bike runs a quarter-mile (.40 kilometers) in 9.7 seconds and reaches 147 miles per hour (234 kilometers per hour) over that distance, according to Cycle World. At the drag strip, it speeds from 0 to 60 mph (96 kph) in 3.02 seconds, according to Motorcycle USA. Thats why Kawasaki is known for the worlds fastest motorcycle.

Some bikes go faster than the ZX-14R, but the Ninja gets fast faster. Its the hardest-accelerating mass-production vehicle on our planet, said Cycle World in 2012. And Motorcycle USA called it the most powerful production motorcycle weve ever tested.

The inline, four-cylinder ZX-14R is the flagship of Kawasakis Ninja sport bike lineup. It was built for speed. But the four-stroke, liquid-cooled bike combines racetrack speed with comfort for the open road.

Reviewers describe the bikes acceleration as mind-boggling and neck-snapping with oodles of oomph. In Cycle World, Nick Ienatsch reported that experienced riders on a test ride loved it. But inexperienced riders were shocked and scared and shocked and scared, and that was just the first two gears. They got more panicked after that. Motorcycle-USA.com named it the 2012 Motorcycle of the Year.

The Ninja ZX-14R was known as the worlds fastest bike in 2013. Its neck snapping acceleration could shock, scare, and panic inexperienced riders. It was MotorcycleUSAs 2012 Motorcycle of the Year.

Power

The key to the fuel-injected ZX-14Rs power boost is that the stroke is 0.16 inch (4 millimeters) longer than previous models. The stroke is the distance the piston moves inside the cylinder. Older models have only a 1,352cc capacity. The new 65mm stroke added 89cc to the engine capacity at the same engine size and weight.

THE KING OF THE MIDDLE-WEIGHTS: 2013 NINJA ZX-6R

The Ninja ZX-6R first hit the streets in 1995. Kawasaki redesigned it in 2003 with a 636cc motor. The bike sold side by side with the 599cc Ninja ZX-6RR, which was built for racing. The ZX-6R outsold the racing version for three years. But the engine was too big for the racetrack. Kawasaki took it out of the lineup after 2006. It focused on racetrack riders.

In 2013, Kawasaki decided to bring back its ZX-6R. The factory wanted to appeal to more people. They wanted a bike for all riding levels. But it needed the get-up-and-go of the other Ninjas. Engineers wanted more engine capacity. One way to get that was to increase the inside of the engines cylinder. However, the bike would be wider and heavier.

Instead, designers started with the 599cc ZX-6RR motor and added 0.1 inch (2.6 mm) to the stroke. The change added 37cc capacity without changing the engine size or weight. It gave the bike more power. The new design earned the King of the Middleweights title from Motorcyle.com.

In a 2012 Motorcycle USA comparison, the Kawasaki outpowered and outran the comparable Suzuki Hayabusa and BMW. All that power, however, requires fuel. In the comparison, the Ninja got only 32.1 miles per gallon (51.7 kilometers per gallon). It had the worst gas mileage of the three bikes. However, the stock 5.8-gallon (22-liter) fuel tank means the bike could run about 186 miles (299 km) per tank, according to Motorcycle USA.

Handling and Comfort

The ZX-14Rs frame is a hollow aluminum box. A frame is a bikes skeleton. It holds the engine, transmission, and suspension. On the Ninja, it arches from over the engine. It is narrow, strong, rigid, and light. The bikes ten-spoke wheels are also lightweight. However, the ZX-14R is a heavy bike. Its curb weight is 584 pounds (265 kg). Curb weight is the weight of a motorcycle with standard equipment and fluids, but without a rider or cargo. Its also a long bike, with a 58.3-inch (148-cm) wheelbase