ALASTAIR KAWASAKI ZX-10RR
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Twisting the grip just that little bit harder…” …
There’s always a sense of mild relief after a first service, plus an air of added performance in placebo form. Gone are the days of thick running-in oils and special treatment during the process, although it’s always nice to feel guilt-free when battering the throttle post service.
I dropped into JHS Racing recently and couldn’t resist a vacant dyno. It’s forever a moment filled with trepidation: have I got a Monday morning minter or a Friday afternoon howler? Or somewhere in the middle? Does it even matter? Of course it does. Despite a very hot, sticky dyno room, 173bhp isn’t a bad base to begin horsepower hunting.
I’ll warn you now, my current daily commute consists of getting out of bedd, walking downstairs in my shreds and commencing work after a tug, so don’t expect massive mileage from me this year. That said, I’m loving the Ninja and all the attention it gets.
I endured the first long-haul journey in the seat of the RR last week. As mentioned previously, it’s a relatively comfy superbike compared to rivals, but it seems as though Kawasaki has engineered seat comfort to coincide with fuel range, which is much obliged. Within 100 miles of slightly committed motorway cruising speeds, the fuel light comes on. Moments later, the botty light illuminates – my arse was in absolute tatters. Anyway, I’m not criticising the RR’s cosiness in the slightest. It’s a balls-out superbike, not a mile-muncher.
It was during some rather dicey high-speed filtering on this ride, when some plum in an Audi decided to change lanes without indicating, that I’d decided the RR is too quiet. You may recall me mentioning I had an Akrapovic full system buried at FB’s office. In the name of investigative journalism, I have a link pipe and Pipe Werx can to try out first. Besides, the stock titanium headers are things of beauty and it’d be a shame to ditch them so soon in our relationship. I’m also a lazy twat and would do anything to dodge the hassle and sheer faffery of radiators and fairings. That said, I’ve only just realised that there’s a cat in the headers as well as just below the can, so you won’t get maximum power/benefit unless a full system is fitted.
And guess what? I’ve got that front sprocket! But Bruce running a tight ship has meant I haven’t had time to fit the sexy Talon 16T that no-one will ever see.