The stalwart ZX-6R drops to third this year despite not doing anything poorly. It's big-bore 636cc mill is still the four-cylinder to beat.
Third Place (tie) - 82.8%
Rank Totals: Fourth (18/30)
MSRP: $8699
If you want the condensed version of the ZX, all you need to do is look at Roberti's scorecard. He gave it a stellar 9 for its willing brakes and class-leading top-end power, and solid 8s for everything else. Kenny's card is nearly identical.
"This is an excellent track-day bike and confirms why this machine swept our shootout in 2005," says Hutch.
The key to the ZX's flavor lies between your legs, so to speak. Simply put, its over-dog engine might be the class of the field on a racetrack.
"As in years past, the 636cc motor is the Kawi's strongest attribute," BC submits. "It pulls hard right off the bottom and continues pulling hard through the entire rev range. Throttle delivery was also smooth."
"The 636 motor pulls well at all revs," Becklin allows, "But where it helps most is the slow-medium corners when in-between gears. It allows you to be a little slow and sloppy and make up for the mistakes with good acceleration out of the corners."
Our testers were less in agreement regarding the Kawi's transmission. Although praised by Roberti as being "very smooth," both Hutch and BC found it to be occasionally balky.
"The transmission was a little unforgiving," according to Chamberlain. "Lazy footwork would sometimes result in a missed shift. But the clutch was smooth and easily modulated, and the slipper mechanism worked perfectly."
Each tester noted something about the ZX's roomy riding position in their logbooks, although it wasn't to everyone's liking on the track.
Some of us got along better with the ZX than others. BC, shown here, ranked the Kawi third, as did Roberti. Duke gave it a single point more than the Gixxer, enough to rank it second on his scorecard, but Hutch and Becklin rated it fifth.
"I'm not a fan of the lux-o-liner feel of the
ZX-6R," chides Becklin, adding that its LCD tachometer is unreadable at speed depending on the angle of the sun. "I'd prefer a racier ergonomic package for the track." Fast riders will want to invest in a brake pedal with more ground clearance, as ours turned into a beveled shadow of itself.
"The comfy ergos I raved about on the street seem a little relaxed on the track," BC admits, "But after six hours of continuous track use they were very welcomed. Since you sit down in the bike a little more than the others, you don't quite have that attack position, but at least the bars are fairly close and set nice and wide. Overall, it's a little plush and wide between the legs but by no means a couch."
If it were a couch, the ZX would be a really fast one, and one that gets around corners quite well, getting nearly unanimous solid 8s from each tester in both low-speed and high-speed handling segments. Roberti even went so far as to say that it has the most balanced chassis of the group.
"The bike feels big and plush, but once at speed it gets competent quickly," says DB, the only rider to give the Kawi a score of 7 for low-speed handling. "But its size and weight became apparent as I started to up the pace. The more nimble bikes, even with their lesser amount of power, made the ZX feel big and slow turning."
While everyone raved about the CBR's excellent front-end feel, the voices weren't so loud about the Zixxer's. This is the only bike of the group that carries (barely) less weight on its front tire than its rear, which might help explain why the edge of its front tire was so knackered at the end of our first day.
"There's not a lot of front-end feel, possibly because of its weight distribution," Donny B theorizes. "Yet the front tire, especially the Pirelli, gets abused like its pushing in the corners."
"On the first day with the Pirellis, I complained about a slightly nervous front end that induced a slight chatter," BC allows, "But on day two with the Dunlops and some suspension adjustment, I said the front felt very planted and predictable in the corners."
The Kawasaki carries a little less weight up front than at the rear, which accounted for some complaints from our riders about limited front-end feel. Donny B, shown here, was slowest on the 6R.
Although Chamberlain was the only tester who noted the ZX's tendency to give a slight headshake when shifting under hard acceleration up the back straight, the Kawi's rearward weight bias and hella-strong hit make it a likely candidate for an aftermarket steering damper.
In terms of braking, the ZX's petal-style rotors, radial-mount calipers and radial master cylinder combine to create what Becklin calls "probably the best of the bunch." In cumulative scoring, they were actually third, although just two points behind the best.
What it all adds up to is Kenny's fastest lap of the weekend. (What he didn't realize is that he was quicker on that lap than Head Honcho Becklin could do on the same bike, so he's now been forced to look for new employment.)
"It's hard to find fault with the ZX on the track other than it is a bit too plush feeling compared to the others and its propensity to miss shifts," says the man now glued to HotJobs.com. "Otherwise, I absolutely enjoy riding this bike."
