A ninja was an undercover agent or mercenary in feudal Japan – an elite killer specialised in assassination, espionage and sabotage.
They travelled in disguise to other territories and, arriving in secret, would to assess enemies inveigling in their midst setting castles on fire, accurately carrying out stealthy assassinations and attacks. In combat or warfare, there is nothing deadlier than an invisible foe.
This week, we feature a sport bike stemming from a series of bikes inspired by this deadly warrior, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-9R, one that supposedly assassinates its competition with stealthy accuracy.
Kawasaki Ninja is the trademark name of several series of Kawasaki sport bikes. The ninja title was first seen in 1984 on the GPZ900R and has gone on to be seen on another 30 Kawasaki models.
The first Kawasaki Ninja ZX–R was produced in 1994 and saw production up to 2002. It was made in response to Honda’s CBR Fireblade of 1992. Up to today, the Kawasaki ZX series and the Honda CBR series are bitter foes.
The Fireblade was the envy of the circuit; it packaged a 900cc engine into a 750cc sport bike chassis and combined big bore power with sport bike handling. It also pioneered meticulous attention to weight saving design.
Despite weight saving measures, the new Kawasaki ZX still weighed in 30kg more and tried to make up for that with more horse power but was still less agile. Rather than be a direct competitor, the ZX-9R became a more stable and more comfortable road biased alternative to the Honda Fireblade.
Like most great bikes, it was intended to race in the Moto GP but didnt quite live up to standard, so it ended up as a production bike. The fact that at some point in its development it was aimed at the Moto GP makes it a menace of a machine, hence its sport bike classification.
In building the first ZX-9R, Kawasaki combined the design and styling of its elder sibling the ZZR1100 and its younger sibling ZXR750, rather than starting from a clean sheet. At first sight, I saw it to be a bulky motorcycle, larger than it appears on picture. It measures 2 050mm in length, 720mm in width and stands 1 160mm tall; it’s an awesome sight with the dull black colouring making it quite intimidating.
Our test bike is a 2002 version ZX-9R which was replaced by the Kawasaki ZX-10R. Despite being 16 years old, it takes on many newer bikes and outperforms them, in looks and features too. This proves that these machines are made to be timeless pieces, collector’s items.
Jumping onto the adjustable 820 mm (seat height) saddle, comfort goes without question and it is very ergonomic with the fuel tank chiselled to accommodate the rider’s legs. Kawasakis are renowned for having a softer suspension than most bikes, the ZX-9R included.
Race riders who have taken it on to the race track state that its softness is a disadvantage on the circuit, but on the roads it’s an advantage adding more comfort and stability at road going speeds.
The engine is always a strong point when talking Kawasaki. This particular engine is a classic renowned for its modest low rev torque and mild midrange grunt. The ZX-9R is powered by an 899cc four stroke, liquid cooled 16-valve DHOC, inline-four engine. This unit produces 139 to 143 HP (103,7 to 106,6 kW), translating to a torque of 93,6 to 100,3 Nm allowing it to sprint from 0 to 100km/h in just three seconds. It climbs up to 180 km/h in the first gear only. Unrestricted, it will go up to 320 km/h via six gears, making it fast enough to overtake a passenger plane at take off.
On the outskirts is where a superbike can be properly ridden. A 19-litre fuel tank capacity makes sure you are able ride from city to city without getting stuck on the country roads. A consumption of 5,7 litre/100km means you can comfortably ride from Windhoek to Otjiwarongo (251km) or Mariental (267km) on one tank. It just falls short of Windhoek to Swakopmund.
Some motorbikes like cruisers have airbags although crash technologies are hardly applicable to motorbikes because of the falling aspect. Nevertheless, designers are spending sleepless nights trying to address motorcycle safety. Ultimately it all comes down to rider judgment and choices. Unfortunately we cannot say much on safety as we profile sport bikes and super bikes. When exercising high responsibility, motorbikes are the greatest pleasure on wheels.
