Spend R3-million if you like, but the quickest that you’re ever going to get to 100kph from a standing start in a production car is around four seconds. The modern breed of middleweight superbikes get to the metric ton in under three seconds, and would be even quicker if you could get them off the line without losing time through wheelspin getting the front wheel aloft under power.
Genuine top speeds of around 260kph are the norm for the razor-sharp 600cc superbikes, with speedometers showing around the 280 mark, and all for under R100 000. Suddenly the price tag doesn’t seem that steep if it’s an adrenaline rush you’re after.
Last year Kawasaki pulled a sneaky move by boring its ZX6R out to 636cc, giving it the most power in the class. This rendered the machine ineligible for 600cc supersport racing, but as 99% of riders don’t compete on the racetrack the gains in horsepower and torque made sense. Now the all new ZX6R (636cc) and ZX636RR (600cc) models (due here early next year) are set to keep both road riders and track riders happy.
Apart from the different capacity, the racing version uses forged rather than cast pistons, a different crankshaft and a back-torque limiter to prevent rear-wheel hop during heavy braking. It also boasts an adjustable swing-arm pivot to allow racers to fine tune the bike’s handling characteristics for different tracks, and a lug for an aftermarket steering damper.
Gear ratios are closer than in the earlier model, and with an overall mass of just 161kg the Kawasakis are lighter than anything else currently available in the class, so handling should be among the sharpest in this highly competitive class.
Power to weight ratio is extremely important when you want ultimate performance, and Kawasaki has managed to extract 125 horsepower (91,5kW) from the 636cc engine and 120 horsepower (88kW) from the smaller unit, at 13 000 and 13 200rpm respectively. Both rev to 15 500rpm.
Performance figures aren’t quoted, but the current ZX636 has been tested at 257kph and run a 10,9-second quarter mile during testing in the United Kingdom, with nearly 20 horsepower less and 10kg more weight, so we can expect something special out of this one.
About 20 000 636cc versions a year will be produced for road riders, while 1 000 of the race-legal 600cc version will be sufficient for FIM racing homologation.
Pricing will be slightly north of R90 000 for the ZX6R, and about R10 000 more for the racing ZX636RR.