10 amcn.com.au
Get ready for aSuperbike showdown
THE SUPERBIKE WORLD
Championship is set for
a shake-up next year as
Kawasaki prepares to revamp
its Ninja ZX-10R.
With Ducati developing a
1000cc race-ready R version
of the stunning Panigale
V4, a new BMW S 1000 RR
expected in 2019, and reports
of a revised Yamaha YZF-R1,
the gauntlet has been thrown
down to the dominant
WorldSBK-spec Kawasaki.
The current Ninja ZX-10R
might still be the bike to
beat in production-based
racing but its bare bones are
seven years old. It has been
incrementally improved
since 2011, with a substantial
facelift in late 2015.
Kawasaki can’t afford torest on its laurels despite four
WorldSBK rider t it les a nd
three manufacturer crowns
in the last five years.
TheJapanesecompany has
just filed a document listing
its unchanged models for
2019 with the US authorities.
While the 2018 version
listed no fewer than four
versions of the superbike –
the ZX-10R, the ZX-10RR, the
ZX-10R SE and the ZX-10R
KRT Edition – the 2019 list
has no ZX-10Rs.
That indicates the existing
ZX-10R is being discontinued.
And since Kawasaki isn’t
about to desert the superbike
scene,itcanonlymean
there’s an all-new model on
the way.
Kawasaki will no doubtNew
NINJA
ZX-10R
for 2019
the know
IT HAPPENED SINCE LAST ISSUE
Anything
supercharged?
ANOTHER BIKE missing from
the 2019 US model list is
the Ninja H2, but the
cheaper, touring-
oriented H2SX
and H2SX
SE remain.
Given that
Kawasaki
has a special
low-volume
production
line to build
the H2 and
track-only H2R
machines, and its
apparent dedication
to supercharging, a very
different replacement is likely.
Kawasaki has previously
hinted about other radical
supercharged bikes. In 2016 itshowed two styling sketches- the SC-01 Spirit Charger
and SC-02 Soul Charger.
The former was a luxury
sports-tourer, perhaps
previewing the
H2SX that arrived
the following
year, while the
Soul Charger
was a naked,
neo-retro
machine.
Given the
popularity
of naked
superbikes at
the moment, the
Soul Charger idea
has wings. If it uses the
low-volume approach of the
original H2, we can expect a
high price, crazy performance
and luxury materials.
With the ZX-10RR to be
discontinued, Kawasaki looks
set to finally produce a new
WorldSBK contender