I've been thinking about picking one of these up in the KRT Team colors.

Does anyone have one and if so what are your thoughts?

I have option to buy one in KRT livery with or without the ABS, which would you go with?

* Last updated by: Kruz on 7/14/2016 @ 12:17 PM *

NOt bad. I wouldn't buy a new ZX-10 to hang a set of fairings on if I already owned one. I'd just buy the fairings if you're that jazzed on the race team colors. I think you will like the performance of the 2011 better than the 2016.

Had a buddy demo ride it and said it was the best thing he's ridden so far. He's been on mv's, bmw-ss, kawi 600r, don't think honda or yammie. I'd go without ABS, meaning, less weight flicking those parts from right to left.

Thanks Hub, that's what I'm hearing too, handling like a surgeon's scalpel but a very top end e.g. track oriented power delivery. I saw a YouTube vid the other day with a BMW S1000RR chasing one on track, the 10R was clearly faster coming off the corners and easily pulled away from the Beemer.

Rook, why do you think I would like the '11 better than the '16? Virtually everything on the bike has been updated or fine tuned to make it better. The only negative I can see is they shifted power up in the rev range and the stock first gear is very tall making tight corners on track more difficult.

Racers I've talked to prefer non-ABS brakes on track, they tell me the ABS gives inconsistent lever feel which robs confidence when charging a corner.

The only negative I can see is they shifted power up in the rev range and the stock first gear is very tall making tight corners on track more difficult.

Yea but new bikes are Fuuuuun!

Rook, for drool, entertainment, and unobtanium value, check out the new bikes when that comes around. Find the displays like kawi that have the cutout bikes. This exposes the engineering inside and out. You walk up to that 1000 and OMG, there's nothing there! Go to a dealer, slap the r1 between your legs, no hands, slap the 10r between your legs and feel who's light at the flick?

Hub you crack me up bro...

slap the r1 between your legs, no hands, slap the 10r between your legs and feel who's light at the flick?

phuck that you dummies can't find something else to flick and slap

* Last updated by: Badzx14r on 7/15/2016 @ 4:04 PM *

^^^^If it hadn't been ridden so much already, maybe. Dollar for dollar, I'll take a new bike. So Kruz, if you want to trade in your old ZX-10 and get a new one, I don't think you will be too disappointed. It might be a little better but I doubt it will be a lot worse. I really can't see owning both, myself. If this was really a whole new bike, don't you think they would have made it look different? I can't believe there is a huge difference between the two.

“At the beginning of this project,” said Yoshimoto Matsuda, head of development for the new Kawasaki ZX-10R, “I made an announcement to the company: ‘We don’t develop any cosmetic features.’” In other words, lap times trounce good looks.

Rook what are you talking about, Google the spec sheet for 2016? Everything is changed except the look, new riding position, new frame, new fairing design, new Brembo Monobloc brakes, new suspension, new 6 axis IMU traction control, new swingarm, larger exhaust valves, lighter crankshaft, revised transmission gear ratios, new Showa Balance Free rear shock and fork with nitrogen charged external dampeners, extra 10 rear wheel HP.... the list goes on and on. I doubt 10% of the old parts will fit the new bike.

Kruz I think the point is the prior gen wasn't a mega terrible bike and now this '16 comes out and it's a complete piece of worthless shit. It's gong to be iteritively better, not revolutionary better. I don't know, will an average street rider reallly benefit from upgraidng to a '16. If it's in the "hey guys check out my new bike" benefitting sort of way, yes, otherwise probably not.

Hold off and see how the reviews go. Nobody makes a new bike that looks the same as the previous one. Why would they?

Uhhh try Suzuki GSXR1000 for starters, has looked the same since maybe 2004.

I don't get all the hate on here for the new ZX-10R, the bike is epic, it's the same old story, don't confuse me with the facts.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 7/17/2016 @ 8:29 PM *

I'm thinking about trying to get a test ride and selling my '14 14R to get one - I'm on the fence because I really love the 14R and dont need two bikes. The racers and the writers reviews are great, never considered an earlier but this is a bike I would consider swapping the 14R for ....

* Last updated by: cruderudy on 7/17/2016 @ 8:41 PM *

Hate? No, I just don't believe it's going to be all that different. Any ZX-10 is a greart bike. That's one that I'd pick for a new bike but I don't think I'd get a new one if I already owned one a couple years old. And if the GSXR looks the same as 10 years ago, that's probably telling you something about the relationship between improved performance and updated styling.

Talked with my friend again about the rides. His take was that the rr, i.e., more developed electronics, is that the other bikes with those clues; masked the hp. Whereas the 10r was more "angrier up top," if I remember the quote. Other comments were how the 10r would be less to build as compared to say a duc or rr.

Say, what bike won WSB for the last few years and is leading in points this year? Doesn't that sort of rest your [haters] case about mother tea still being King of the cc's?

"If this was really a whole new bike, don't you think they would have made it look different? I can't believe there is a huge difference between the two."
Goodness me Rookster, of all people.
Take a look at the below...

* Last updated by: yannih on 7/17/2016 @ 10:45 PM *

Exactly!

That moer or less proves my point. I see pictures of two different bikes there. It's only logic: if the 14r is is a new and improved bike and it looks different, a bike that looks different is new and improved. Why would a new and improved bike look different? Because they don't plan to make significant changes for a while and the extra money involved in making the bike look different was worth the cost.

Logic follows: if the 14r is not that much different than the 14, why would you expect a new zx-10 that looks the same as the old zx-10 to be more different than the 14r is from the 14?

Manufacturing sleepers makes sense when it comes to the cost of producing bikes but it makes no sense at all when it comes to marketing them.

I wouldn't jump on it. If you didn't already have almost the same bike, I'd go for the newest and best edition but I'm sure that's all it is. It's not a whole new bike. You can bet they would have invested the money to distinguish it from its predecessor.

If your just feeling a little itch to get something slightly different, that's up to you. I'd want more bang for my "different" buck than this would provide. Why not an S1000? That's going to be more different from the old 10 than this. BMW has already shown they're set to beat the competition without changing the bike.

.

Rook, you have a team of designers that fall under one leader who calls the ball. So you can find the CB750 engineer for that project. You can find a team leader with an idea is the gixxer series. Any 750 10 years down the road is going to beat the last generation. It's more subtle than a flat out new bike.

Eventually the 14 will be phased out, a new gen will beat the 14 and 14r's. The new gen 'world's fastest' will be penned by a new team leader coming up the ranks. Honda can't keep building CB750's for decades upon decades and the bike is not more powerful with the same 750cc size? See the evolution of HP in cc alone?

Isn't Honda coming out with a new fireblade for the IOM TT?

Rook, please read this statement by team leader Yoshimoto, read it several times if necessary. He states the design goals for the new machine very plainly, faster lap times, cosmetics were a secondary consideration.

The 2016 is an evolution of the old bike and represents a definite step forward based on accumulated trickle down knowledge acquired from Kawasaki's very successful WSBK efforts.

“At the beginning of this project,” said Yoshimoto Matsuda, head of development for the new Kawasaki ZX-10R, “I made an announcement to the company: ‘We don’t develop any cosmetic features.’” In other words, lap times trounce good looks.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 7/18/2016 @ 2:05 PM *