In the past few years, we have added some stellar machines to the xBhp Garage. From the Ninja H2 to the Rocket 3 R, to the new Hayabusa and finally the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S. The garage was starting to look complete but something was amiss. And that something was a motorcycle meant for a singular purpose- racetracks! Adding the KTM RC8R to the garage seemed to fulfil that purpose and yet, our dedicated racetrack motorcycle is not Orange but Green- a Kawasaki ZX-10R. Perplexed? Let us talk about it.

The KTM RC8R is, without a doubt, a very focused machine. It is meant for the racetracks but it did come with some caveats. And some major ones. The first one is sort of a double-edged sword. Its intense focus comes with the realization that it is a very difficult motorcycle to get the best out of. Add to that a complete lack of any sort of electronics and it makes you wince thinking about every little mistake you make.

The RC8R is a weapon for victory in the right hands and a recipe for disaster in the wrong ones. Ours, if considered neutral, found it to be a bit too fond of riding along the precipice. The second issue with the motorcycle was its age. A high-capacity twin the foundation of which is nearly a decade old and you’re stuck with a top speed of a smidge over 270 kays an hour. It is a handicap on the racetrack but for the most part, the reason why it did not become our go-to racetrack motorcycle was the fact that it was a bit too much to handle.

That is where the need for a different motorcycle came in. We are fond of racetracks and we never miss the opportunity to ride on one. We have been to Sepang, Shanghai, Misano and many more. With the right motorcycle, there are not a lot of things that come close to what you experience on a racetrack. The right motorcycle though is key. In the pursuit of a perfect garage, the quest for a racetrack weapon started. And it ended at Kawasaki West Delhi… with the new ZX-10R. Now, let us talk about why we went Green.

MotoGP is the pinnacle of motorcycle racing. It is the playground for fire-breathing prototype motorcycles that are inching closer and closer to 300 bhp. But those motorcycles are just that, prototypes. The next best thing is WSBK where production motorcycles, with a few changes, compete for the glory of being the best. And that is why we went with the Kawasaki ZX-10R, the motorcycle that has dominated the WSBK stage for a while.

The Kawasaki ZX-10R is not a chart-topper in most regards. And yet, the sort of prowess it has displayed in WSBK is astounding. We believe the reason for that to be its adaptability. The ZX-10R in its stock trim may not be the most powerful machine but what it is… is a wonderful platform. A modular platform that a rider can work on to truly make the motorcycle their own and that, as we all know, is always a step ahead of the perfect motorcycle with which the rider is not in sync

The Kawasaki ZX-10R does not come in all-guns-blazing, destroying top speed records and stuff from Day 1. Instead, it comes in, talks to the rider, the rider talks to it, and this relationship is what results in man and machine being one. Ask Jonathan Rea how he did it and he might say the same thing. The new Kawasaki ZX-10R does one better and brings in a host of improvements over the previous iteration. That makes this potent package even better right out of the box.

Another factor that gravitated us towards this machine was the price. The ZX-10R undercuts some of its competition by a hefty margin. Now, one may argue that it does so because it is not a chart-topper, as mentioned earlier, but the fact of the matter is that it does not need to be. Numbers and specs on paper may paint a different picture, but out there in the real world, one would be hard-pressed to find the differences between the ZX-10R and its competition.

Those were the reasons why we went with the ZX-10R and all those reasons were validated real soon. We took it to the racetrack after the delivery and the ever-painful run-in. The inline-4 is butter smooth, the quickshifter is one of the best we have seen, handling the motorcycle makes you feel like you’re riding something much smaller, the electronics have improved and all of that is right there at your command through the new TFT screen. The new Kawasaki ZX-10R seems like a much more complete machine right out of the showroom.

On the racetrack, all our thoughts about the ZX-10R materialized. It is such a sorted and easy motorcycle to go fast on. The new ZX-10R is very forgiving, even more than the last iteration which was already a benchmark. We absolutely loved the steering. It was a joy to just throw it into a corner and witness it taking care of the bend like a champ. Then there’s the engine that revs to the moon and the jolt of power at the top-end is intoxicating.

Despite all the thrashing, the engine did not skip a beat! It remained smooth and tractable throughout. And as mentioned earlier, the quickshifter is out of this world. Be it upshifts or downshifts, it felt like a dream and almost telepathic. Even with the stock exhaust, the exhaust note, in true inline-4 fashion, was a murmur, followed by a howl which finally ended with a scream. Then upshift, and repeat!

The motorcycle was bone-stock when we took it to the racetrack. It was more of getting to know each other as we figured out the way the ZX-10R works and what else can be done to make it go even faster. The first impressions tell us that with a bit of tuning and setup refinement, this Mean Green is going to be a serious predator in the hunting ground that a racetrack is.

Now that we had the ZX-10R in the garage, it was time to add some personal touches. If we are being completely honest, there was one more reason why we went with the ZX-10R- Kawasaki Ninja H2. The supercharged baddie from Kawasaki is one of our favourite motorcycles. It was such a technical masterpiece and achievement that it earned the River Mark logo that sits proudly on its forehead.

With the Ninja H2, Kawasaki knew that they had created something special and probably outdid themselves in the pursuit of creating the ultimate motorcycle. So the River Mark logo is a continuous reminder of what a gem the Ninja H2 is. The new ZX-10R takes quite a few styling cues from the Ninja H2 and that is a smaller part of the reason. The bigger part is that it also gets the River Mark logo and it wears it with pride and honour. The logo is a symbol of outstanding achievement and Kawasaki believes that the ZX-10R deserves it… And we cannot agree more!

Now that we have drawn out the similarities between the two and have mentioned adding a personal touch, let us move over to that. As you can see, the livery intends to bring our ZX-10R as close to our H2 as possible. That means a base layer which mimics the H2’s colour; black chrome. With that, we added a generous amount of carbon- fibre layers to create a contrast and lend the ZX-10R the racy look it deserves.

But the best bit about the livery on both the motorcycles is the dash of gold. xBhp is turning 19 and as always, we are celebrating. Our H2 and ZX-10R are the first ones to be treated with the #19YearsOfxBhp theme. All of that is topped with a tiny bit of red to create the perfect livery for both of these motorcycles. Now, we had taken the delivery of the ZX-10R earlier but the unveiling took place after we had gotten it draped in the colours of #19YearsOfxBhp The unveiling ceremony took place at Kawasaki West Delhi.

After taking the delivery, taking it to the track, and wrapping it in the new livery; we got another excuse to take it out for a spin. We have been touring on superbikes for a long time now and a lot of other riders in the community have done the same. But nowadays, we have a lot of youngsters looking to do the same thing but touring on superbikes is not as easy as just riding the motorcycle and doing long distances.

Superbikes are very powerful machines and before one takes up an endeavour of that sort, it is important to know the motorcycle well. Without experience, it is very easy to find yourself in a precarious position with these motorcycles, especially over long distances. We have found that out the hard way but since we have learned from our mistakes, younger riders do not need to go through that.

To that end, we organized a Sunday Ride/G2G. We were joined by quite a few riders; younger ones and veterans alike. We rode to Kawasaki West Delhi, the venue for this G2G. Over breakfast and snacks, we discussed the specifics and nuances of touring on superbikes.

Along with us, we had quite a few seasoned riders who had their own experiences to share; from controlling the power to dealing with tough terrains and from dealing with adverse weather to simply being able to diagnose issues with the motorcycle should one run into them. Overall, it was a learning experience for the newer riders and even for us as there is always something to learn.

The Kawasaki ZX-10R has been in the xBhp Garage for a short while and within this time span, it has seen quite a few miles with us. More than anything though, we simply cannot wait to take it to the racetrack again where we will continue to fine-tune the motorcycle to make it xBhp’s ultimate track weapon. So this was a little about our time with the ZX-10R so far and we can tell you that there’s a lot more to come.