DeeKnow’s Grotto

When I’d been shopping around for a bike 3 years ago I rode a few middle-weight machines of various makes that all really impressed me. But then I made the fatal mistake of letting Heath from Hamilton Motorcycles talk me into jumping on a ZX10R. Fatal because it made all the other bikes pale totally into insignificance. The relatively outrageous power, aggressive looks and edgyish handling of the ‘05 ZX10 pretty much spoilt the whole testing exercise for the other bikes that had preceded it on the menu.

I ended up buying my 954 Blade and don’t regret it for a second. But now that I’m lookin for a change and after being tainted by a ZX10R experience in the past I had this lingering desire to throw a leg over the newer 06/07 shape as a comparison and realistic option.

I took out the ‘06 one currently on the floor at Waikato Yamaha, after having just ridden an R6 they’d recently traded, knowing full well there would be that same overpowering effect of the Kwaka over the middleweight, but to be honest I had an inkling the R6 wasn’t gonna work out even though I really do love the things.

Dave fired up the Kwaka inside the shop much to my acoustic delight. The machine they have is fitted with a pair of Micron aftermarket cans and by Jesus it sounds like a substantial piece of kit. Not spinning up as quickly as a 600 but the initial bark and subsequent grumble as it idled coarsely out the door to the workshop for a fuel-up was bloody impressive to say the least.

Onto the bike and easing the clutch out gingerly for manoeuvres onto Te Rapa straight and north out of town I was kinda wary of the beast beneath to be honest. You hear lots of criticism from self-proclaimed hard bastards about how Kawasaki took all the character out of the 04/05 model when the 06 one came out, but lets face it, there’s really no room for complacency when your sitting on a 160 rear-wheel horsepower and a pair of cold tyres.

Out through Te Kowhai, south to Whatawhata, and down the Waipa a little towards Te Pahu and by now I’m starting to get my head around the 10. And by Christ I’m loving it. More urgency than my Blade of course but the same order of magnitude of behaviour really. On a couple of occasions the front lofted during 2nd gear roll-ons, probably a third-throttle if that, but they were at times when I knew I was squeezing on a little more than usual and if you’ve got any throttle control at all there’s really no problem keeping the front wheel on the ground.

The Ten has a beautiful smooth delivery of arse-shoving grunt, still has that incredible big-bore rush of the ‘04 model, but its definately spread a little further out across the rev range. Tipping it into a corner was a cinch, I was kinda expecting it to not be as easy as the Blade but it turns in without effort, feels light to the touch as you alter angle and seems very easy to change the pitch mid-corner with a little more or less throttle or a bit of counter steer.

The brakes are good and progressive, but what else would you expect from any modern bike these days. The ergonomics felt comfortable for me, the engine note is glorious, the styling I like, and its GREEN which is a bonus (I’m a closet Kwaka fan having owned them in the past). It has to be said that overall its a bloody great piece of kit that has handling and responsive performance to boot in a package that doesn’t feel too intimidating to someone used to managing a few ponies.

Would I buy it. Definitely. But first I’ve got a couple of other machines to try to satisfy my curiosity.