Thoughts from the formative years of my spotty youth, when flared trousers, twin shocks and naked bikes were 20 years away from becoming retro; a time when the ultimate motorcycle was about to be released, the Ninja 900. Word on the street talked of wicked acceleration and 150mph top speeds, with braking and handling to match. Reliable, affordable and oozing sex appeal from every sculptured body panel, how could it get any better? Twenty years later, after a day in the hot seat of the 2004 Kawasaki ZX-10, all I can say is: “How can it get any better.”?

With no end to the rain in sight, the day was called and it was time to start heading for home. Kawasaki had given us ample track time the previous day and I for one was not unhappy. A recent high-speed get-off had made the thought of the new ZX-10 as the proverbial horse I needed to remount a little daunting. In preparation I decided; no heroics, just a steady ride so I could return in one piece to report my findings. Three sessions into my day, hard on the phenomenal anchors from over 150mph, I am happy to report I was doing just that.

The day had started out even slower than imagined in my worst nightmares. I just couldn’t bring myself to push the bike into the corners, so I concentrated on learning the track and getting familiar with the diminutive Kawasaki. At 170kg dry and rolling on a 1,385mm wheelbase, a very light touch was needed on the bars to negotiate Homestead’s tight infield turns.

With 184 ram-air assisted horsepower available at the crank, the same treatment was necessary with the throttle. Learning a new track and a new bike always takes a little time, so it took till my third session to start getting things figured out. To avoid any unnecessary inputs to the throttle or the bars in the turns, I hooked my outside leg up under the lip in the gas tank and used my lower body to control the bike. This was the confidence booster I was looking for, as my initial laps were spent feeling very ham-fisted with the throttle. With the huge amount of power available, each fraction of a turn puts out a lot of horses, and hard over in a turn is not the place to accidentally feed in any unwanted throttle.

I was already exploring the new engine’s power by now, and having only one problem: The ZX-10 makes the 2.2-mile (3.54km) circuit seem like a go-kart track. The bike is just so unbelievably fast it simply annihilates the straights. No sooner had I lined myself up out of the corners to release the trigger than it was time to get on the brakes. Even more incredible when you consider I was coming out of first gear corners in second to avoid any wheel spin or wheelies. Making solid, useable power down as low as four thousand rpms, big Z’s engine just keeps on pulling, getting progressively more powerful until it hits redline at 13,000rpm. The shift light comes on a little earlier, but with the bike capable of 90mph (145kph) in first gear, there were few opportunities to closely study the rev counter to see exactly where.

Continued...