Baby Ninja Preview
Baby Ninja preview
ROUNDUP
Attention. middleweight sportbike fans: Dust off your zip-back boots and break out the studded-palm gloves, because Kawasaki thinks it's got the perfect bike for you in its new Ninja 600. And judging by the pilot-production models that Cycle World sampled during a recent press introduction, that assessment may be spot-on.
Consider the following. Dragstrip runs by various editors at the introduction showed that the baby Ninja is as quick. if not quicker. than either the Yamaha FJ600 or Suzuki's GS550. That puts it in the 1 2.40-second range, al though the right pair of hands can massage 1 l.8s out of the bike. And throughout 130 miles of street riding and several hours logged on a roadrace course, it was apparent that the Ninja can go apex-to-apex against the class' handling champ, Honda's V-Four Interceptor 500. In other words, the best of both worlds: power and handling.
It's in the trickness quotient. how ever, that the 600 really outshines its opponents. especially the other inline-Fours. Just about every component comes straight off a backroad scratcher's wish-list. For example. Kawasaki's engineers started with the GPz55O lower end then slotted in bigger pistons and a 16-valve head, before wrapping the cylinders in wet liners and adding a radiator. Next came a steel, perim eter-style frame with single-shock rear suspension and aluminum swingarm. There are 16-inch wheels front and rear, encircled with fat, new-style Dunlop tires. Anti-dive front fork, of course, with an integral brace that also deflects air to the radiator and oil cooler. The new Ninja is topped off by a full-fairing with wraparound headlight and enough ducts and scoops to do a Formula One racecar proud. In fact, all that hardware gives the Ninja such an advanced appearance that a GPz55O parked next to it looks pos itively archaic, and even the 900 Ninja starts seeming a little dated.
Look for the 600 to be priced at $3299. about the same as a GPz75O. For the economy-minded sportbike rider, or one just interested in a broader-scope machine. Kawasaki will continue to sell the GPz55O.
