Bullet Train
BULLET TRAIN
—PRESs INTROS '02—
KAWASAKI ZX-T2R
A slightly civilized approach to speed
David Edwards
CARMEL, California— WHO SAYS RANK DOESN’T
HAVE ITS PRIVILEGES? WHILE GIRDLER WAS WINGING IT TO SOUTH AFRICA IN THE FOLDED AND FULLY locked position (“I spent six nights away from home, three of’em in Economy Class”) and Hoyer was dodging raindrops and numb nubblies in Merry Olde (“Damned good reason most British intros are held in Spain”), I assigned myself the task of attending the Kawasaki ZX-12R press launch in quaint Carmel, a mere hour-and-a-half turboprop hop up the coast.
Swathed in terrycloth and sipping a quite passable Pinot Noir while the inroom jacuzzi came up to heat, I pondered the next day’s ride down California’s scenic Pacific Coast Highway. The weatherman promised 76 degrees and sunny-balmy for early February-and the mighty Kawasaki PR machine had croissant stops and a swank
lunch laid on for the 100mile ride to Moonstone Beach. Who do these guys think they are, BMW?
Actually, refinement was the watchword concerning the big Ninja, upgraded for 2002 with something like 140 detail improvements. Not exactly “all-new” as the brochure babble would have you believe, but a pretty thorough reworking. The A-model ZX-12R was introduced in 2000, you may remember, intended to be the last word in 200-mph rocketships. Then the Eurocrats-pencil-necks one and all-got wind of the Suzuki-Kawasaki Speed Wars and threatened to ban high-horsepower sportbikes altogether. Much wringing of hands and sucking of teeth ensued, the result being a semi-secret voluntary agreement to limit top speed to under 300 kph. That’s 186 mph to you and me, which is exactly what the ZX-12 did when it released to the public, well down on the 194 mph our politically incorrect Hayabusa 1300 had done a year
previous. The 12R was slower in the quartermile, too, not even dipping into the 9s. The Nuclear Ninja was a bit of a dud.
“It’s an embarrassment,” moaned a K-type at the time.
Two years later, the whole Speed Thing now a moot point, Kawasaki has tweaked the ZX-12 into a better all-around motorcycle.
Engine work centered on making the 1199cc Four easier to live with in the lowand midrpm ranges. A 4.4-poundheavier crankshaft, giving 20 percent more inertia, smooths power delivery. Same goes for a new flywheel, smaller in diameter but the same weight, which adds inertia-imagine a figure skater pulling his arms in to speed up a spin. Revised ignition mapping helps with the 12’s realworld makeover, as does an oval throttle-cable pulley that feeds in power more gradually than the previous straight-pull design.
The unique aluminum monocoque chassis got its share of revisions, too. Upper steering-head bearings grew from 25 to 35mm; swingarm pivot was lowered 2mm, shifting weight forward for better front-end stick; a more linear shock linkage was fitted; up front, stiffer fork springs are used and compression damping was backed off (finally!) for a better ride. And citing the mystical “stiffness balance,” engineers removed metal from the main frame, reduced gusseting around the steering head and mounted a lighter swingarm. As in life, sometimes you can be too rigid.
So, no question a better,
more refined motorcycle, but what is the ZX-12R good for? On backroads it handles better than any fully fueled, 550-pound machine should, but it’s no GSXR1000-or if you prefer to stick in the Kawasaki camp, ZX-9R. You can sport-tour on the 12, sure, but the upcoming ZZ-R1200 with bags will be a better sightseeing platform, and hopefully cooler on hot days-the 12 radiates a lot of heat to the rider’s legs, up through the dummy fuel tank and even to the frame’s alloy side plates.
Jim Petersen, attending the intro for Playboy, provided the answer. He sat sipping his coffee at the rest stop, glassy-eyed, contemplating the past 50 miles. “I have n-e-v-e-r ridden anything that fast,” he said at last. The man appeared almost drunk on the shear amount of velocity available. Sure enough,
I trailed Petersen as we motored on, and he romped into the throttle at every opportunity. Jim could stand some improvement in braking technique and cornering lines, but when it came to corner exits he was king.
That’s what this Kawasaki is all about. The 90-mph roll-on, the never-ending acceleration, the absolute inhalation of straightaways, the mine’s-bigger-thanyours ability to lay motor on almost anything with wheels. In simple terms, the ZX-12R is nothing but a big fast road-bumer. No apologies offered, none needed.
