Metered Power
Metered power
There’s more in store
KAWASAKI
NINJA ZX-14
Back in the mid-’90s Suzuki started a trend when it tamed the acceleration potential of the GSX-R1100 by implementing a dedicated ignition-timing map in first gear. Simply snipping what we dubbed “the wheelie wire” routed to the bike’s ignitor unit fooled the system, unlocking unadulterated performance pleasure while shaving .3-second off our time slip at the strip. Considering that particular Gixxer produced 123 peak horsepower and 74 foot-pounds of torque, you can understand why the likes of the ’Busa and ZX-14 get neutered at birth.
Sophisticated electronics found on today’s fuelinjected sportbikes have given manufacturers better tools for tempering an engine’s torque output if deemed beneficial. While Suzuki’s Hayabusa has been hobbled in its bottom two gears all along, this has gone largely unnoticed since the engine still provides an abundance of bottom-end punch. Sadly the same can’t be said of the big Ninja, which not only holds back more but also extends the trend another two cogs higher. It’s a noble effort that has certainly made the 14 more practical for the masses, but we’d sure like to ride one with unbridled power in third and fourth gear. Might it then be a 9.5-second quarter-miler?
While a dyno isn’t required to realize that the Ninja’s teeth have been dulled in the first four gears, we wanted to measure just how much it was being reined in. Pulls conducted in second, third and fourth gears were compared to a full-power graph obtained in fifth. Torque production at 4000 rpm in fifth is 86 foot-pounds; it falls to 70 foot-pounds in fourth, a couple less in third and 65 foot-pounds in second. Repeating the procedure with the ’Busa resulted in 83 foot-pounds at 4000 rpm in third gear on up while only dropping to 77 foot-pounds in second. Both bikes show a decrease in power reduction as revs rise, and in the Ninja’s case fourth gear matches fifth-gear output from 8500 rpm to its 11,000-rpm redline.
So what does this mean for ZX-14 owners? Do you bang an upshift before pulling out to pass a truck? Not quite, but you may want to avoid a third-gear roll-on contest with a ’Busa for pinks.
Don Canet
