Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R
Kawasaki green metallic, which for a year and a day or so irritated the prestigious automotive world with promised features, hummed at idle in front of the Panigaz workshop in Kranj. It kicked up my adrenaline with an ominous hiss through Akrapovich's titanium exhaust system. There in Akrapovich, where all the world's racing elite measure their jewels, they set their sights on an all-standard Kawasaki ZX-12R with 156bhp tires. and a new 173 hp exhaust system!
That 173bhp, depending on the power increase or decrease, is the real power the rider holds in his hand and the same hip on a 200mm wide Kawasaki tire.
Ha, fine print: the engine power figures given in the factory brochures are to be believed with a grain of salt: crankshaft power is a theory, something that doesn't apply to the road because friction is lost between the clutches. , gearbox, bearings and chain. Power 173 HP on the tire more than Jerman on the tire at the Superbike World Championship.
I don’t know for sure, but definitely 15 hp. more than factory cars in the same World Cup. Of course, another mass is at stake here. The superbike weighs 165 pounds, this Kawasaki is at least 235 pounds including fuel, oil and water. That's not a lot. But let's not burden ourselves with pounds here. I weigh a goal 50 pounds more than Edwards from the World Cup. Yeah, all non-material numbers are some kind of prostitutes that can be adapted to use.
Expectation! The engine was waiting for me clean and tidy, with a good range of 3800 kilometers and on enough new tires not to be gripped by empty fear: I trust Panigaz because he has proven himself countless times, and therefore I accept the challenge from his hands. see how to live at a speed of over 300 kilometers per hour or while moving at least 85 meters per second.
I fasten the helmet and gloves of the kangaroo tightly, fix the knee pads and say to myself: “Let's see, I'm not from yesterday! “When I drive through a settlement at about two or three thousand revolutions per minute, this hunter walks very eagerly and smoothly to make you doubt these richly inferred numbers. I sit quite relaxed and the armor is not too low in the back. In perfectly positioned mirrors, I can finally see everything that is happening behind my back.
I feel the engine and try to tame myself. The transmission works smoothly, the grip feels good, the body-to-bike contact is possible in several grips and that's natural. This means the motorcycle can be steered by pressing your foot against the frame and pedals or thigh next to the fuel tank.
Then I try to slow down a bit with the gas. NS. . , the other goes purely 185 km per hour!
Kawasaki was moving so fast that my brain just floated inside the shard, and my eyes could not perceive the changed distance and space. I will not deny that I fell with several other Czech tourists and a van on the highway. My stomach tightens when I realize that I have four more gears, turn off the gas and look at the world in amazement. ... Hey, I really need to see how far this goes! I have not yet crossed the 300 mark.
I am finding a suitable place to launch into the third dimension.
When I ride around the world in sixth gear at 170 km / h, the rev counter shows a little less than five thousandths, less than half of the possible revs. With this method of driving, a person can go on a round-the-world trip, because there is enough space for two. Under the hood, a fairly comfortable seat for the passenger. The only question is how fast he wants to go. I drop three gears into third. I open the gas to the end.
The third is spinning very fast, the exhaust or the engine underneath me roars with a hiss and pushes me there from behind at a speed of about 240 km per hour. Without the clutch, I push on the fourth, the transmission shifts very accurately and quickly. The fourth is as alive as the third. The engine just pushes evenly, I look away from the instruments, and the counter shows 280 or 285 km per hour. I don't know for sure, because everything went quickly. It was uncomfortable for me to look at the numbers at such a speed.
Without a clutch, I press on the heel, it rides smoothly, something doesn't work, and I turn off the gas. I give up. It was fast. I go down on a tourist 220 km per hour. Feelings are confused. The speedometer can creep up to 340, but the hand cuts off the gas every time because the engine is accelerating so hard that I don't have time in my head to adjust the motion sensor. I am not used to such a reserve of power and inexhaustible acceleration of the car, so I lose my orientation.
Every time I rip my head out of the armor at 280 km / h, something like a giant hits my helmet and shoulders, and the engine expands the direction of travel. I'll try again. And again. Fifth gear accelerates just as jerkily as fourth, so I count the gears so I know where I am. Every time at around 280 km / h, in the midst of the still wild acceleration, I give up. To feel safe enough, I will need a longer and wider plane.
That I know how much skin a man takes if he gets stuck at that speed. And I'm not even saying that the engine is to blame. The Kawasaki ZX-12R runs very quietly, both straight ahead and into a corner, where you can also lean on your knee if you feel the need to. The engine makes it possible, the frame makes it possible, the suspension makes it possible. In short, the packaging is rich, you just need to know how to open it. Before the red box, I was only able to use four gears.
Price: 12.152, 94 EUR (DKS, Maribor)
Technical information
engine: 4-cylinder - 4-stroke - in-line - liquid-cooled - two camshafts in the head - 4 valves per cylinder - vibration damping shaft - bore and stroke 83 × 55 mm - displacement 4 cm1199 - compression 3, 12: 2 - fuel injection , intake manifolds f 1 mm - 51-speed gearbox - oil bath clutch - chain
Chassis: aluminum box frame, center bracket - USD Showa f 43mm adjustable front fork, 120mm travel - aluminum rear swingarm, center shock, 140mm travel
Wheels and tires: front wheel 3 × 50 with 17/120 tire - 70 - rear wheel 17 × 6 with 00/17 tire - 200
Brakes: Front 2 × partially floating f 320 mm discs with 6-piston caliper – Rear f 230 mm disc with two-piston caliper
Wholesale apples: length 2080 mm - wheelbase 1440 mm - seat height from the ground 810 - fuel tank 20 l - weight (drained, factory) 210 kg
Mitya Gustinchich
Photo: Urosh Potocnik.
Technical information
engine: 4-cylinder - 4-stroke - in-line - liquid-cooled - two camshafts in the head - 4 valves per cylinder - vibration damping shaft - bore and stroke 83 × 55,4 mm - displacement 1199 cm3 - compression 12,2: 1 – fuel injection, intake manifolds f 51 mm – gearbox 6-speed – oil bath clutch – chain
brakes: front 2 × partially floating disc f 320 mm with 6-piston caliper – rear disc f 230 mm with two-piston caliper
Weight: length 2080 mm - wheelbase 1440 mm - seat height from the ground 810 - fuel tank 20 l - weight (drained, factory) 210 kg
