Why is the ZX10R winning races but loosing magazine comperisons?

The Kawasaki is always last in every comparison, But, winning races in every level. Are the race kit parts really that good?

 

a top level superbike might as well be a prototype in comparison to the stock magazine comparo bikes.

and "race kit" does not equal superbike.

further, the various professional racing organizations write rules specifically to create parity across the participant manufacturers. that works better and worse for some bikes.

so, without more, it's hard to know what you mean by "winning races in every level"

 

Can you ride like Stefano Mesa or Geoff May? I would bet they aint listening to any magazine opinions of which bike wins races!

 

Today's superbikes much closer to stock can it used to be. 15-20 years ago, it was out of control. That was pretty much nothing in common between a showroom RC51 and what Colin Edwards was racing. Today's world superbikes look downright pedestrian in comparison (adjusting the comparison for overall technological advances).

 

I agree with the OP. I have no idea.... I ha ve a 2017 zx10r flashed it...exhuast...suspension... and gearing. It is an amazing bike. If they all had those basic things done it would make a big difference I feel in the shoot out... I think they all suck stock .

 

Geoff.

 

derrr... fixed!

 

OK. Then the magazine has to do all those things to all the other bikes as well. At which point, the MSRP comparison no longer has value, and if it's a new bike, you've got to make sure that all the aftermarket parts are available for all the bikes you're testing...

 

Are they comparing lap times or are they comparing how they like the bike?
Street shootouts the CBR would be hard to beat for comfort and driveability. It wins like zero races except where the riders ball size matters more to winning then the bike.

 

The shootouts are in completely stock form..and I'm pretty sure the OEM's have to severly impede the bikes performance to get through the EPA import regulations.
Then a reflash after purchase unhinges all the bike's potential. My R1 gained a TON in the midrange and peak power after a reflash of the ECU.

I'm just not a fan of green.

 

The rider will make a bigger difference to any liter bike than there are differences between them all. There are only a few people on this planet that can actually ride a modern liter bike to it's limits in STOCK form...let alone modded to make it better.

 

I'm sure NONE of those magazines are biased in any way or get kickbacks/incentives from some manufacturers to score their bikes more favorably either.

 

It would be great to see a comparison where all bikes are given 10k each to turn them into a racebike and then see who is fastest around a track. Maybe someone from a magazine is reading this and want to organize this test?

 

Obviously it's harder to drag helmet on the ZX vs there others

 

1. The OEMs have different ways of meeting noise/emissions standards. Some of them are heavily neutered in stock form (the way they are tested).
2. They often include a street portion, and the ZX10 is geared really tall, which causes a lot of clutch slippage. That gets old when riding on the street (I’ve seen negative marks specifically for that in the past).
3. It is almost impossible to have a quantifiable scoring system because most of the “scores” are based on personal preference.
4. Some of the reporters they use are midpack track day level riders.
5. Some OEM tires are better than others (same goes for suspension).
6. The ZX10 dominating in WSBK has nothing to do with the bike being used in these shootouts.

When you are allowed to replace/modify/brace/etc the gas tank, swingarm, Triples, linkage, motor, wheels, entire braking system, ECU, suspension, exhaust, so on and so forth...the OEM bike is rendered irrelevant for the sake of comparison purposes.

The only reviews/shootouts I pay attention to are RRW and the ones Rutter does for the Euro mags.

In my opinion, Rutter’s are the best reviews you will find.

He tests every bike at the same track (where he is capable of not only running a lap record pace, but he is consistent enough to do it lap after lap). That kind of ability and consistency leads to some excellent “real world” reviews and comparisons.

I grabbed a Bike magazine when I was in Amsterdam a week or so ago and read one of his reviews. He has a listing of every bike he has tested at that same track, with top speeds, braking distance, lap times, etc.

 

You might not even need that much (or maybe you would these days, I dunno). But I would think doing the following would level the playing field enough to get to a good starting point...that basically puts your in a "super sport" arena.

1. ECU reflash to remove any performance/emissions restrictions from the factory.
2. A Brembo MC and some proper pads
3. Choose a suspension brand like Ohlins or Ktech and throw in carts and a shock
4. A full system and custom map
5. "sweet-spot" chassis settings that can be achieved with OEM hardware (i.e. raise or lower forks in clamps, increase rear ride height with shims or shocks height adjuster, rear wheel positioned optimally in adjuster blocks)
6. The same tires across but they generally do that anyway for track shootouts.

 

The Brit mags tell you like it is and are no slave to any advertiser. They tell you like it is and don't hold back. American mags? I would not even bother reading that junk.

 

Maybe it's "loosing" because they don't use Loctite at the Kawasaki factory (Ya no-spelling mfer!)

 

Beat me to it. I was about to say the same thing.

I’d love to see a shootout where they took a Liter bike from every OEM, gave it an exhaust, ECU reflash, race worthy brake pads, and threw some Pirelli Slicks on all of them.

I’d be happy with OEM suspension as long as they were allowed to make spring rate changes and setup the geometry appropriately.