As we have predicted earlier during our online interview with Petronas SRT Team Principal, Dato’ Razlan Razali, the upcoming MotoGP rounds in Mugello and Catalunya have been postponed due to the growing concerns related to the COVID-19 virus pandemic. (more…)
Okay, okay, how a bike sounds is subjective just like how a bike looks. But there’s no denying a certain emotion when we hear a melodious one. But we’ve decided to put together a list of the 10 best sounding bikes, anyhow. Do leave us a comment on which other bike or bikes that you think sounded great.
You may notice that all the bikes here are pre-Euro 4 and Euro 5. That’s when they sounded glorious!
Turn it up to 11 for some eargasm.
Like it or not, it has to be here. Harley-Davidson Twins, and Big Twins in particular do produce a distinctive sound. Credit that to air-cooling which still allows much mechanical (if not “agricultural”) sounds through. Heavy metal thunder? Roll it on.
No, not the new Ninja ZX-10R. Instead, its predecessor the ZXR-750 takes the cake. It has a warble and roar at low to mid-RPMs which turns into a mad trumpet at high RPMs. It has to be heard to appreciate.
Well, any four-cylinder engine with the traditional 180-degree crank would sound the same. But the S 1000 RR has a slight mechanical edge to that howl. Most of all, however, and everyone could agree is when the rider toes the quickshifter.
Yamaha changed their crank configuration to the now famous “crossplane.” It’s because Valentino Rossi liked the race bike’s engine with the same format. It was then adopted to the street bike. The result is a bike that sounds like a V-Four at lower RPMs then mixing in the howl of an inline-Four when the needle sweeps higher up. We were so engrossed with that we found ourselves riding the test bike much harder. Oops.
Talking about V-Four engines, the RSV4 and Tuono V4 are the last V-Four production sportbikes. The V-Four engine is a wonderful unit but it’s much more expensive to produce and maintain, besides harder to pack inside a frame. Anyhow, just ride either one of these bikes through a tunnel and pull through a gear or two. No other bikes make the same sound. That roar, that warble. Heaven.
With the start of the MotoGP 2020 season being postponed as late as August, riders and teams are already starting to feel the pressure to compete and perform their level best this season as well as prepare for some monumental changes next season in 2021.
We got a few details from the Team Principal of Petronas SRT (Sepang Racing Team), Dato’ Razlan Razali, to help clarify a few things, including the prospect of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo racing with them. (more…)
Kawasaki took everyone by surprise when they launched the 2020 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R carbon fibre race bike. This beautiful beast was launched as a way to promote the upcoming 250cc four-cylinder machine and also a one-make series which will take place in Japan starting 2021 with an exhibition race planned as early as 2021. (more…)
Pushed on through rivalry with the other Japanese manufacturers, Kawasaki consistently produced motorcycles that stir up the market. The Big Green Machine’s approach has always been about more power and speed. They’ve succeeded on many counts and thereby hold the honour of “World’s Fastest Production Motorcycle” with a number of models.
So, let’s take a look at some of them. Again, there are just too many to list here, so we’ll continue the list in chronological order.
Kawasaki isn’t all about four-strokes. The K1-R and the later K-1RS aren’t race-inspired like their competitors’ 250cc two-strokes but it was known to be the most powerful and fastest. Both models shared the 249cc parallel-Twin. The former’s produced 55 hp, which was upgraded to 65 hp. Weight started out at just 123 kg then grew to 131 kg. It hit 225 km/h, making it the fastest among all, including the early Aprilia RS250. However, the bike had a tendency to seize its pistons, so Kawasaki made them only in small numbers. It’s a collectors’ item now.
Kawasaki’s reputation of building world fearsom bikes is pretty much set now and they weren’t going to stop. So, in 1988, the built another world’s fastest production bike. The 997cc engine produced 135 hp and gave the bike a 266 km/h top speed. It’s also the first Kawasaki to employ an aluminium perimeter frame.
The ZXR-750/ZX-7 certainly deserves a place in this countdown. It made its debut in 1989, in time for the third World Superbike season in 1990. It had to contend with rivals Honda, Yamaha and of course the Ducati juggernaut. But it came good in 1993 when Scott Russel won Kawasaki’s first ever superbike title. All versions of the ZX-7 are still much sought after by collectors.
Just two years after the ZX-10 smash the fastest production bike record, along came this beast. The engine was enlarged and now produced 145 hp, pushing the bike to a top speed of 283 km/h. It also ran the quarter mile in 10.43 seconds. It’s still fast by today’s standards. This was the bike that spurred Honda to create the CBR1100XX Super Black Bird and the Suzuki Hayabusa.
Just like its ZX-7 predecessor, the ZX-10R was built to contest in the World Superbike Championship. The manufacturer went away blank until Tom Sykes captured their first title in 20 years. Since then, Kawasaki had won another five championships including last year’s making them the second most successful manufacturer behind Ducati. They could well continue. The current ZX-10R produces 197 hp and does the quarter mile in 10.03 seconds. It’s also loaded with the latest electronic gear plus suspension.
That’s a little too easy, isn’t it? The hyperbike is in a series by itself. It’s currently the most successful forced induction bike but it also costs a bomb. The ZX-10R, on the other hand, is more attainable.
Brembo released an official statement regarding the decision to purchase a small share of one of the world’s most renowned brand in tyre manufacturing, Pirelli. The official press release by the premium brake manufacturer can be read below. (more…)
