Although we have been invited to the press introductions for Honda’s CBR929RR and RC-51 (more about that later), we were not invited by Kawasaki to the introductory press ride of the 2000 ZX-9R. We have seen more than one press report from that intro, however, and we thought we’d pass along what we have heard.
Last year’s ZX-9 had quite a motor, but, according to reports, the revised, higher-compression engine (requiring premium fuel) is a monster. With significantly greater torque from low rpm’s, and more horsepower everywhere, Kawasaki has apparently enhanced what was already considered a “hot rod” in the open class.
The only negative we are hearing is related to an abrupt off/on throttle response, which reportedly caused more than one journalist to crash. This could relate to the new carburetors used on the 2000 model, and it is possible Kawasaki will address this before production bikes are available in January, 2000. Apparently, this was more of a problem on the race track than it was on the street.
