Officially debuting the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R in New York’s Times Square today, Kawasaki has unsurprisingly brought a stroked-out 636cc machine to a 599cc supersport battle. While the chassis of the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R is the same, the motor has obviously been reworked, along with the bodywork. However, the big news from the reveal is the addition of Kawasaki’s three-mode KTRC traction control to the supersport-class motorcycle, once again proving that electronics are the new horsepower.
Other additions to the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R include Showa’s new SFF-BP front forks. Combining Showa’s Separate Function Fork (SFF) with its Big Piston (BP) technology, Kawasaki hopes the suspension units will provide the optimal balance between street and track riding. The new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R motor also gets further improved with the addition of a back-torque limiting slipper clutch.
The first mass-market 600cc-class sport bike to get a traction control electronics package (the MV Agusta F3 was the first outright middleweight motorcycle to get TC), Kawasaki’s inclusion of traction control and optional ABS are defining features for the ZX-6R against the supersports from the other Big Four brands.
Hoping to be the middleweight sport bike of 2013, Kawasaki has an interesting balance between bringing new features to the ZX-6R, while continuing to use parts of the old machine. More details as we get them.
Source: Kawasaki
Comments