2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R ridden? Not quite…

It would appear the new 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R has been ridden by American magazine, Cycle World, if these pictures, taken from their website are to be believed.

There a number of shots with a rider wearing Cycle World leathers aboard the new Superbike on the road, although there are no riding impressions in their accompanying story.

Speaking to Cycle World, they say it’s not them riding, but a Kawasaki employee wearing Cycle World leathers, just for pictures.

Their story does contain information from Rob Taylor of Kawasaki’s American Tech Services Department, who Cycle World say gave them an exclusive technical presentation.

Talking about the ZX-10R’s engine, he says: “It’s not how much power a motorcycle has, it’s how much power the rider of that motorcycle can use. That’s what we have worked long and hard to accomplish with the new ZX-10R; that’s what this bike is all about.

“The focus has been more on the midrange than on coming up with the biggest horsepower number,” he said. “And if you combine that with the amazing capabilities of the traction control, you can see what we mean by more usable power.”

He continues: “What we have now are pre-production bikes, so several things still have to be sorted out.

“We have a target power number we’d like to achieve and think we can lose more than 20 pounds compared to last year’s bike [435 lb dry on the CW scales], but we won’t know for sure until the production specs have been finalised.”

Taylor talks about the adjustable traction control system and the optional ABS, which he says is smooth and virtually seamless when the system kicks in.

In response to the question of whether BMW’s S1000RR was the ZX-10R’s target, he said: “BMW raised the bar for everyone, but this ZX-10R has been in development for a long time, well before the BMW came along.

“It’s always easy to give a bike more power; but if you’re going to put real racing technology in the hands of the public, every bit of it must be very highly refined. That’s what we’ve been doing with this bike.”

Mark Cernicky from Cycle World told us that the Kawasaki test team visited the magazine’s HQ in Newport Beach, California after the annual Masterbike test earlier this year in Spain, wanting to know what they would change for the new ZX-10R.

“Cernicky says that according to Kawasaki, the new ZX-10R has, “way better feel for traction and is less top-heavy than before.”

Like us, Cycle World say they can’t wait to ride the new machine.