Kawasaki's secrets

Kawasaki’s race boss Ichiro Yoda says he is not surprised that the new 800s can lap faster than the more powerful 990s they replace – despite giving away around 40bhp.

Yoda revealed that in some corners, Kawasaki data-logging showed new signing Olivier Jacque was as much as 8mph faster than Shinya Nakano was on the 990cc ‘06 ZX-RR:

He said: “If you improve the lap time by going 2kph faster in each corner the rider cannot feel, this, but you get one second per lap. OJ feels that in some corners he is 5kph faster so this is more than one second improvement.

“So even with less acceleration from the 800 I’m not surprised we can cover this with corner speed.
Quality bikes for sale: Click here.

Bike reviews: Click here.

Product reviews: Click here.
“In some corners we were 12kph faster. This kind of speed can cover the disadvantage of acceleration. Plus the 800cc engine is very smooth and power delivery is very linear.

“There is not so much spinning and sliding and the throttle is very rider friendly so the package is not like a 500 two-stroke, but more like a 250. A 250 is very delicate and sensitive on the throttle but it’s easier to ride and needs cornering speed and this is why the 800s are similar to 250.”

Yoda has spoken of these revelations since the debut of his firm’s all-new ZX-RR 800cc MotoGP bike against the rivals it will race against next year,

He added: “It is a lot different to the 990, which is a lot heavier on corner entry. The rider used to have force the bike but with 800 it is much more easy.

“We do not need manage engine power as much as we did on the 990. With the old bike we needed a lot of traction control and engine braking but now there will less than electronic aids.”