Kawasaki's Ninja had Tom Roberthanging on like grim death with its pure power and speed putting it in a class of its own
UNTIL LAST weekend, I'd thought the fastest green thing on the planet was the slice of lime heading for my gin and tonic on a Friday evening.
The reason I've now seen fit to revise that opinion is because I spent the weekend in question riding the Kawasaki Ninja, although when I use the term riding, I mean more hanging on for grim death, the grin on my face perfectly balanced between sheer enjoyment and sheer terror, as the bike launched itself towards the horizon like Kermit the frog fired from a cannon.
Let me produce some figures to back up my argument. Kawasaki has revised the cylinder heads with oval throttle bodies and stuck in two injectors per cylinder which, aided and abetted by a Ram Air pressurised intake system, boosts the power to not far off a mindboggling 200bhp. That's on a bike weighing 192kg wet. Let me put it another way. This is a motorcycle that does 100mph in first gear.
Straight line power, of course, is not the only story on a sports bike; you need the suspension, steering and braking to control it, and since Kawasaki has improved the suspension for 2008, and given the Ninja a longer wheelbase and less vertical forks, I was expecting an experience similar to the Honda Fireblade.
Well, how wrong can you be, as my great-aunt Maud said after worrying that nude skydiving wasn't for her.
The Fireblade is a pussycat compared to the Ninja, whose suspension is so firm and sensitive that you need to watch the road ahead of you like a hawk for rough patches which will have it twitching in annoyance.
Dive into a corner too fast on the Fireblade, and it will tell you that you're a naughty boy and not to do it again. Try it on the Ninja, and you'll end up in a tree. Three fields away.
This is not to say, of course, that the Ninja is dangerous. It's just that you need to pay attention on it, or it will smack you around the chops. You can ride it quickly but sensibly, and you can even potter around town on it.
But pottering or commuting is not what the Ninja is about. It's about keeping for a sunny Sunday afternoon, a smooth road that you know well and the feeling of utter lunacy as you step off it afterwards.
Your hair will look like an explosion in a mattress factory, that grin of joy and terror will be superglued to your face, and your behind will be aching from a seat thinner than an anorexic credit card, but you will have lived close to the edge, and even better, lived to to tell the tale.
If you're looking for sanity, I suggest that you look elsewhere.
Factfile Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja
Engine and transmission:998cc, in-line four-cylinder four-stroke with 16 valves; 186bhp at 12,500rpm, 83lb ft of torque at 8,700rpm. Six-speed gearbox, chain final drive
Performance:top speed 185mph (est), average fuel consumption 38mpg
Frame:backbone/twin-tube, aluminium (pressed/die-cast composite structure)
Tyres:front 120/70ZR17M/C, rear 190/55ZR17M/C
Suspension:front 43mm inverted fork with DLC coating, rebound and compression damping, spring preload adjustability and top-out springs; rear bottom-link Uni-Trak with gas-charged shock and top-out spring
Brakes:front dual semi-floating 310 mm petal discs, aluminium housing, rear single 220 mm petal disc
Test bike:£8,950 from Philip McCallen of Lurgan, 028 3832 9999, www.philipmccallen.com
Price in the Republic:€14,495.
Contact Kawasaki Distributors Ireland on 01 456 7234 for your nearest dealer