New 2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Announced For The UK & Europe!

 now today Kawasaki announced a new 2024 update to their super popular 600 Super Sport Pocket Rocket the ZX6R and this will be music to the years of Super Sport lovers because this bike was actually discontinued here in the UK and Europe in 2021 owing to ever stricter emissions regulations in the form of Euro 5. 25 years it had been in production and so it’s great to see it back and so here are the six key things that you need to know about it so yes the 636 CC liquid cooled inline 4 engine of course 

makes a return but they’ve had to make a few tweaks to ensure that it will get through those emissions tests now now Kawasaki specifically site revised cam profiles and revised intake funnels as well as a new exhaust header and collector pipe which they say also help to boost low to mid-range performance so perhaps a little bit more talkiness now but really this bike is all about revvy top-end power and that’s what it makes 127 horsepower Peak up at 13 RPM with the aid of Kawasaki’s Ram air system thing is though that’s actually a little bit down on the previous iteration that made more like 134 horsepower at 13 and a half thousand RPM and so perhaps they had to cap the Reds a little bit to meet those emissions regulations and like they say it’s a little bit stifled elsewhere as well so I think probably that’s understandable you’d rather see it on the market than not and sacrifice five horsepower and also it 

should still be an absolute screaming hoot to ride now from a chassis perspective they don’t give full detailed specs on the press release but if you look at the pictures side by side it looks pretty much exactly the same as the previous generation so you’ve got the same twin spark cast aluminum frame the same 41 millimeter shower upside down separate function big piston fork with full adjustability there should also be a fully adjustable shock at the rear too and again you’ve got twin radially mounted four piston monoblock brake calipers up front from Nissan Biting Down On old 310 mil discs this time they’ve moved over to Rando they’ve moved away from the pedal-shaped disc that used to be a little bit of a signature feature of the Kawasakis then at the rear you’ve got a single pot caliper on a 220mm disc and the tires are fresh with pirelli’s latest Diablo Rosso fours which are the perfect choice for a bike like this with a sporty design that still incorporates a few Road friendly features that accommodate both wet and dry use now to expect the seat height to come in at the same so 830 mils so the ergonomics will be sporty and low at the front and the weight is going to be roughly the same as well the previous gem was 196 kilograms curb so nice and slender although you might see a little bit of a jump here because the 

more restrictive exhaust system you know most bikes now have plenty of precious metals in the catalyzer to scrape through the emissions and so that does tend to add you know a kilogram or two what they have been more explicit about though is the new front end which they say has the distinctive ninja face with its purposeful aggressive lines it also gets the mini air every winglets which are integrated into the fairings no claims about front end downforce in the press release here so I’d expect it to be minimal but I guess they do add a little bit to the looks and they also say this new front fairy now accommodates a hybrid projector and reflector headlight for the first time which completes an all LED lighting package it’s also worth adding that the windscreen now gets some cutouts and they say that I’ll reduce buffer tin which of course is going to improve Rider Comfort over time elsewhere though in terms of styling this bike looks very similar to the previous iteration you’ve just got a few little nips and 

Tucks here and there but that’s because Kawasaki have this hugely consistent design language which is super modern and angular visually the 6r fits right into the ZX lineup between the four ra which was recently announced and their ZX10R Superbike and generally I’d say you’ll either love it or hate it Kawasaki’s are always bold especially in that traditional Punchy green paint job it definitely stands out but if you do want something a little more mellow then I actually quite like this gray finish that they’re now offering it’s got like a split design you’ve got metallic graphite gray at the top and metallic Diablo black at the bottom so it’s got a bit of a half contrasty look and I think it’s a bit more stealthy and perhaps a little more classy as always though let me know which one you’d pick down in the comments below now big change in the cockpit comes in the form of a new 4.3 inch full color TFT display and this opens up smartphone connectivity via Kawasaki’s rideology app and you’ve also got a few new little bits like the shift light the riding mode indicator and if you’ve got the phone integration hooked up you’ve got the Bluetooth indicator as well as call and messaging notifications now another thing that’s new on this Dash which I don’t quite get is the Eco riding indicator I’ve tried it out on other Kawasakis recently and basically it just illuminates when you moderate on the throttle I guess it’s there to encourage you know sensible fuel efficient ride-in but I think it’s a bit at odds with the attitude and intention of a super sport bike like this they it’s meant to be revved to the moon and back and is more 

likely to be seen on the track than doing the sort of local commute but perhaps somebody somewhere might find it useful much more fitting in my opinion to the sporty nature of this bike would be the kqs or Kawasaki quick shifter and you’ve also got three levels of traction control various levels of power modes and four riding modes to choose from so sport Road rain and Rider now pricing for this one starts at 10 599 pounds which is just shy of a grand more than the previous iteration but to be fair to Kawasaki that was two or three years ago and things have certainly crept up a bit in the bike Market over that time period as for whether it’s actually good value for money by today’s standards though is a little bit difficult to say because much like this bike was discontinued for a while so of all the closest Rivals and they haven’t made a comeback so the Honda CBR 600RR the Yamaha R6 and the Suzuki GSX r600 they’re all gone and so really if you’re talking about the true competition this is pretty much 

New 2024 Kawasaki ZX-6R Announced For The UK & Europe!

in a field of one the closest stuff would possibly be the Honda cbr650r which is also an inline four but it’s a lot more chilled out and relaxed and Road biased and that’s reflected in the more chilled out price of eight and a half Grand slightly more aggressive in the riding position is the Yamaha R7 that comes in at 8910 but I don’t think you can realistically consider it a true competitor for this bike because the parallel twin engine only makes 72 horsepower which is not far off half really the closest thing on the market is the Aprilia RS 660 and that comes in at 10 300. again I wouldn’t say it’s as peaky and aggressive as the Kawasaki but it is the closest in terms of performance and then maybe you’ve got to consider that people might want to move over from something like a middleweight naked like the Triumph Street triple RS that comes in at 11 295 very similar in terms of performance the output is pretty much the same but if you want something with a proper sports bike riding position and a bit more try Focus than the fairing then the ZX6R actually might be quite tempting but either way 10 and a half grandish looks about right now this bike will be available in dealers from October this year so do let me know what you think of it down in the comments and if you haven’t already seen it here’s our full rundown of its recently announced smaller sibling the zx4r many thanks for watching today and we’ll see you in the next one