[PainfullySlo]

Long story short: Former racer with injured wrists/hands and can not reliably work a clutch for any length of time.

I am looking at a point where I may be able to swing my leg over a bike again but would need a machine that was true clutchless up/down shifting. I know that all the Gen5s are ride-by-wire but do all of them have the autoblipper for clutchless downshifts or is that only certain years?

Also, I raced a ZX6R. Assuming proper geometry, how much more effort does the ZX10 take for initiating corners? Generally throwing it around, etc...

Thanks in advance for any info/advice.

 

[SkyDork]

The Gen 5 from 2016-2018 have to have the autoblip feature enabled through a reflash. The 2018 SE and the 2019-2020 came with that enabled from the factory. BUT, that is not something that you use cruising around in traffic. For the QS to work, you need to be accelerating, not steady speed. For the autoblip to work, the throttle has to be closed. So you won't be able to use that effectively pulling away from a stoplight. Not sure that's going to work for you.

 

[PainfullySlo]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I am looking for this bike specifically for track duty. I used to be an instructor for the race school here and would like to get back to that even if I would no longer be competitive in actual racing.

I have zero interest in riding on the streets.

 

[SkyDork]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I am looking for this bike specifically for track duty. I used to be an instructor for the race school here and would like to get back to that even if I would no longer be competitive in actual racing.

I have zero interest in riding on the streets.

Oh, OK. I read it wrong then and didn't understand exactly what you were looking for. In that case, ignore that part in my previous message.

My '16 Gen 5 has the autoblip enabled and works great. The only issue is to enable it, you need the Race ECU and harness or you need to reflash the stock ECU to enable it. Works like a champ though. I used Woolich software to reflash the ECU and it's just a checkbox. It's just a software update.

 

[Comi]

16-18 ZX10R only has upshift, if flashed can have downshift as well
17-20 RR have both
18 SE have both
19-20 ZX10R have both

 

[PainfullySlo]

Thanks to both of you, I appreciate your feedback.

Any thoughts on the effort it takes to muscle the bike around?

 

[SkyDork]

Thanks to both of you, I appreciate your feedback.

Any thoughts on the effort it takes to muscle the bike around?

It's a bigger, heavier bike than a ZX-6R is so it will take more effort to turn it. Every opinion is just that, but I wouldn't say it's drastically more difficult than the 6R. It's noticeable but not by that much. It's hard to put that into words and you may think differently. I'd say you'll be fine with it at the track.

 

[Comi]

Thanks to both of you, I appreciate your feedback.

Any thoughts on the effort it takes to muscle the bike around?

That depends a lot on how big are you. Im a shorter rider, so manually moving the bike is a hassle every time. I have to plan accordingly when I park it.
Its worst when it has a full tank, the center of gravity moves a lot higher....

 

[SkyDork]

That depends a lot on how big are you. Im a shorter rider, so manually moving the bike is a hassle every time. I have to plan accordingly when I park it.
Its worst when it has a full tank, the center of gravity moves a lot higher....

He's talking about transitioning the bike from corner to corner while riding it, not really parking it or pushing it around by hand. It's the effort required to make it turn into a corner and that's more about how fast you're going, how much lean angle you're trying to get to, and much you're braking, how wide the bars are, and how much arm strength you have. The full fuel tank will affect that somewhat though.

 

[Porschenut]

Maybe there's an aftermarket clutch perch out there that has a higher leverage ratio to make the lever pull a lower effort? It could be a partial solution for you. CRG makes 2 different universal clutch perches that you could check out. I don't know anything about them other than the CNC construction on them looking super trick. They certainly look far better than the OEM clutch perch which looks like it came off a Wal-Mart bicycle.

 

[ZedEx10Rpimp76]

With the right suspension, geometry, and tire setup, transitions through chicanes, constant and decreasing radius turns, cambered and off cambered, the ZX10R will handle with the best of them. I actually feel this bike handles with less effort compared to my recently sold 2012 Aprilia RSV4 aPRC with full Ohlins/Brembo components. Mine was sold to me with KTECH 25 mm internals front forks and a KTECH DDS shock. Brembo RCS 19 MC was added to the system as well. And…it has GOBS of power!
My ECU was flashed with the Woolich software and autoblip on downshifts and not QS. I’d love to have it reflashed for QS on downshifts (backshift for all you GP pattern shifters out there).

 

[Trainwreck]

Thanks to both of you, I appreciate your feedback.

Any thoughts on the effort it takes to muscle the bike around?

I also came from ZX6R's and in my opinion the ZX10R is actually a lot easier to initiate turns at race/advanced pace. I struggled massively with front end chatter issues on my ZX6R, I went every which way with geometry and although I found a "sweet spot" it was never as good as i wanted it.. I hopped on a friends bike and was immediately amazed at how the bike didn't chatter and how easy it was to actually toss around.

There are some physics stuff that comes in to play as far as gyroscopic effects of the crank and the bike being slightly heavier, but all in all, the Gen 5 ZX10R is a dream to ride compared to my 09-12 ZX6R's.

 

[Finn_69]

It's a bigger, heavier bike than a ZX-6R is so it will take more effort to turn it. Every opinion is just that, but I wouldn't say it's drastically more difficult than the 6R. It's noticeable but not by that much. It's hard to put that into words and you may think differently. I'd say you'll be fine with it at the track.

He should be fine.

 

[Coonsy]

My 600-class bike was a 675 Triumph, so I don't have much comparison on difficulty to turn in compared to the more popular 600's. That said:

IMO, the stock (even resprung) suspension mostly sucks, at least once I got my race bike set up. Completely different machines (this coming from "a girl" so upper body strength is a struggle compared to the guys). This year, since my budget is - well, non existent - I have been putting the race suspension on my street bike, and even set up for track pace, it made a world of difference in the ease of handling on the street, especially noticeable in the more technical roads. Rattles all my fillings loose on a bumpy road, but the bike does what I want.

Took me way to long to get the bike handling the way I wanted (partially because I couldn't articulate what I was needing out of it), but it's there now, and the effort required is nothing compared to the stock stuff. Braking is still an upper body workout "at pace" but that would be true of any bike.

I know lots and lots of guys who ride these bikes very quickly with the stock stuff and just muscle it around and don't notice any issues with it - as "a girl" I didn't find it that easy to do - and found out after way too much trial and error, and working with the same suspension guy who figured me and my riding, that the bike can and will do what I want, it's just a little different ask than most of the guys are looking for.