Only a few hours after Tom Sykes’ and KRT had secured the world championship at Jerez with the official machine 14 lucky riders got the chance to sample the winning Ninja ZX-10R.

The capabilities of the official Ninja ZX-10R SBK machine and new world champion Tom Sykes have been evident to all through 2013. Now top journalists from around the world enjoyed a whole new perspective on this success.

The 14 riders were given two five-lap sessions to get a real feel for the machine. We asked some of them to give us their thoughts and feelings about what world championship winning power and performance was all about, as they followed in the wheel tracks of Sykes.

Michael Neeves, MCN, UK
“The most striking thing about the bike - other than the no-brainer that it is fast - is that it is quite friendly. The pickup off the throttle is friendly and the ride quality is plush, like you would never find on anything other than a factory racebike, it has really nice control. It is the best Superbike in the world right now and it feels it.”

Alex Medina, Solo Moto, Spain
“For me the big change was between 2011 and 2012. It is easier to ride than last year and the most important progression has been in electronic parts. I am not a racer but the suspension is very nice and that is good because this kind of bike you can normally never ride ‘properly’. The big difference was between first and second gear. Tom has a very aggressive riding style and the traction control on entry to the corner was working hard but they told me that you have to be riding at a high speed and aggressively for it to work properly when opening the gas. The bike is designed to be braked hard, to corner quickly, and then exit corners quickly, upright with full gas. The power is crazy for me, the brakes are crazy, but it is still nice to ride. Tom uses very hard braking and the harder you brake the better it works.”


Andy Bildel, Motorrad, Germany
“It is amazing because I did not expect that it has so much power on top. I know it is a World Superbike but it has even more power than I imagined and the way it revs when you are over 12,000rpm is amazing. You can hardly concentrate on the rev limiter before you arrive at a new braking point. The bike is so quick and the handling is so brilliant. Releasing the brake and entering the corner the feedback from the front is so smooth. You need to ride it Superbike style not my Supersport style. There is hardly anything bad to tell about this bike. I know from the stock bike that that one handles very nicely and this is even better. It handles very friendly when you pick it up and use it like it wants. It is not strange because this bike tells you that you are too slow as a rider! It is telling you to push, push and the better you work the better response you get out of it.”

Bradley Adams, Sport Rider Magazine, USA
“This is my first time riding any world superbike, and I have never ridden anything like it. The biggest thing is that I expected to be sacred. It makes all this power which is awesome and I am probably not into 10% of the bikes’ potential, but at the same time it is really tractable, it is really easy to ride the ay it build power and the way the brakes come in. It is not overly intimidating. When you really get into the throttle down the back straight it opens your eyes a bit! But you can ride it without scaring yourself too much which is testimony to all the work they have done to smooth it out and make a rideable bike for Tom, You see that being beneficial at the end of a race when you are worn out, and the tyres are worn out but the bike is still easy to ride. It was a lot of fun!”

Josep Rojas, Former Endurance Racer, Spain:
“This is a very potent motorcycle, the brakes make a big impression and the engine is spectacular. The brakes work hard but feel easy to use. The most important when you exit a corner is if you give it too much gas because it wheelies very easily exiting every corner and it is very fast on each straight. It revs very high and very fast so for me, have to regulate my speed on the gas.”

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