2011 Kawasaki ZX10R spied

KAWASAKI'S resident Twit has been at it again, Tweeting pictures of the company's 2011 ZX-10R during test trials.

The test team, comprising of WSB racers Tom Sykes and Akira Yanagawa, is currently in Japan putting the new 1000cc sportsbike through its paces at the Autopolis circuit.

The test riders have reported the new bike has a more compact riding position than the current ZX-10R; Sykes and Yanagawa also confirmed the new 10R is nimbler than the existing bike, too.

Check here for a full gallery of the new 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Here's what we said about the 2004 ZX-10R when we first rode it back in 2004:

'First impressions are this bike is very small, which I guess shouldn’t be such a surprise as the concept behind this bike was to design a 1000cc supersports machine with 600cc dimensions. Kawasaki started with a 600-sized chassis and built an engine to fit.

Jumping aboard, the 10R feels like a ZX-6R because it’s so small, except the 10’s riding position is lower and you sit more in the bike. It’s narrow too because although the tank is wide at the top the indents for your knees mean they’re actually very close together. And she’s comfortable too, at the track at least. Overall, the bike is so massively and naturally planted that I couldn’t get it to step out anywhere. Really very impressive.

And despite the power on tap and the short wheelbase, the ZX doesn’t have a steering damper and doesn’t need one either which is all the more impressive. Unlike ZX-6s I’ve ridden which have all been flighty up front, the 10’s stability is faultless at all speeds. At the worst the front could get out of line leaving the ground on the gas, but as soon as it touched terra firma it would snick straight back into line without a hint of tankslap.'