Kawasaki recalled and stopped selling the 2011 zx-10r .They were talking about it on the wera board yesterday . I guess now it is official.

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=42858

Well that seems serious. Wonder what the problem is? Pretty bed if KMC is refunding money.

Honorable way of handling it.

Honorable way of handling it.

Honorable - maybe. More likely they're trying to get in front of potential lawsuits.

As I was telling another rider friend, the fact that they aren't saying anything about WHAT the problem might be is kind of ominous. I mean, mass recalls like this are expensive as hell for a manufacturer. Makes me think it's probably not a "your bike will explode while you're on it" issue but something serious enough to pull them all in.

Which also means that the bike has some kind of serious defect. And given a manufacturer's penchant, in general, to parts-bin their bikes, it makes me wonder what else might be affected.

:interesting:

Anyone heard what's going on with this? This does not happen very often.

UPDATE 14 Dec
Kawasaki UK has released the following statement:
"Following its recent successful Press Launch in Qatar, the European sales introduction of the 2011 model Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R has been re-scheduled for the company to resolve a technical issue.
"In order to meet Kawasaki’s long established reputation for precision engineered products, the sales introduction of the new machine has been temporarily postponed. Kawasaki will announce a revised sales start date in due course."

UPDATE 13 Dec: No UK bike are affected by the Kawasaki recall issued on the new ZX-10R superbike in America as none have yet been delivered either to dealers or customers. UK deliveries will begin in January. It's not known at this stage if the recall even affects European specification bikes or if this recall will affect delivery times scheduled for the New Year.

Kawasaki has revealed no details about what the issue is, but unsubstantiated online rumours suggest it might be linked to a butterfly valve in the exhaust. The implications of the ‘technical hold’ is not clear for European bikes. It could apply only to American spec bikes which are different in terms of power, peak revs and noise controls.

The recall tallies with MCN’s experience of attempting to organise a world first road test – the promise of a ZX-10R to be loaned by Kawasaki was withdrawn at the last minute with no explanation given. The test has now been postponed...

Great job Kawasaki, that is how to handle an issue.

Not kill and/or seriously injure many people, then say your product is fine, like another company did recently.

Its good to see you take this seriously, and are not willing to kill many, just for a dollar. :thumb:

Yeah, it would be nice if they'd say what the problem was, but it's good of them to issue a recall before many units were delivered (and let people who had to return their bikes be first in line for new ones) rather than try to deal with the problem down the road.

Somebody obviously screwed up royally in their testing and quality department. I’m thinking some heads will roll on this one. Do they still practice Hari Kari? Was this a case of trying to get it to market to quickly and cutting corners? I also wonder if it is hardware or software related.

Somebody obviously screwed up royally in their testing and quality department. I’m thinking some heads will roll on this one. Do they still practice Hari Kari? Was this a case of trying to get it to market to quickly and cutting corners? I also wonder if it is hardware or software related.

This is why I wont buy a bike with a fly by wire throttle. Completely unnecessary and any problem could be deadly. Don't know if this is the problem but there were some guys who were having hesitation problems on either the GSXR 600 or R6, they would open the throttle and the bike wouldn't accelerate. Scary.

You better get used to fly by wire unless you want to build your own bike. Better check your car to as is probably he same.

You better get used to fly by wire unless you want to build your own bike. Better check your car to as is probably he same.

No sh!te. I personally hate this trend. I prefer to be mechanically connected to my vehicle. Throttle-by-wire, brake-by-wire, electric steering assist, TCS, ABS, VSC, DCT...Gah! (Okay, I suppose we can keep ABS.) In the not-so-distant future there will be no driver input in a car that will not be run through and metered by the ECU and it's microprocessor friends. Many high-end cars are like this already. Give me a well-balanced vehicle that I can control without electronic intervention (fueling excepted; loves me some EFI). Love my wife's Impreza; great car, but you'll pry my 240SX from my cold, dead fingers. If I want everything I do to be processed by a computer for approval, I'll play Gran Turismo.

You better get used to fly by wire unless you want to build your own bike. Better check your car to as is probably he same.

You are likely correct. Hopefully I don't need to turn into one of those guys who only rides antiques. I don't mind it as much on my car since its not nearly as dangerous as a motorcycle. I understand this on a car but on a bike with only a few feet of easily installed cable?

http://www.raptorsandrockets.com/News/2011/2011_kawasaki_zx10r_technical_hold.htm

On the ZX-10R.net forum, garth285 claims to already have received his 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R. garth285 further states that he had received notification from Kawasaki asking him to return his bike for a full refund and to be placed on priority for the fixed batch of bikes. garth285’s problem is according to his forum statements that he has already modified his ZX-10R with new wheels and more, hence he agreed to take delivery of a new engine. It was also claimed in the forum that no current bikes should be revved above 6.000rpm. All this indicates that it is the new engine that is the problem and no other technical part. The punters further goes on speculating in what the problem may be and there seem to be no other reliable source to any of the potential issues I am going to mention than a unnamed racer in the know. The following list should then be looked upon as pure speculation and Kawasaki have neither confirmed nor disregarded any of the points despite the fact that I have highlighted them.

-Piston rings accelerated wear

-Cylinder liners accelerated wear

-Exhaust valve problem

-Low oil pressure at extreme lean angles

-General lubrication issues

-Engine parts mixed together at assembly line in Japan

Recall thread now at 44 pages: http://www.zx-10r.net/forum/showthread.php?t=96728

Kawasaki ZX-10R Technical Hold Update
December 15, 2010

By Cycle Canada

Canadian Kawasaki Motors Inc. (CMK) has released an official statement in response to American Kawasaki's wholesale recall of the 2011 Ninja ZX-10R. The all-new supersport has yet to be released for retail sale in Canada, so technically Kawasaki's "technical hold" doesn't apply here. But "as a precautionary measure", says CMK, all 2011 ZX-10Rs will be inspected "to ensure they meet the high quality standards expected from Kawasaki" before the bike's scheduled release in early January.

They are being purposefully and obviously opaque here.

They could kill all the speculation if they just said, "Whoa, we broke this, turn in your bikes and we'll fix it."

Hiding things makes them look guilty.

http://www.raptorsandrockets.com/News/2011/2011_kawasaki_zx10r_technical_hold.htm

On the ZX-10R.net forum, garth285 claims to already have received his 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R. garth285 further states that he had received notification from Kawasaki asking him to return his bike for a full refund and to be placed on priority for the fixed batch of bikes. garth285’s problem is according to his forum statements that he has already modified his ZX-10R with new wheels and more, hence he agreed to take delivery of a new engine. It was also claimed in the forum that no current bikes should be revved above 6.000rpm. All this indicates that it is the new engine that is the problem and no other technical part. The punters further goes on speculating in what the problem may be and there seem to be no other reliable source to any of the potential issues I am going to mention than a unnamed racer in the know. The following list should then be looked upon as pure speculation and Kawasaki have neither confirmed nor disregarded any of the points despite the fact that I have highlighted them.

-Piston rings accelerated wear

-Cylinder liners accelerated wear

-Exhaust valve problem

-Low oil pressure at extreme lean angles

-General lubrication issues

-Engine parts mixed together at assembly line in Japan

Recall thread now at 44 pages: http://www.zx-10r.net/forum/showthread.php?t=96728

If it were any of these they wouldn't go to the expense of shipping the bikes back to Japan.
Hell even Aprilia replaced the motors in the RSV4 at the dealerships.

The "speculation" I have herd that makes sense is an issue with the frame as it's pretty hard to replace a frame at the dealership level.
By not announcing what it is that's what will keep happening (speculation) until someone discloses what it is and they will eventually so why not up front ???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GQSDcZKuLo&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTy_cT9QpB8&feature=related

Kawasaki ZX-10R: "High rpm problems."
21 December 2010

"A Kawasaki insider has revealed that the new ZX-10R has been recalled because "on some engines, at very high RPM and in harsh operating conditions, ie on a race track, there have been some problems."

There is still no official statement from Kawasaki about what it refers to as 'a technical hold' on the ZX-10R. The Kawasaki insider, who does not wish to be named spoke to MCN after Kawasaki announced no bikes will be released to UK dealers until the ‘technical hold’ has been lifted.

Here is the transcript of the conversation:

MCN: What is the reason for the technical hold?
On some engines, at very high RPM and in harsh operating conditions ie on a race track, there have been some problems.

So was the decision made on a safety issue?
No, based on the information currently available it’s not thought to be a safety issue.

So why wasn’t the problem discovered earlier? After all, testing of the WSB bikes has been heavily reported as was the initial press launch?
This is under investigation.

What does technical hold actually mean?
It’s an internal term – a term that the factory uses. It means the factory will suspend any units that are thought to be suspect and stop delivery and sales until problem solved.

How are the bikes going to be fixed and what will the counter measure be?
This is still under investigation. Kawasaki is investigating potential counter measures and will announce a solution when it is available.

Is this a US only problem?
We thought that maybe it was at first because the technical hold was instigated in the USA and European units weren’t suspended until after the American bikes. But the factory now says all machines produced so far will be checked as a measure – this is not uncommon.

The test bikes at the ZX-10R’s week-long world launch didn’t appear to suffer any problems?
All units at the press introduction were part of the initial mass production run, this means that they too will be checked before going on as press test machines.

Thank you, but that doesn’t tell MCN readers what the actual problem is..
Like many people within Kawasaki, I don’t know, that’s what I am saying…"

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/New-bikes/2010/December/dec210-kawasaki-zx10r-rev-problems/

December 31st, 2010

KAWASAKI UK has released an official statement regarding the company's recent decision to delay the UK launch of the 2011 ZX-10R.

The statement reads:

Having suspended the public launch of the much anticipated 2011 Ninja ZX-10R to investigate a technical issue, Kawasaki Heavy Industries have now revealed the cause of concern and the countermeasure to solve the issue.

It had been discovered that when some examples of the new 2011 Ninja ZX-10R were operated at high rpm under unique riding conditions - such as operating on a racetrack - the intake valve springs could surge. Should this rare incidence occur it could cause one or more intake valves to seat improperly, resulting in poor engine performance.

Having examined the very small number of machines which exhibited this surge phenomenon, the Kawasaki factory engineers have designed and fully tested a countermeasure which solves the problem without affecting any facet of the new engine’s outstanding performance.

On the limited number of machines produced so far, the camshaft, valve springs and spring retainers for intake valves are being replaced to prevent the valve spring from surging. The same design update is automatically being incorporated into the ongoing production run of the newest and most powerful Ninja yet produced. Speaking about the news, Sales and Marketing Manager for Kawasaki Motors UK, Michael Johnstone congratulated the KHI engineers for their work in advance of the anticipated start of sales in late January.

“While we have been thinking about Christmas and the New Year at this festive time, a team of engineers in Japan have been exhaustively testing new high performance components for the stunning new Ninja ZX-10R. With the dealer launch of this and other incoming range models on 27 January across the UK, this news is the best possible start to 2011 for Kawasaki dealers and riders.”

Kawa's reply to BMW's S1000RR and first traction control for a Kawa sportsbike.
Let's hope the engineers have got it sorted for the masses to enjoy.