Kawasaki ZX-10R

Traction control has now become the new buzzword among sportbikes. If your latest and greatest sporting flagship doesn’t have it, chances are that the buying public is going to wonder where your company stands technologically. And yet, at the same time, there’s also a growing contingent that wonder if this electronic nannying is really what they want in their sportbike. They don’t want a system that constantly intrudes and reminds them that something else is also controlling the motorcycle. The current OEM traction control systems available are undoubtedly excellent systems with a wide range of adjustability. They are able to react to a power-induced loss of rear tire grip with incredible speed and accuracy. The only issue is that—although adjustable for the level of intervention—the systems are based on a set table of parameters once traction levels are determined to be past the limit. In other words, only when a set limit is reached does the system activate, and then it just pulls back power until tire grip (or a preset amount of tire slip) is restored.

 This is where the new 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R and its new S-KTRC system distinguishes itself from previous TC setups. Instead of only reacting to tire slip when it occurs, the ZX-10R’s TC analyzes numerous factors including throttle position (plus the rate of opening), wheel speeds, engine rpm (plus rate of change), gear position, and speed to actually sense and begin formulating a plan of various mapping scenarios before tire slip occurs. And then once tire slippage does occur, the S-KTRC system continues analyzing all parameters every five milliseconds and adapting its mapping strategy in order to maintain or even increase acceleration (which often means a certain amount of tire slip is ideal)—making it a true racing-developed TC system that can actually predict traction loss and proactively adapt its maps according to conditions.