#AutoClubSpeedway

On Monday we brought you a flying lap of Auto Club Speedway aboard the 2016 Kawasaki ZX-10R, the runner-up in our two-way fight between it and the Aprilia RSV4 RR (which you can read about here). We praised the Kawasaki’s handling prowess and were really impressed with its updated electronics. However, we still gave the overall win in the comparison test to the Aprilia by the sheer fact it’s so easy to ride quickly. The V-4 engine’s wonderful, distinctive growl down low, combined with its pissed off bark up top encourages its rider to want to twist that throttle every chance they get. Luckily for us, that engine also produces abundant, usable torque throughout its rev range – a feature that helped it win our comparo.

By now we’ll assume you’ve read our comparison test of the 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RR and Kawasaki ZX-10R. If not, read it here (and shame on you for not reading it yet!) Both machines pack a wallop of performance for less than $17,000, and even though the ZX-10R didn’t come out the winner in our comparison test, it’s by no means a boring bike to ride. Kawasaki stepped up big time when updating the new 10R – which was a pretty good performer in its own right considering it won the 2015 World Superbike championship – and the 2016 model bests its predecessor in almost every category.

While looking back at the 700-plus different motorcycles I’ve ridden in my lifetime, I began to notice that I’ve also had the good fortune to have ridden many dozens of them on scads of racetracks scattered around the country and the globe. I was shocked to find out that I’ve logged fast laps at 41 roadracing circuits, and that doesn’t even include the kart tracks (7), dragstrips (8) or motocross tracks (12) I’ve sampled. In the motojournalist club, membership has its privileges.