The ZX7R in street trim only exists for racing homolgamation purposes. They must sell a few to a die-hard fan base, too. I don’t believe they’re campaigned by many teams anymore, though I don’t closely follow racing. While an astounding bike back in the day, by modern standards they’re very heavy and underpowered. I watched my buddy’s ‘96 dyno 108 rwhp (DynoJet dyno) and tip the UPS scales at 523 lbs full of fluids. They haven’t changed too much since ’96, TTBOMK. To me, those stats aren’t acceptable compared to what else is available, but comparing Kawasaki to Suzuki usually starts the semi-literate “Ford vs. Chevy” screeds again, so best we not go there.
Plenty of guys laud the second-gen 9R as a great streetbike. With roughly 125 rwhp and reasonably light weight, not to mention comfortable ergos, it seems a winner to me within its venue. From a pure-performance perspective, again: other bikes bury it. See previous paragraph.
Both are carbureted, which seems old-school these days. (Funny how fast we acclimate to convenient technology: the Internet barely existed in useable form back in 1994 (remember Mosaic?), but today it’s ubiquitous.)
Kawasaki has a finite R&D budget; they’re a business like anything else. Developing new bikes takes significant time and money, offset by profits they’ll make from racing and streetbike sales the world over. Computerized modeling shortened the product cycle as of a few years ago, but it’s still a major push.
Kawasaki hasn’t introduced significant new sport models at the pace of the other big three the past eight years or so, for whatever reason. As I recall, Kawasaki and Suzuki now share aspects of their R&D, presumably for cost-savings reasons. We might wonder how (and if) the Kawasaki product life-cycle model might change the next couple years.
The new ZX-6 R and RR are a significant technological leap forward, and the 10R looks to do the same. Note both share styling cues and (probably) more than a few parts, not unlike the Gixxer 600/750/1000 line. Coincidence, market-driven forces, or convergence of technology and product lines?
The 7R and 9R will continue to exist as long as a market exists, and/or racing homolgamation rules require them on showroom floors.
-=DRB=-