TST Racing
Blog
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
Can We Improve On The Kawasaki ZX-4RR OEM Velocity Stack Design?
Our goal at TST Industries is to always improve a motorcycle in terms of looks, performance, or handling. In order to accomplish that goal, the manufacturer has to have made something that can actually be improved upon, which typically isn’t too hard to find due to the amount of compromising that happens between the R&D department and the budget analysts at the major motorcycle manufacturers. Toss in some federal regulations on top of that mixture and you’ve got a recipe for compromise. We see these types of situations all over most motorcycles, and it doesn’t take much digging to see them. Look at things as simple as incandescent pumpkin turn signals, large fenders, and heavy steel sprockets just to name a few.
When it comes to the Ninja ZX-4RR OEM velocity stacks, we were expecting to find some room for improvement like we often find on other models. But, it turns out that Kawasaki went all out with their design and the Kawasaki engineers appear to have optimized the stack design to the intake system so well that we can’t find any real way to improve it. There are countless things on this inline four 400cc sportbike that we are truly impressed by, and the OEM velocity stack design has now been added to that list.
Don’t be fooled though, that doesn’t mean we didn’t try.
We went through several iterations of designs and dozens of combinations during the testing phase, but ultimately, it seems that none of our designs were able to beat the OEM stacks in overall performance. So, we have to tip our hat to the engineers at Kawasaki for not taking any compromises and doing the ZX-4RR justice with the best design possible.
So where does that leave this project for us?
It’s currently on hold. We aren’t abandoning this by any means; we are simply turning our focus to other projects. As we continue to develop parts for this platform and modify it more and more, we may open the gap for improved performance with a different velocity stack design, but for now, we are looking at other goals.
Hopefully, this sheds some light on not just our development process, but also how much thought and top-tier design went into the ZX-4RR. Don’t worry though, there are always other areas that we can improve with our TST touch, but more on that later. Stay tuned.
