Marion Ford of the FBR Shop entered his new ATAK Kawasaki ZX-12 bike in the Atco NOPI Nationals merely hoping to get some setup information. The machine performed so consistently Ford was able to get much more than just tuning data – he earned himself a first place trophy in the ET class.
“When the bike made two passes with good results I decided to race the thing and tune another weekend. I thought the bike could go some rounds,” Ford said. “It had very consistent reaction times and ETs even though it should have been faster.”
Ford, who also manufactures Hayabusa-motored ATAKs, noticed some differences in engine characteristics between the Suzuki and Kawasaki powered machines.
“The ZX12 power plant is not quite as strong as the Busa down low but it feels really strong up top” Ford said. “The sixty-foot times with the ZX-12 ATAK were about one-hundredth slower than the Busa ATAK and that hurt the 12’s ET all the way down track. ”
Ford firmly believes he can continue to improve the ETs of the ZX-12 with a little more testing.
“With some more time and a light rider on the 12 ATAK it should really run well,” Ford said. “I think I have a 140-pound rider for the next race at MIR so we will see how much that changes things. I think an 8.60 would be close. That’s awful good for a stock engine bike.”