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2009 Ducati 848 vs 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R

by daveaubin on March 17, 2009

Good Morning,

Here we have a 2009 Ducati 848

2009 Ducati 848 White Left Side

vs a 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.

2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX 10R Red

We will compare the horse power, price, weight and power to weight ratio of the two bikes and compare which of the two is the better bike. The 2009 Ducati 848 has 134hp. It weighs in at 369lbs. The MSRP for a 2009 Ducati 848 is $13,995. This gives us a power to weight ratio of 134/369 = .3631. The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R produces 83.2 lb-ft @ 8,700 rpm. Converting torque to horse power ((Torque x Engine speed) / 5,252 = Horsepower) we get 137.82hp for the 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. The 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R weighs 458.6lbs. The MSRP for the 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is $11,799. The power to weight ratio for a 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is 137.82/458.6 = .3005. So as you can see the 2009 Ducati 848 with a smaller engine out performs the larger 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. For those of you who say an 848cc engine vs a 999cc engine is unfair consider this, the Ducati 1098 weighs only 11lbs more!

Now let’s compare power to price. The 2009 Ducati 848 power to price ratio is $13,999/134hp = $104 per hp. The 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is $11799,/ 137.82hp = $85. So clearly the bang for your buck is in the 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. Which bike should you buy, that’s up to you:)

My electric motorcycle has a power to weight ratio of .3571 and costs much less than either of those (about half the price of the Ducati). With maximum instant torque at the start and no gear shifting, I could beat either of these off the line. In urban settings, it’s off the line and 0-30 mph that really matters, anyway. After that it’s all stop signs, red lights, soccer moms in SUVs cutting you off and the po-po enforcing the speed limit.

daveaubin April 18, 2009 at 1:32 pm: Dude, send me pics!!!

jz April 29, 2009 at 1:13 pm

why are you using the peak horsepower of the Duc and not using the peak horsepower of the zx-10r? the peak horsepower for the zx-10r is somewhere over 11k rpm. So your about 25-30 HP off for the ZX. Also, your using the claimed dry weight for the Ducati and the measured wet weight for the ZX-10r. so really if you wanted to compare you should use these numbers for the ZX:

claimed dry weight 392 and claimed peak HP 192 you get 392/192 = 2.042 and $11,999/192=$62.49. Now we are comparing apples to apples.

daveaubin April 29, 2009 at 1:15 pm: Please site your source for the peak horsepower for the ZX-10r.

jz April 29, 2009 at 5:35 pm

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/11december07_2008_kawasaki_zx10r.htm

This is for the 2008 which for all intents and purposes is the same as the 2009. Again these are factory claimed numbers, but I believe that is what you were showing for the 848. The factory claimed numbers are very optimistic to say the least. Here are numbers from Sport rider magazine.

http://www.sportrider.com/performance_numbers/146_motorcycle_weights_measurements/kawasaki.html

ZX-10R (‘08) HP=161.2 @ 12,250 TQ=75.2 @ 8750 WET(FUELED)463 LBS DRY(EMPTY)436 LBS

http://www.sportrider.com/performance_numbers/146_motorcycle_weights_measurements/ducati.html

848 (‘08) HP=116.5 @ 10,250 TQ=61.7 @ 8250 WET(FUELED)435LBS DRY(EMPTY)410LBS

I have added labels to the units in lieu of the table.

jz April 29, 2009 at 5:44 pm

And for my favorite bike:

ZX-10R (‘05) HP=158.4 @ 11,500 TQ=78.3 @ 9750 WET(FUELED)436LBS DRY(EMPTY)409LBS

Everybody knows Raw Titanium is the fastest.

Scott May 31, 2009 at 4:23 pm

2004-2005 ZX-10R all the way baby!!!

Chasten June 1, 2009 at 10:50 am

Please let me point out some fatal flaws in this what I’m sure was a valid point. First things first, Numbers don’t really mean anything when comparing a vtwin to an i4. But since we’re here. The max torque of the 08 zx10r is 84.6 @ 9500, giving you a converted Hp of 153.03. Now, the even bigger flaw is that the max torque and max HP are in two completely different points on the RPM scale. I believe this zx’s is right around 11k rpms… And It’s more like 171… And then you have to add the ram air (+7%) to get right over 180hp. And on a dyno you’d generally get 155-160rwhp on the 10, with the Ram almost 170. I HIGHLY doubt the 134 figure of the ducati as being to the wheel. Hence why the zx10r 0-60 is capable of 1.8 while the 848 is around 3. Also, the NEWEST 1098 has 142 hp, so how could this have 134… Come on people, a zx10 being EVEN CLOSE to a ducati? V-twins don’t run guys, sorry but it’s true. On small tracks and stoplight to stop light maybe, but there’s a reason Ducati uses an i4 in motogp