The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R has become the undisputed darling of the small-displacement sportbike world across Asia. It’s a shame, really, that the bike never made it, and will likely never make it, to the western world, as it’s truly a hoot of a machine with a sound that’ll make anyone look twice. It’s a reincarnation of quarter-liter sportbikes of decades gone by, with a tiny, inline four-cylinder engine that revs all the way to 17,000 RPM.
At its very core, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R has been designed as a grassroots track machine. In Japan, quite a few racing series dedicated solely to the ZX-25R have popped up. The same goes for other parts of Asia where the quarter-liter supersport is currently being distributed. As a result, an absolutely massive aftermarket from name brands both big and small has emerged exclusively for this motorcycle. Everything from simple slip-in exhaust systems, ergonomic enhancements, ECU tunes, and suspension upgrades are available en masse, across all price points.
That being said, even the most tricked out ZX-25R won’t be able to match the performance of one fitted with Japanese aftermarket specialist Trick Star’s newest innovation. You’ve all heard of a Turbo ‘Busa, or even the Kawasaki H2 series that comes equipped with forced induction out of the box—but what about a turbocharged 250cc inline-four screamer? Yup, that’s exactly what Trick Star has come up with: a turbo kit for the Ninja ZX-25R. Meticulously engineered for peak performance, in its most extreme state, Trick Star’s turbo kit doubles the sportbike’s power output to 100 horsepower. In this state of tune, the bike is able to hit a top speed of 240 kilometer per hour (150 miles per hour).
For those with a more conservative mindset—both in terms of speed, as well as the life of the bike’s engine internals, Trick Star has a more subdued version of the turbo kit. Limited to 0.6 bar of boost, it pumps power up to a respectable 60 horsepower, resulting in a much more balanced spread of power and torque across the rev range. Needless to say, this is a rather extreme upgrade to do on such a small bike, and a bike whose tolerances are engineered rather tightly at that. Certainly, given the additional boost, and the bike’s predisposal to being revved beyond the moon, abusing this machine can result in some serious headaches.
At the end of the day, it’s obvious that this turbo kit is more of a party trick, or a huge flex for those who want to make their little Ninjas stand out from the crowd. Even in a racing perspective, a 100-horsepower ZX-25R will still struggle to keep up with a bone-stock Ninja ZX-6R—both in the straights and in the corners. That said, the turbo kit unsurprisingly voids any emission and noise compliance features of the ZX-25R, and is intended for show or competition use only.
