The "word" I heard was that because of the new Superbike rules, Kawi decided that they would not have enough development time with the bike prior to the new racing season. Yamaha has stated much the same reasoning. With the limited amount of changes allowed in Superstock(they DO allow slicks though), it was felt that a lower cost approach to racing development in a what appears to be a very competitive class of racing this year, would let them sort out the bike while the Superbike rules may still be in flux for the next year or so.