2007 Kawasaki Klr650 (stadium-armory) on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Kawasaki Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Z1

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the ground-breaking Kawasaki Z1 which made its public debut in 1972, becoming what many would regard as the world’s first superbike. Kawasaki’s first large-capacity four-stroke multi-cylinder motorcycle took center stage at the 1972  IFMA, the precursor to the INTERMOT show in Cologne, Germany. Together with the Honda CB750, the Kawasaki Z1 helped spearhead the popularity of the Japanese Inline-Four.

Simon and Leo

If you are a track day regular this year, you may well have bumped into former racer and friendly Kiwi, Simon Crafar. I first met him in Malaysia in 1990 when he was riding for a Yamaha dealer team, sweating his way round circuits like Shah Alam and Johor Bahru but with a long term plan to make it onto the World scene. And he didn’t take long as after riding for Honda in the UK in 1992 he moved to WSB in 1994 and enjoyed success with both the Honda and Kawasaki factory teams.

2012 Kawasaki Versys 1000 Makes North American Debut in Canada

As we’ve previously reported, the new Kawasaki Versys 1000 will not be imported to the U.S, but it will be available in North America in Canada as a 2012 model. Kawasaki Canada presented the Versys 1000 at its display at this past weekend’s North American International Motorcycle Supershow in Toronto, for the new “adventure sport” model’s debut on this side of the Atlantic. While he can’t speak for Kawasaki USA’s decision making, Bob Calwell, district manager for Kawasaki Canada, he does note that the Canadian company does have a history of making different product selections.