Kawasaki Motorcycles

About Kawasaki

Kawasaki motorcycles are manufactured by the Motorcycle & Engine division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

The Kawasaki Company was founded in 1896 by Shozo Kawasaki as a shipyard meant for building oceangoing steel ships. At the beginning they constructed marine steam turbines, locomotives, freight cars, passenger carriages and bridge girders. In 1918 the Aircraft Department is established and after prolonged research Kawasaki succeeds in building Japan's first metal aircraft. Then came 1949 and they turned towards the motorcycles industry by making engines suited for motorcycles.

Kawasaki Aircraft initially manufactured motorcycles under the Meguro name, having bought out an ailing motorcycle manufacturer called Meguro Manufacturing Co. Ltd with whom they had been in partnership earlier, but later formed Kawasaki Motor Sales. Some early motorcycles display an emblem with "Kawasaki Aircraft" on the fuel tank. Kawasaki motorcycles from 1962 through 1967 used an emblem which can be described as a flag within a wing.

Kawasaki came out with their first bike in 1954, called Meihatsu. This bike had Kawasaki's own KB-5 engine. An improved model of the Meihatsu, called Meihatsu 125 Deluxe, was introduced in 1956.

Kawasaki was producing bikes for a while without much popularity, but technically progressing. Kawasaki started to be noticed as a big player on the motorcycles market due to the release of the 500cc H1 model (also known as Mach III). In 1973 Kawasaki introduced their first superbike, the Z1 which had a 903cc engine.

One of the most notable bikes in Kawasaki history, the GPZ900R came in 1983. This was the first model ever produced by Kawasaki to have a liquid-cooled engine and to reach 250 km/h. A year later they started to sell this bike in the US and they renamed it Ninja, thing which proved to be very benefactor, registering huge sales.

Their first ever motorsports victories were obtained by Dave Simmons in the FIM World Road Racing 125cc Championship. He won the West German and the Isle of Mann TT races and the series championship riding a KR-1. Then came 1981 and Kawasaki won the manufacturer's title in the FIM World Road Racing 250cc Championship, courtesy of A. Mang who was riding the KR250. Kawasaki's most notable win in their motorsports history was the Le mans 24-Hour Race back in 1983. The model which participated in that race was the ZXR-7.

Moto blog

Your 2023 Kawasaki H2 SX SE Has Arrived, Darling

Freedom isn't free; it's $28K Not sure how Kawasaki is calling this a “new model press release,” since the only thing new on our favorite surface-to-surface cruise missile is its Auto Hi-Beam (AHB) headlight. But in the hopes they’ll loan us one for a while, we’ll play along. Really, we don’t know what else Kawasaki could’ve added anyway, since this Rivermarked flagship was already bristling with every armament in Kawasaki’s formidable arsenal.

It's Official: Kawasaki Announces The 2023 Ninja ZX-4RR KRT

Kawasakis latest pocket rocket will rev to over 15,000 rpm. Credit: Photos by Kawasaki One of the worst-kept secrets in motorcycling is now a secret no more: Kawasaki has announced the Ninja ZX-4RR KRT will be coming to the US in 2023, (hopefully) ushering in a revival of 400cc four-cylinder sportbikes that were all the rage in the 1990s. But unlike the current parallel-twin Ninja 400, which is essentially a budget bike dressed in sportbike clothes, this newest model is worthy of the ZX prefix, as it boasts proper suspension, twin radial brakes, a full electronics suite, and chassis geometry inspired by its ZX-6R and ZX-10R siblings – oh, and let’s not forget – a compact four-banger that will rev to over 15,000 rpm!

Friday Forum Forage: 1998 Kawasaki ZX-11

My apologies for returning so quickly to ZXForums, when we were just here two weeks ago. But this one knocked my socks off. The Kawasaki ZX-11 may have had more impact on some of our formative years than any other motorcycle.

2023 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4R Receives CARB Approval

Will we see the four-cylinder ZX400 on Feb. 1? The California Air Resources Board has issued an executive order for Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4R, clearing the way for the long-rumored sportbike to be sold in the state.

Kawasaki USA to Announce Two Models on Feb. 1

Will the Ninja ZX-4R finally arrive? Kawasaki USA and Canada are teasing the launch of two new motorcycles for Feb. 1, and though we don’t 100% know what they are, we can make some educated guesses.

2023 Kawasaki KLX230 S Review - First Ride

Reducing the seat height without lowering expectations Credit: Photos by Kevin Wing Entry level dual-sport has for a very long time existed in the void between categories, particularly when you consider folks who are shorter in the inseam. We all need to start somewhere, but for most who did not grow up riding, or maybe started exclusively on street motorcycles, the reality is that the entry-level engine size is often combined with the inability to comfortably touch the ground at a stop. That’s enough to deter all but the most stubborn of vertically challenged riders.

Old Dog, New Tricks: Tackling The LA-Barstow To Vegas Dual-Sport Ride

Joining the 39th running of the famed event on a Ducati DesertX and a Kawasaki KLX300 Credit: Photos by Cait Maher, Evans Brasfield, Grumpy, and Ryan Adams Let’s be honest, dual-sport motorcycles aren’t really designed for touring, despite my best efforts ( here and here). The bikes are merely street-legal dirt bikes without much accommodation for creature comfort. So, spending 220-ish miles flat in the saddle from Las Vegas, NV to Palmdale, CA, mostly on Interstate 15, is a platform for cataloging discomforts, and after riding approximately 360 miles, mostly off road over the two previous days, my aches-and-pains were legion.

Kawasaki Reveals Electric, Hybrid and Hydrogen-Powered Prototypes

Electrics coming in 2023, hybrid Ninja to follow in 2024 After presenting an electric prototype last month at Intermot, Kawasaki revealed a range of electric, hybrid, and hydrogen-powered prototypes at EICMA. The alternative energy models are part of Kawasaki’s efforts to reach carbon neutrality, with production models expected to launch in the next two to three years. Most of the prototypes used Kawasaki’s new Go with Green Power logo which will be used on its carbon neutrality efforts.

Showdown: Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX Vs Suzuki GSX-S1000GT+

A clash between two sport-touring heavyweights Credit: Photos by Evans Brasfield It seems like all the splash lately has been about the ADV category and all the wonderful things they can do and destinations they can reach. We’re not going to deny adventure bikes their time in the sun, either. They’re definitely fun and capable bikes worthy of all the bandwagoning.

2022 Kawasaki KLX140 R L Review

A great intermediate step to a full-sized dirt bike for growing or novice riders Credit: Photos by Evans Brasfield The universal truth about children is that you feed them, and they grow. So, after an extended time with the Honda CRF125F, my daughter started to look like a giant on the bike and needed to move up. A year prior, she’d tried the Kawasaki KLX140R L and found it intimidating because she couldn’t easily touch the ground when astride it.