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

AMA Pro Racing Announces Basic Twins Flat Track Class for 2014 Season

AMA Pro Racing announced a new class for Flat Track racing designed to provide a new stepping stone for up-and-coming Pro-licensed racers, replacing the Pro Singles class in 2014. The new class, to be called Basic Twins, is more or less a revival of the Basic Expert Twins division that ran during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but dropped when the Pro Singles class was introduced for 2009. The new class will give young racers a chance to showcase their skills on Twins, easing their transition to eventually enter the Grand National Expert Twins class.

Kawasaki a Winner at New York Festivals World’s Best Television & Film Awards

Kawasaki received four awards including gold medals for Best Venue and Best Cinematography at the New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards for ads featuring the Ninja ZX-6R (636) and the Z800. The New York Festivals have been celebrating the best in television and films for 55 years. This year’s awards, announced at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, awarded 119 gold medals, 145 silver medals, 10 bronze medals and 327 finalist certificates for entries representing 50 different countries.

Max Biaggi Tests Pirelli Angel GT Tires on an Aircraft Carrier – Video

Pirelli sure knows how to make an impression. Is there a more dramatic way to test the stopping ability of Pirelli’s new Angel GT sport touring tire, than on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier? After all, these surfaces are used to the physics of 30,000-pound fighter jets decelerating from 150 mph to a dead stop in a matter of seconds.

2013 AMA Supercross Houston Race Report

Ryan Villopoto captured his fifth-consecutive AMA Supercross win and sixth in seven rounds with a victory in the main event at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider passed holeshot-taker Mike Alessi on the opening lap and led the rest of the way for the win. Alessi, riding the Motoconcepts Racing Suzuki RM-Z450, remained in the hunt for the first few laps but soon gave way to a group including Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard, Red Bull KTM‘s Ryan Dungey and Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart.

2013 AMA Supercross Indianapolis Race Report

Ryan Villopoto continues to be in championship form, taking his third consecutive victory and sixth of the season with a win at Lucas Oil Stadium for the Indianapolis round of the 2013 AMA Supercross Championship. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider had a calculated, methodical race to take the win and expand his championship lead to nine points ahead of Davi Millsaps. Millsaps took the holeshot in a chaotic start to the main event that saw several riders go down at the opening corner.

2013 AMA Supercross Daytona Race Report

Ryan Villopoto won his fifth main event race of the year at Daytona to take over the lead in the 2013 AMA Supercross championship standings. The win is the third at Daytona in the Monster Energy Kawasaki racer’s career, matching the totals set by Bob Hannah, Mike Kiedrowski, Jeremy McGrath and Chad Reed. Only Ricky Carmichael, who designed the sand-based Daytona track, holds more Supercross wins at Daytona with five victories.

2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R Homologated for AMA Pro Racing Despite 636cc Displacement

The 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R has been homologated for AMA Pro Racing, making it eligible for the Daytona Sportbike and Supersport classes for 2013. The news comes as a bit of a surprise as those classes typically consist of Inline Four racebikes with a displacement smaller than 600cc. The new Ninja ZX-6R immediately carries a displacement advantage over its I-4 competition in the class such as the Honda CBR600R, Suzuki GSX-R600 and Yamaha YZF-R6.

Brammo Electric Motorcycles Eligible to Race Against Gas-Powered Bikes in AFM

Electric Brammo motorcycles will share the grid with gas-powered motorcycles in American Federation of Motorcyclists competitions. The AFM, America’s oldest motorcycle road racing body, announced Brammo riders can compete head-to-head for championships against those riding internal combustion engine motorcycles. The Brammo Empulse R, Empulse TTX and Empulse RR will be eligible for competition.

2013 AMA Supercross St. Louis Race Report

Ryan Villopoto captured his series-leading fourth win of the season in a red-flagged main event before a record crowd of 60,178 at St. Louis’ Edwards Jones Dome, as the 2013 AMA Supercross season reaches its midway point. The race started with MotoConcepts Suzuki rider Mike Alessi taking the holeshot with Muscle Milk Honda‘s Justin Barcia and Yoshimura Suzuki‘s James Stewart on his tail.

Internet Porn Company to Sponsor Paul Bird Motorsports MotoGP Team

Earlier this year, we reported on Dakar racer Hugo Payen and his X-rated sponsor, pornographer Marc Dourcel. Payen seems to have started a trend as British MotoGP team Paul Bird Motorsports has signed a sponsorship deal with erotic movie website MinxFlix.com. The website will back PBM’s Michael Laverty and Yonny Hernandez who will ride on CRT machines featuring Aprilia V4 engines and its own proprietary chassis developed with builder GPMS.