Kawasaki F11 Motorcycles, page #42

Moto blog

Japan Needs Your Help

By now, we’ve all seen pictures and video of the devastation in Japan following the March 11 earthquake and the ensuing tsunamis. Japan, of course, has contributed much to motorcycling, with the Big Four of Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha, as well as tire manufacturer Bridgestone, helmet companies Arai and Shoei and many other motorcycle industry stalwarts all coming from the Land of the Rising Sun. Jon Bekefy and Greg Hatton, two motorcycle enthusiasts, industry employees  and above all, humanitarians, have set up a fundraising campaign benefiting the Red Cross for relief efforts in Japan.

Drift Camera HD170 review

I’ve been testing this Drift 170 camera for the past few days. I also took it on the recent Portimao Maxxis tyre launch where I managed to sneak it onto Gary Mason’s Kawasaki Superbike. We’ve been using the GoPro HD set-up for over a year now with mixed results.

Video: Riding the 2011 MSS Kawasaki ZX-10 Superbike racer

A long time ago a man – some would say living legend – taught me how to ride a speedway bike. In Scandinavian tinged English he told me that the heart of riding a speedway bike was the relationship between my heart and the centre nut of the top yoke. Like a primitive cave dweller, he beat his heart with his fist while he explained this theory whilst his other hand gripped the top yoke.

Schoolboy Heroes

A wet and grey day in Calais in 1992 wouldn’t be the obvious situation for a life changing experience, but for a 11 year old lad on a boring booze cruise from Dover this is exactly what happened. Pockets bulging with funny money I headed to the Tabac for the obligatory bangers, dirty playing cards and some sweets.  Then it happened, I stood in front of the magazine rack and reached up, as if drawn by an external force.  At the time I wasn’t tall enough for Playboy or L’ Escort so settled for a copy of Moto Verte, the French motocross mag.  Life would never be the same again. Inside there was a double page spread, with a fresh faced Jeremy McGrath resting a leg over his #15 Honda CR125.  Sporting a pair of fluro MX trousers with a, now retro, bright white surname emblazoned jersey, and casting an eye over a seriously vast motocross park.  I stared at this Sinisalo advert all the way home, partly because all the articles were in foreign, but also because I was transfixed.  What and how do I become a motocross champion?

Old boys up front and where are the new 600 Gixers?

As I’ve been gagging for the new race season to kick off so it was almost a pleasure getting up at stupid 0 clock to watch the World Superbike Championship  opener at Phillip Island last weekend. I have to say Messrs Burnicle and Whitham were on form although I was disappointed there were none of the usual verbal attacks on each other that always add to the entertainment.    I’m sure they will put things right soon but the world superbike regulars must have been disheartened that Moto GP veterans nailed five of the six available rostrum slots.

Steam Punk Bike

This steam-punk inspired bike is the work of LA based sculptor and, er, free thinker, Baron Margo. From what we can work out is uses an early eighties air-cooled Z1000 Kawasaki as a base and is cloaked in this hand beaten alloy and copper bodywork. Can’t imagine it’s much fun in a cross wind, though.

Kawasaki ZX-10R vs Mazda RX-7 [video]

The sport of drifting in the car world has been entertaining motorsports enthusiasts for years, spawning national race series across the globe.  And this genre is now gaining a foothold in the motorcycle world. In the video below, we see these worlds collide as a Corvette-powered Mazda RX-7 battles a stretched Kawasaki ZX-10R in a drift competition produced by Icon Motorsports. The Ninja is ridden by Nick “Apex” Brocha, smoking his ZX’s fat rear tire against the RX at Sandia Motorsports Park in New Mexico.

Home-built Wheelchair Thrills Easyriders Bike Show [video]

The name Matt Cuddy should need no introduction to Motorcycle.com readers. Not only does he have more than 5,000 posts on our forum, he’s also written dirt bike tests for us, including the 2010 and 2011 Kawasaki KX450F reviews. Making this accomplishment more noteworthy is the fact that Matt is a paraplegic – he was hit by a car several years ago while riding his motorcycle.

Whitham's blog 4

We all like to save a shilling if we can, especially these days, but sometimes, doing a job yourself, cutting corners and generally grubbing round being tight fisted actually ends up costing you more money than biting the bullet and putting your hand a bit deeper into your pocket to get a proper job done. The problem is, I come from a long line of, erm, frugal Yorkshire b####rds going back generations, and I seem to be hardwired as a bit of a skinflint. My dad, although never actually short of money, that I could remember, didn’t like spending it.

How to wheelie ten tonnes of Z1300

Yes, the video may be old (that's Barry Sheene doing the voice-over) but it's still worth seeing. This mad Fin was the inspiration for every stunt rider you've ever seen. Forget the White Helmets or Dave Taylor, he practically invented stunt riding all by himself.