Kawasaki KZ 400 Motorcycles, page #34

Moto blog

Villopoto to Miss 2012 AMA Motocross Season

Reigning champion Ryan Villopoto will not compete in the 2012 AMA Motocross Championship after injuring his knee at the recent Supercross race in Seattle, Wash. Villopoto has won the last three indoor and outdoor championships, capturing the 2011 AMA Motocross title as well as the 2011 and 2012 AMA Supercross titles. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider will not be able to stretch that run into a fourth consecutive title.

Record Number of Entrants (Sort of) for 2012 Isle of Man TT Zero

Mark Miller, seen here aboard the MotoCzysz electric race bike, won the 2010 TT Zero. Team Segway Racing MotoCzysz will again return to the TT Zero with past TT Zero winners Mark Miller and Michael Rutter as its riders in the 2012 race. The Isle of Man TT press office today announced a total of 18 entrants in the 2012 SES TT Zero electric motorcycle race — a record number of riders according to the IoM TT website.

WSBK 2012: Assen Results

The Netherlands hosted a dramatic weekend of World Superbike racing that featured a red-flagged wet race, several riders crashing while leading, a first-time race winner, a photo finish between two teammates and the reigning World Champion finishing out of the points because of a poor choice of tires. The 2011 WSBK Champion Carlos Checa arrived at Assen with the lead in the championship and a three-race winning streak, but opting to run wet tires in Race Two cost him the lead and may have contributed to a crash that severely injured Liberty Racing‘s Brett McCormick. Race One Get the Flash Player to see this player.

AMA Supercross: 2012 New Orleans Results

Ryan Villopoto has already secured the 2012 AMA Supercross Championship but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to let up and take it easy over the remainder of the season. The Monster Energy Kawasaki racer clinched his second consecutive title two weeks ago in Houston, Texas, but he continued his dominance in AMA Supercross’ return to New Orleans’ Superdome, taking the holeshot and leading all 20 laps for his ninth win of the season in 14 rounds. The New Orleans round may have lacked some big names currently nursing injuries such as Ryan Dungey, James Stewart and Chad Reed, but Villopoto provided a star effort in the first AMA Supercross race in the city since 2009.

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.

Attack Performance Announces MotoGP CRT Effort

Attack Performance officially announced it will race in the 2012 U.S. Grand Prix and Indianapolis Grand Prix on a Kawasaki-powered Claiming Rule Team machine. Reports the Huntington Beach, Calif., racing parts manufacturer was granted a wild card to the two American MotoGP rounds surfaced last week, the AMA Pro Racing regular officially confirmed the news just as the 2012 MotoGP World Championship got under way.

Police-Spec Kawasaki Concours 14 Recalled

Kawasaki is issuing a recall on the police-spec version of the 2009-2012 Concours 14 because the add-on equipment may overload the electrical system. Police motorcycles are typically loaded with accessories such as sirens, radio equipment, and additional lighting. To support these accessories.

Report: Steve Rapp and Attack Performance get MotoGP CRT Wild Card

RoadracingWorld reports California-based Attack Performance has been granted a wild card entry to the 2012 U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca and the 2012 Indianapolis Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. According to RoadracingWorld, Attack Performance’s entry lists Steve Rapp as its rider and the parts manufacturer itself as constructor, suggesting it will enter as a Claiming Rule Team.

AMA Supercross: 2012 Houston Results

Ryan Villopoto has captured the 2012 AMA Supercross Championship with a dominating performance at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Monster Energy Kawasaki racer took the lead early in the race after passing holeshot-taker Davi Millsaps on the opening lap. Villopoto would lead the rest of the way for his eighth win of the season.

Teaser: 2012 Japanese Literbike Shootout – Video

The last time we assembled the superbike offerings from the Big Four Japanese manufacturers to determine the alpha male model was 2009. The CBR won that confrontation, but a lot’s changed since then. For 2012 Honda revamped the CBR1000RR, Yamaha added traction control to the R1, the GSX-R1000 lost a muffler and last year Kawasaki introduced an all-new ZX-10R.