Kawasaki Ninja Motorcycles in California, page #43

Moto blog

2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R – 170 hp At The Wheel!

A new, somewhat clandestine, video surfaced on YouTube just today revealing that Kawasaki’s new 2011 ZX-10R produces over 170 hp at the rear wheel in stock trim. Taking this at face value, that’s at least 17 hp more than the 2010 ZX-10R produced for us in our 2010 Literbike Shootout. This puts the new big Ninja within swinging distance of BMW’s S1000RR, that in the same shootout gave us just under 176 hp.

Laguna Seca Superbike race: 1979

Got to apologise for the mogadon-inspired soundtrack but this 1979 Kawasaki promo vid' is worth watching just for the footage of Freddie Spencer and Wes Cooley. Watch the slo-mo of Cooley's GS1000 Suzuki on the brakes. It's horrendous.

Moto3. Recession racers?

I've sat through enough manufacturer' presentations recently to know that we're in trouble. Ignoring the still booming Asian markets, the rest of the motorcycle World is in free-fall. Even looking at the figures optimistically we're still only selling half the volumes we were in pre-crash 2006.

Why restore as standard when you can do this?

Spotted this delicious Z1000 on bubblevisor’s site, the other day. It is living proof that metallic brown paint is the new black. As is the case with some of these blog sites, there’s very little or no information about the bike, just a pic.

Get down on your knees and play

This remarkable shot of Eddie Lawson is taken by Rich Chenet. It was August 1980 and Lawson was undergoing a titanic scrap for the AMA title with Wes Cooley and Freddie Spencer here at Pocono Raceway in Philladelphia. The circuit is known as the 'Tricky Triangle' amongst the NASCAR drivers but the superbikes used a mix of infield and sections of the banked circuit.

You want a nice little car, you do.

We ran a couple of stories last week - both, coincidentally, about new Kawasakis. One was the first peek of the new ZX10R – hot stuff you’d imagine – the other, the new W800 retro parallel twin. I suppose it shouldn’t have shocked us, which story was most popular in terms of hits but it really does mark a seismic shifts in British biking attitudes that the W800 story doubled the hits of the ZX10 piece.

South West Motorcycle Show 2010, August 28th & 29th

Need something to do on August Bank Holiday weekend, then read below: "Although the South West Motorcycle Show has been running at the Westpoint Arena for the last sixteen years, 2010 is the first year that the show hosts the all-new Vertical Trix European Stunt Championship. The show contains all the usual attractions that have been delivered to motorcyclists from over the south-west and further afield since 1994 – including all the appropriate trade stands, and with strong support from local dealers – plus attractions such a a dyno on site, restaurant, bar, bike displays, live music and of course the live action arena. Although the action in the show arena has previously been stunt displays, rather than a full-on competition.

Pooch Maxi

A reader sent in this news story featured on SWNS.com. Sean Cole, 43, a pizza delivery man has hand-built the transparent kennel and fixed it to the back of his red Kawasaki GPZ900 to carry his dog Gizmo with him when he's out and about. The box has special air holes and a fan to keep the one-year-old dog – a Coton de Tulear – nice and cool on each trip.

Wrestling the Green Meanie

A three cylinder, 750cc two-stroke contained in a double cradle, tubular frame with telescopic suspension made up the intimidating Kawasaki KR750, seen here ridden around the legendary Spa circuit. Remembering the KR750, named the 'Green Meanie', TT winner Mick Grant said: "The KR750 was not as bad as what people thought it was. It had a nice spread, with enormous power and mid-range torque.

Silverstone Motorcycles launch night Thursday 29th

TOWCESTER based Silverstone Motorcycles, has just announced a launch night on Thursday July the 29th as part of the build up to the UK round of the World Superbike Championship being held at the revamped racing circuit just two miles west of the impressive new premises. A dual celebration marking the conclusion of a massive refurbishment project, the fun packed evening also marks the unveiling of Silverstone Motorcycles as the latest Kawasaki dealer in the UK. With a raft of attractions including a special guest appearance by Kawasaki World Superbike star, Tom Sykes, a ticket prize competition for the WSB round itself, plus the chance to ride a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R round the new Silverstone Stowe circuit over the race weekend, the evening has been conceived as a way of launching the new dealership and welcoming as many Kawasaki fans as possible according to Managing Director, Nikki Lockyer.