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

ZX-10R inspired by JPS Lotus?

Spotted on Kawasaki's Facebook page, this 'Limited Edition' ZX-10R has been created by none other than double-F1 World Champ Emerson Fittipaldi, who is - amongst other things - a Kawasaki dealer in Brazil and who also happened to win his first World Championship in 1972 in a JPS Lotus that had a very similar colour scheme. Fittipaldi started his motorsport career on a motorcycle, aged just 14, before heading to hydrofoils (surely no-one else at world level has ever raced these?!) and then the more traditional route of karting. Question is: what do you think to the paintjob?

Go camping with your bike

Keep your bike close to you when you go camping with the MOTOTENT from motorcycle adventurers Lone Rider. Priced at £450, here's a round-up of the features from Lone Rider: The MOTOTENT is spacious enough to shelter a dual sport bike as big a BMW R1200 GSA with all its luggage, to have room to work on it, and to be able to stand in the tent. The tunnel-shaped design allows a very quick setup of the tent when needed.

Lascorz smiling in first post-crash photo

Nearly three months on since Joan Lascorz's accident in the post-race test at Imola, the first image has appeared showing the Spaniard in good spirits whilst he undergoes rehabilitation. The terrible crash left the 27-year-old factory Kawasaki rider with a fracture to his C6 vertebrae, and fears that it would leave him quadriplegic. Fortunately, as shown in the picture with his raised arm, Lascorz has recovered full sensitivity in his upper limbs.

Do WSB bikes need fake headlights?

Next year's WSB bikes must carry fake headlight stickers to make them look like their road-going equivalents – and Kawasaki previewed the new look at yesterday's race at Aragon. The idea is to add to WSB's road bike links and to further distinguish the bikes from the latest breed of CRT MotoGP machines. However, it means adding meaningless stickers on a large and potentially valuable acreage of prime sponsorship space on the bike's nose, with much of the rest already taken up by the rider's number; not necessarily a good thing when money is already hard to find in international racing.

New 1972 Kawasaki Z1 only £720

Looking at the pictures of Japanese firm Yamato's new Kawasaki Z1 you'd be hard pushed to tell it's not the real thing. But in fact it's a scale model only just over a foot long, made with incredible attention to detail with several years of development to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original 900cc Z1 of 1972. Using 3D scanning of real parts, the bike was scaled down to create this model, which has now gone on sale in Japan at an eye-watering £720 apiece.

WSBK to Make Fake Headlight Stickers Mandatory for 2013

World Superbike racebikes will be required to have fake headlight stickers on their race fairings to more closely resemble their production series counterparts. The new regulation, set to kick in for the 2013 WSBK season, was designed to establish a closer link between the production model and the race-trim superbike. The new rules will also mandate 17-inch aluminum wheels.

WSBK: 2012 Misano Results – Video

Max Biaggi strengthened his hold on the 2012 World Superbike Championship lead with a pair of wins at Italy’s Misano circuit. The Aprilia rider out-battled the Althea Ducati duo of Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano to win Race One before taking a relatively easier Race Two victory. Before the races, WSBK riders lined up on the starting grid to hold a banner expressing their support for the Emilia region in northern Italy which has been suffering from earthquakes and continuing aftershocks since late May.

40 years of the Z1 T-Shirt

Kawasaki have launched this T-Shirt in celebration of the Z1. If you're a fan, or if you've got one tucked away in the garage, then you need this in your life. Here's what Kawasaki have to say about it: Forty years after its European launch at the 1972 IFMA show in Cologne, Germany, the Z1 and resultant Z line of motorcycles, are firmly part of the biking landscape.As part of the activities to promote this landmark, Kawasaki has created a Z40 celebration T shirt.

Isle of Man TT 2012: Lightweight TT Results

Ryan Farquhar earned his third ever Isle of Man TT win in the return of the Lightweight TT class. Absent since the 2009 Isle of Man TT with 250cc machines, the 2012 iteration of the Lightweight class features 650cc twins such as the Kawasaki Ninja 650 (or ER-6F, as it’s known on that side of the Pond) which most competitors rode. The race was moved back to Saturday, June 9, after rain forced organizers to cancel the initially-scheduled Friday race.

Isle of Man TT 2012: Supersport TT 2 Results

Michael Dunlop added another chapter to the Dunlop family history in the Isle of Man TT, winning the second Monster Energy Supersport race of the 2012 event. Dunlop led at the end of all four laps for his third career TT win. His uncle, Joey Dunlop, is the all-time leader in TT wins at 26 while his father Robert Dunlop has five.