In 1988 the Kawasaki KR1 was released. It was a road-going race replica two-stroke with a difference, it was one of the only bikes in the category that wasn’t based on an actual racing motorcycle. It was a standalone production road-racer built to capitalise off the popularity of 250cc machines at the time like Suzuki’s … Read more
For reasons I cannot fathom, the Kawasaki KR250 race replica was never released here in the UK. Nor did it make an appearance in North America, or mainland Europe. This makes the KR250 one of the rarest two stroke racing rep bikes from the 80’s and ironically, one of the cheapest – if you can … Read more
Nobody can blow the original Kawasaki H2 750 trumpet like Kawasaki themselves who wrote in their catalog: “We’ve just pulled a fast one on the competition. Named the Kawasaki 750cc Mach IV. Of all the world’s production models, it’s the fastest thing on two wheels. Faster than any Suzuki. Faster than any Triumph. Faster than … Read more
Ninjas, Ninjas and more Ninjas that is what the 90’s were really about for Kawasaki Motorcycles. Pushing the Ninja line across the different capacities, and making them the best sportbikes in the relative classes, fiercely challenging the competition from other manufacturers. It wasn’t all Ninja’s (just mostly), there was a super cruiser and a retro … Read more
Of the big four Japanese manufacturers, Kawasaki was the last to put into production a turbo charged motorcycle and I would say arguably the most successful. The ambition was to create a turbo charged middle-weight wonder that could compete with the fastest motorcycles out there. With the release of the Kawasaki GPz750 Turbo, they succeeded … Read more
The Kawasaki KZ650 (or the Z650 outside the US) was one of the most popular motorcycles of the 1970s. Affordable, quick, reliable and it made Kawasaki’s Z series accessible to those who didn’t want the full power or weight of the original Z1 or the later KZ1000 (Z1000). If you are anything like me, you … Read more
The Kawasaki Kz1000 was a motorcycle that set the bar for the litre capacity bikes that would follow. It was one of the fastest production motorcycles of the time and followed in the footsteps of the legendary 1972 Kawasaki Z1. Today Kawasaki is known for their fast, high-performing motorcycles but none of these would be … Read more
In the world of superbike racing, simply having the fastest machine will never be enough. Every manufacturer is constantly improving their bikes in order to stay on top, and sometimes that means utilising any and every loophole you can find in the rules. Many of the larger manufacturers do this with the homologation rule (to … Read more
Kawasaki had a point to prove with the GPZ900R. Having been beaten to the punch by Honda in releasing the world’s first four-cylinder 750cc “superbike”, the CB750, they needed to raise the bar with the successor to their own popular 900cc superbike, the iconic Kawasaki Z1. Spending several years in secret creating the perfect successor, … Read more
The Kawasaki Vulcan 750 was Kawasaki’s first ‘Cruiser’ motorcycle and it hit the mark so well that it remained largely unchanged for its full 22 year production period. It is a motorcycle well worth reading about so without further ado let’s start with it’s history. History of the Kawasaki Vulcan The Vulcan was first introduced … Read more
For me, the standout memories of the motorcycles of the 80s was the fascination with turbo bikes, improved (faster) two stroke machines and the Japanese manufacturers stepping on Harley Davidsons toes with their own cheaper V-twin cruiser models. Kawasaki 80s Motorcycles As it was for all the big four Japanese motorcycle companies, the 1980’s were … Read more
Since the 2009 second coming of Cafe Racers the genre has gone from strength to strength. Lots of manufacturers have one in their stable and in general they at least try to stick to the original 1950’s definition of what a Cafe Racer is. What is a Cafe Racer? A Cafe Racer is a motorcycle … Read more