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

2024 Kawasaki Z500 SE Review – First Ride

Displacement creeps alongside tech and styling updates Photos by Kevin Wing Every rider can fondly recall their first street motorcycle. Maybe it was a used 1980s “Honda Davidson” cruiser with miles of wear and tear. Or perhaps it was a shiny new lightweight sport bike, candy coated and bright like a Skittle.

2024 Kawasaki Ninja 500 Review – First Ride

Photos by Kevin Wing Photo/Kawasaki Kawasaki has been dominating the realm of entry-level motorcycles, especially with the introduction of the Ninja 400 in 2018. In fact, they were so capable and enjoyable to ride that I bought one myself and it has become one of my favorite motorcycles in my stable. The Ninja 400 wasn't perfect, and I had my gripes about it.

2024 Kawasaki KLX300/KLX300SM Review – First Ride

A winning formula gets even more… winning-er Photos: Kevin Wing Kawasaki’s media guy Brad Puetz (pronounced like the actor, though this Brad is not nearly as good looking or famous) said something that stuck with me. “Between the Versys 650 and this, these are the two bikes journalists tend to buy most from us.” As a previous Versys 650 owner – purchased from MO’s former Editorial Director Sean Alexander, and then passed down after me to another former MO staffer Tom Roderick, we can certainly attest to the first part. 2024 Kawasaki KLX300/KLX300SM Kawasaki has an unexpected success with the KLX300 and KLX300SM, so instead of massive changes for what's essentially an entry-level motorcycle, Kawasaki decided to make it look better.

2024 Kawasaki Ninja 7 Hybrid Review – First Ride

The world’s first production hybrid motorcycle has a lot to offer – but does it make any sense in America? Photos: Kawasaki Like it or not, regulatory agencies around the world are cracking down on vehicle emissions and imposing some of the strictest rules we, the motoring public, have ever seen. One of these rules includes restricting, or even banning, petrol-powered vehicles through portions of some European cities.

2024 Kawasaki Eliminator Review – First Ride

The Vulcan S Now Has A Sibling Once upon a displacement, 250 cubic centimeters was the unofficial beginner bike size of Japanese OEMs. Kawasaki upset that apple cart with the introduction of the Ninja 300 in 2013. Two years later, Honda and Yamaha responded with the CBR300R and YZF-R3, respectively.

2024 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R Review – First Ride

Minor tweaks for one of the last supersports still in the game. But is it enough? Photos: Kevin Wing In recent years, what it means to be a supersport motorcycle has gone through a dramatic change.

CARB Filings Hint at Updated Kawasaki Z650RS for 2024

Traction control and updated instruments expected The California Air Resources Board has issued an executive order for what we expect to be an updated Kawasaki Z650RS for the 2024 model year. The update is expected to be relatively minor, adding traction control to the Z650RS. The update would bring the retro RS model in line with the more modern-styled Z650 and the Ninja 650, both of which were updated with traction control for 2023, as well as the Versys 650 which received traction control in 2022.

How Much Power Does The 2023 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4RR Make?

US-spec models may be significantly down on power We’ve been covering the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4R for a while now, and even up until it was revealed this week, there was skepticism about whether the little four-banger would actually come to America. Join the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-4R Forum After the official announcement, the obvious questions came up: How much does it cost? How much does it weigh?

Your 2023 Kawasaki H2 SX SE Has Arrived, Darling

Freedom isn't free; it's $28K Not sure how Kawasaki is calling this a “new model press release,” since the only thing new on our favorite surface-to-surface cruise missile is its Auto Hi-Beam (AHB) headlight. But in the hopes they’ll loan us one for a while, we’ll play along. Really, we don’t know what else Kawasaki could’ve added anyway, since this Rivermarked flagship was already bristling with every armament in Kawasaki’s formidable arsenal.

It's Official: Kawasaki Announces The 2023 Ninja ZX-4RR KRT

Kawasakis latest pocket rocket will rev to over 15,000 rpm. Credit: Photos by Kawasaki One of the worst-kept secrets in motorcycling is now a secret no more: Kawasaki has announced the Ninja ZX-4RR KRT will be coming to the US in 2023, (hopefully) ushering in a revival of 400cc four-cylinder sportbikes that were all the rage in the 1990s. But unlike the current parallel-twin Ninja 400, which is essentially a budget bike dressed in sportbike clothes, this newest model is worthy of the ZX prefix, as it boasts proper suspension, twin radial brakes, a full electronics suite, and chassis geometry inspired by its ZX-6R and ZX-10R siblings – oh, and let’s not forget – a compact four-banger that will rev to over 15,000 rpm!