KAWASAKI MOTORCYCLES HISTORY

Up till the Second World War, the company was doing great business and had started to specialize in the building of aircrafts. But after the war, building planes for ‘kamikazes’ was not the best business to be in.

So, Kawasaki decided to make a shift and bought over a prestigious motorcycle manufacturing company named Meguro Manufacturing. Even though Kawasaki had prior knowledge of building bikes, it wanted to grow big and needed Meguro’s expertise.

Meguro was, at that time, one of Japan’s oldest motorcycle company and had selling rights all across Japan and South East Asia. This proved to be a fruitful union and by 1961, Kawasaki had a range of bikes from 50cc to 500cc.

In the year 1962, the first motorcycle with the Kawasaki brand name was launched. With a 125cc, two-stroke single engine, the B8 was a hit. Slowly and steadily, the company managed to capture Japan fully with its two-stroke engines.

The story in the US was different and Kawasaki knew that a four stroke was needed in order to capture American hearts. It wanted to build a bike that would be the best in the world. The result was the Kawasaki Z1-900.

After the launch of the Z1-900, there was no looking back for Kawasaki Motorcycles. Some of its machines, such as the H1-R, H2-R and KR750, have been the best machines ever produced in biking history. The KR-250 and 350 have won several World Championships. And bikes such as the four cylinder four stroke engine Endurance and Superbike continue to play an important role in World Super Bikes today.

Kawasaki Motorcycles continue to constantly innovate themselves in bike technology. It latest launch is the Ninja ZX-6R. The Ninja is a hard-core sports bike with an ultra- aerodynamic body. This bike surpasses even the ZX-10R in terms of technology and its streamlined structure ensures that quicker acceleration at high speeds and increased rider comfort.

Apart from the Ninja, the new 2005 Kawasaki Z750 is an amazing street bike. It has a liquid cooled, 748cc, four-cylinder engine and is the first middleweight bike with an electric fuel injection system.

In addition to the above, there is also the Kawasaki KX250F which has been further revamped with engine and chassis updates. After winning the 2004 AMA THQ Supercross Series, Kawasaki engineers have improvised the machine further to achieve perfection.

Today, Kawasaki is a name to reckon with. Its constant strife to reach greater heights and overcome bigger challenges has made the company what it is today.

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