The Kawasaki Heavy Industries Consumer Products and Machinery Company, produce Kawasaki Motorcycles. And, as their slogan so rightly says, with these motorcycles, it’s definitely time to, "Let the good times roll"….
The aircraft division of the Kawasaki Company began developing a motorcycle engine in 1949. The very first Kawasaki Motorcycle engine was an OHV, 148cc, air cooled, 4 stroke engine, with a single cylinder.
Production finally beginning in 1953. At
4000rpm, this engines maximum power was 3.9hp! In 1954, under
the name of “Meihatsu” (a subsidiary company of Kawasaki
Aircraft), a motorcycle, with the Kawasaki engine, was produced.
Six years later, in 1960, Kawasaki began manufacturing
motorcycles at their newly acquired, Meguro factory, in Tokyo.
Until then, Meguro were the only motorcycle manufacturer in
Japan, producing 500cc motorcycles. In 1961, the company
produced their first, complete, Kawasaki Motorcycle; the B8
125cc two-stroke. In the same year, Kawasaki produced a series
of 2-Stroke models, with engines sizes from 50cc, up to 250cc.
With the 250cc, Kawasaki Samurai model, attracting plenty of
attention in the United States.
In 1966, Kawasaki were the company producing the 650W1, the
biggest motorcycle in Japan. Three years later, they took their
first world championship title; when Dave Simmons stepped up
onto the podium, after winning the FIM 125cc Road Racing World
Championship. In the same year, Kawasaki produced one of the
fastest bikes in the world, over the quarter mile. It was the
striking (although somewhat clumsy!) Kawasaki H1. Also known as
Mach III! The H1 had a two stroke, 500cc, engine, with three
cylinders. The American market loved this big bruiser, which
managed to build itself quite a reputation!
In 1969, the Honda company delivered a shocking blow to
Kawasaki, releasing a 750cc motorcycle with a 4-Stroke engine.
It took Kawasaki four years, at the drawing board, to get the
900cc Z1 into production. But, it was certainly worth the wait!
>From there, Kawasaki Motorcycles have gone from strength to
strength. Kork Bellington won both the 250cc and 350cc World
Championships, in 1978.
Until 1982, Kawasaki were to dominate the 250cc and 350cc Grand
Prix classes. Bellington repeating his performance in 1979, and
also finishing second in the 500cc “Premier Class” that year.
Kork Bellington’s successor, Anton Mang, won four titles, in the
250cc and 350c classes, from 1978 to 1981. In 1981, Eddie Lawson
also won the AMA Superbike Championship, on a Kawasaki. After
what was to become a historical moment in motorcycle racing
history. The battle between Lawson, and Honda’s Freddie Spencer,
now being the stuff that legends are made of!
Kawasaki went on to win many Superbike Racing Championships.
Lawson also won the AMA Superbike Championship in 1982. Then,
Wayne Rainey scooped the title. Kawasaki then moved on, to
dominate the Endurance World Championships, during the nineties.
In 1993, Scott Russell won the riders “Superbike World
Championship”. In 2003, the company introduced their 4-stroke
250cc engine to the MotoGP, for the first time, with Team Eckl.
This partnership continued until 2007, when Kawasaki terminated
the agreement - due to Eckl ‘moonlighting’ with the competition!
Since 1960, the Kawasaki Motorcycle company has become a world
leading motorcycle manufacturer. Nowadays, Kawasaki manage their
own MotoGP team, who are responsible for all Kawasaki’s racing
endeavors. In January 2009, the company announced they were
suspending all their MotoGP racing activities. Despite that,
Kawasaki are continuing to race their production motorcycles.
So, are Kawasaki really letting the “good times roll” for
customers? Most definitely…
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