Kawasaki Motorcycles - info

Kawasaki's Aircraft Company began the development of a motorcycle engine in 1949. The development was completed in 1952 and mass production started in 1953. The engine was an air-cooled, 148 cc, OHV, 4-stroke single cylinder with a maximum power of 4 PS (2.9 kW; 3.9 hp) at 4,000 rpm.

In 1954 the first complete Kawasaki Motorcycle was produced under the name of Meihatsu, a subsidiary of Kawasaki Aircraft.

In 1960 Kawasaki completed construction of a factory dedicated exclusively to motorcycle production and bought Meguro Motorcycles.

Kawasaki has since then become one of the world's major motorcycle manufacturers.

Kawasaki Racing

Kawasaki's first title was with Dave Simmonds in 1969 when they won the 125 cc World Championship.

The Kawasaki motorbike dominated the 250 cc and 350 cc grand prix classes from 1978 to 1982 winning 4 titles in each category.

Kawasaki has also won several superbike racing championships. They won the rider's Superbike World Championship in 1993 with Scott Russell and several AMA Superbike Championships with riders such as Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey. During the 1990s they also dominated the Endurance World Championship.

Kawasaki's traditional racing colour is green