There’s something amusing about Kawasaki’s history—most people believe Kawasaki has always been into motorcycles. But no. In fact, the company started off making ships. Shozo Kawasaki opened a shipyard in Tokyo in 1878, and like many shipbuilders of the time, he probably did not think of motorcycles. The company did not manufacture its first motorcycle engine, the KE-1, until 1952, and even that was rudimentary compared to today’s models. The 1960 collaboration with Meguro Manufacturing is when Kawasaki expanded its motorcycle business and began distributing motorcycles in the United States.
In fact here is what happens in 1969 they put out the H1 Mach III. This machine was crazy. Three cylinder pure madness which would scare off the novice riders. It basically made Kawasaki the go to brand for very fast bikes. And also? That reputation stuck.
But the bike that put them on the map was the Z1 in 1972. Japan’s first four cylinder four stroke motorcycle. Still to this day riders talk about the Z1 with emotion. It was that which did it all power, look, reliability. Today even to find a clean Z1 you will pay a pretty pretty price.
From the 80s we had the GPz900R, the first mass-production motorcycle capable of reaching a speed of 150 miles per hour. Mind-blowing for the time. They have also dabbled in various motocrossers with the KX range, proving it wasn’t all about street rockets. These days? Well, Kawasaki’s still at it. And the Ninja line just keeps on rolling in and omg have you seen the H2 and H2R — that shit’s fucking crazy. They have even dabbled in ATVs and jet skis.
