Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

Kawasaki

Browsing
WSBK

WSBK: Tom Sykes Signs for Two More Years with Kawasaki

By 4 Comments

Tom Sykes will be staying on with Kawasaki for two more seasons. Kawasaki today announced that the Yorkshireman has signed a contract to remain with the Japanese factory in World Superbikes for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

The announcement does not come as a surprise. Sykes has known great success with Kawasaki since leaving Yamaha after his first year in World Superbikes. All of Sykes’ wins in the class have come aboard a green machine, and the Yorkshireman won his first World Superbike title with Kawasaki last year.

Keep Reading
By
News

US Motorcycle Sales Up 4.0% in Q2 2014

By 1 Comment

The US economy has been slow to recover, and so too has the US motorcycle market. With first-quarter sales down 0.3% this year though, it looked like the US motorcycle market was about to flatline.

Thankfully, that has not been the case in Q2 of 2014, as the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) is proud to report that US motorcycle sales are up 4.0% in the second quarter of this year.

Selling 169,111 units in Q2 2014 (6,585 more than in 2013), motorcycles sales in the US so far this year are now up 2.6%, with 263,833 units sold so far in 2014.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Video: Kawasaki at the Isle of Man TT

By 4 Comments

Kawasaki had a good outing at the 2014 Isle of Man TT, scoring a win in the Sidecar class (Dave Molyneux), a podium in the Superstock class (Dean Harrison), and a clean sweep of the Lightweight TT (Dean Harrison, James Hillier, and James Cowton).

Team Green’s results may not displace the dominance by Honda at the Isle of Man, though Big Red’s TT reign is certainly under fire, as BMW, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha are all looking for a piece of the Manx pie.

Recapping its fortnight at the Isle of Man TT, Kawasaki has put together a nice video about its riders. We have roughly a year to wait until the next TT, so we will have to rely on videos like these to manage our appetite until then.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

2015 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R ABS 30th Anniversary Edition

By 10 Comments

In case you didn’t know, this is the 30th anniversary of the Ninja motorcycle line from Kawasaki. To commemorate the occasion, Big Green has already debuted the 2015 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 30th Anniversary Edition and 2015 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R 30th Anniversary Edition motorcycles, and today the 2015 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R ABS 30th Anniversary Edition joins them.

Like its sport bike brethren, this special ZX-14R comes with a special livery, which will be available to only 300 lucky owners (each unit is specially numbered). Finished in a “Firecracker Red” with “Metallic Graystone” paint, along with gold pinstriping and gold brake calipers, you can be certain that the changes are purely skin deep for this special model.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Video: Watch Jeremy Toye’s Winning Lap up Pikes Peak

By 13 Comments

The fastest motorcyclist up Pikes Peak this year, Jeremy Toye upset the Ducati contingency in the “Open” class, with his stellar 9 minute 58.687 second race to the clouds, aboard his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R superbike.

A newcomer to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Toye also laid claim to the “Rookie of the Year” title with his impressive pace. So, sit back and take a ride up Pikes Peak’s 12.42 mile course, with its 156 turns and 4,720 feet of elevation change, courtesy of Toye and Kawasaki. This is probably as close as you’ll get to the event from now on.

Keep Reading
By
Rumors

Kawasaki Working on a 250cc Four-Cylinder?

By 26 Comments

According to the Indonesian publication TMC Blog, Kawasaki is working on a performance-oriented 250cc four-cylinder…and they have the supposed photos to prove it. The news should be well-received by those who remember the high-revving small-displacement Japanese machines of just a few decades ago.

Southeast Asian markets, like Indonesia’s, are driven by graduated taxes on motorcycle displacement. For the Indonesian market, machines 250cc to 500cc in displacement receive a 60% tax rate, while machine over 500cc are taxed at 75%. Unsurprisingly then, bikes under 250cc are accounting for the lion’s share of motorcycle sales.

Working against that taxation plan is the growing middle class in these regions, with consumers able to purchase more expensive motorbikes, and looking for more performance in the process. This trend is what helped bring the Yamaha R25 to market (and production) in Indonesia, along with the slew of other ~250cc machines we’ve seen from Honda, Kawasaki, and KTM.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

For Sale: Colin Edwards’ CRT MotoGP Race Bike

By 13 Comments

A failed experiment, it may have been, but one good thing to come from the Claiming Rule Team (CRT) regulations in MotoGP was the ability for private teams to own the GP machines they were racing, rather than be victim to the lease programs imposed by the factories.

As a result, from time-to-time we get to see these truly special motorbikes come on the market, and today is one such occasion. Listed for sale on eBay is the Forward Racing’s Kawasaki-FTR race bike that was campaigned by Colin Edwards during the 2013 MotoGP season.

For those who don’t know, the Kawasaki-FTR MotoGP bike uses an engine from a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, which has been built out by France’s venerable Akira tuning house, as well as a custom chassis that has been built by the UK’s FTR-Moto.

With a dry weight of 157 kg (346 lbs), and a peak horsepower figure of 245+ horsepower at the crank, this might be the ultimate Kawasaki on the market.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

2015 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 30th Anniversary Edition

By 10 Comments

Like its liter-bike compatriot, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R gets a special 30th Anniversary livery upgrade for 2015. Like the 2015 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, the changes to the ZX-6R are only skin deep, and meant to celebrate the Ninja’s 30 years of being on the market. Accordingly, the 30th Anniversary changes include the following for the Kawasaki ZX-6R:

  • A special 30th Anniversary Ninja ZX-6R ABS model features Lime Green/Pearl Stardust White paint, green pinstripe decals on the wheels, and 30th Anniversary badges on each side of the fairing
  • The standard Ninja ZX-6R model is available Metallic Matte Carbon Gray/Flat Ebony

That special 30th anniversary exclusivity will cost you an extra $300 over the regular model, and if you want Kawasaki’s anti-locking brakes system (ABS), be prepared to shell out another $1,000 for it.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

2015 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R – Celebrating 30 Years of Ninja

By 4 Comments

There aren’t too many product lines in the motorcycle industry that can claim a thirty-year heritage, and with the whimper of marketing coming from Kawasaki, you would hardly know that the Ninja has been on the scene for three decades now.

To fix that problem, the 2015 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R has been released early to help Team Green celebrate the Ninja’s birthday. However, don’t get your hopes too high, the changes for 2015 are only skin-deep, and are comprised of the following:

  • A special 30th Anniversary Ninja ZX-10R model features Lime Green/Pearl Stardust White paint and 30th Anniversary badges on each side of the fairing
  • The standard Ninja ZX-10R model is now painted in Metallic Matte Carbon Gray/Flat Ebony
Keep Reading
By
News

US Motorcycle Q1 2014 Sales Flatlined

By 9 Comments

How Is that rebounding economy treating you? If you work in the motorcycle industry, probably not so well according to the Motorcycle Industry Council’s latest sales report, which highlights sales from the first-quarter of 2014. Down 0.2% (or 118 units) from Q1 2013, the slight decline over last year’s numbers are primarily due to a 10.7% sales drop in scooter sales.

Dual-sport motorcycles were up 3.9% (7,644 units), with on-road bikes holding at 0.9% growth (65,301 units). Dirt bike sales were down 2.7% during the same three-month time period (16,597 units).

In total, 94,524 two-wheel vehicles were sold in the US (94,772 units were sold in Q1 2013) according to the MIC, which tracks Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Piaggio Group, Victory, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

Aprilia Mounting a Return to MotoGP in 2016

By 4 Comments

Towards the end of the 800cc era, MotoGP looked to be in dire condition. Grids were dwindling, factories were reducing their participation, and teams were in difficult financial straits indeed. By the end of 2011, there were just 17 full time entries, Suzuki was down to a single rider, and were about to pull out entirely for 2012.

How different the situation looks today. The CRTs have served their purpose – to persuade the factories to help fill the grid, and supply the teams with (relatively) affordable equipment – and the reduction in costs brought about in part by the spec electronics is enticing factories back to MotoGP.

Suzuki is in full testing mode, and getting ready to return to racing full time in 2015, and Aprilia is working towards a full-time return in 2016.

In a recent interview with the official MotoGP.com website, Aprilia Corse’s new boss Romano Albesiano gave a brief outline of their plans. The Italian factory will continue to work with the IODA Racing team for 2014 to collect data on the electronics and tires, which they will use as input on an entirely new project being worked on for 2016.

Keep Reading
By