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This Is Our First Glimpse at the New Kawasaki ZH2

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For the past month, Kawasaki has been teasing a new addition to its supercharged motorcycle lineup. We didn’t know too much about the machine as the time, other than it would fall into the company’s “Z” lineup of naked sport bikes.

Most educated guesses then pegged the bike as a 1,000cc supercharged streetfighter, and we have been eagerly waiting for the bike’s October 23rd arrival to see if our assumptions were correct.

Now today, we get our first glimpse of the machine, as well as its name, as Team Green continues its teaser campaign of the 2020 Kawasaki ZH2.

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WSBK

Leon Haslam Is Out of the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team

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Confirming rumors long held in the WorldSBK paddock, Leon Haslam will not be with the Kawasaki Racing Team in the WorldSBK paddock next year. Though it hasn’t been announced yet, Alex Lowes is expected to take Haslam’s seat.

Haslam’s role in the KRT squad came after his British Superbike Championship win in 2018, and while this year’s season showed mixed results for the British rider (including a win at the Suzuka 8-Hours), the opportunity to add another top Superbike talent alongside Jonathan Rea was too much of an allure for Team Green.

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Rumors

Has Kawasaki Bought Bimota?

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Rumors out of Italy are suggesting that Kawasaki Heavy Industries has bought the Bimota motorcycle brand and its intellectual property.

We first saw the report on this news at the respected GPOne website, though details on the transaction remain virtually non-existent, with a press conference on the news expected in the coming days.

If true, this information is truly interesting, as it will likely set off a firestorm of speculation regarding what Kawasaki could want with the defunct boutique Italian motorcycle brand.

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Rumors

Kawasaki Teases a New Supercharged “Z” Motorcycle Model

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The eggheads at Kawasaki have been busy readying themselves for the 2020 model year, and it seems that they have something special in the works. 

We say this because Team Green just dropped a teaser video for a new supercharged motorcycle – and we expect it to be sporty.

Details are pretty limited, but we know that the new bike will belong to Kawasaki’s “Z” family, which consists of its sport bike models. Could we see the supercharged version of the Z1000? We certainly hope so.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR Suzuka 8-Hours Race Bike

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Take a good look at it – this is the Suzuka 8-Hours race winning endurance bike that Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam took to victory this year.

As with any endurance-spec race bike, this Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR is a very special animal, and one can pore over the photos here looking at all the interesting modifications that go into a Suzuka-winning machine.

For us, our eyes always go towards the quick-change wheels and brakes, but there are interesting items on every corner of the motorcycle.

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Racing

A Preview of the 2019 Suzuka 8-Hours Endurance Race

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Another year and another Suzuka 8 Hours. This year’s edition promises to be unlike any another in recent years.

Honda and Kawasaki are ready to take a shot at Yamaha, and Suzuki is once again lurking in the background with a package that could spring a surprise.

Yamaha returns as the four-time defending champion, with an unchanged lineup on the #21 Yamaha Factory Racing Team machine.

Katsuyuki Nakasuga missed last year’s edition after a crash ruled him out of the race, but the Japanese star is back in action this year and feeling confident. Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark split the duties last year and return this year, but there’s been changes to the R1 for this year’s race.

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Racing

Are You Ready for the Suzuka 8-Hours Endurance Race?

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The Suzuka 8-Hours is around the corner. Testing is already underway for some of the leading riders, and it will only ramp up in the coming weeks.

Flying back and forth to Japan isn’t easy for anyone, but it is what is needed if you will be able to challenge at the great Japanese race.

The past weeks saw a host of announcements for rider lineups, with some interesting developments for what we will see on the last weekend of July.

The 8-Hours is the biggest race on the calendar for the Japanese manufacturers, and still the race that has the biggest impact on a rider’s fortunes with them. Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Honda have now all announced their top teams, but what does it mean?

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Rumors

Is a Four-Cylinder Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R Really Coming?

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The headline shares our thoughts on the matter. Is there really a four-cylinder Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R in the works? That is the rumor coming out of Asia, and not exactly a new one.

The bike is expected to debut at the Tokyo Motor Show later this year, in October, with an eye on reviving Japan’s lost history of screaming small-displacement machines.

While there seems to be some evidence that the bike will debut – sightings of a prototype have already been published – our reservations for excitement come from similar rumors that have failed to pan out.

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Rumors

More Hints A New Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR Is Coming for 2020

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A month ago, we told you about Kawasaki thinking about its response to the Ducati Panigale V4 R, which is dominating in the World Superbike Championship right now.

In short, to counter the Italians’ creation, the Japanese brand was thinking of brining its own homologation special superbike to market, which like the Panigale V4 R, would be a race bike with lights, built only with the idea of winning the WorldSBK title.

Today, we seem to get further proof that Team Green will release a new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR for the 2020 model year, thanks to the company’s filings with the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

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Rumors

Is an All-New Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR Coming for 2020?

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Team Green could bring a new superbike for the 2020 model year, or at least that is what the scuttlebutt from Europe is saying.

The news of a new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR comes from comments made by KRT Senior Engineer Ichiro Yoda while talking to Germany’s Speedweek website.

In responding to the dominant force laid bare by the Ducati Panigale V4 R and Alvaro Bautista, Yoda-san signals Kawasaki’s response to the Italian manufacturer – namely that a new bike could debut for next year.

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News

Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, & Yamaha Are Collaborating on Electric Standards for Motorcycles

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The electric motorcycle segment is beginning to mature. We know this because word from Japan has Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha collaborating together on various standards for electric motorcycles.

If it doesn’t immediately strike you as such, this is incredibly big news.

The move sees the Big Four creating a consortium that will work together to bring homogenized battery, charging, infrastructure, and other items into reality so that there can be interoperability between the brands and less confusion in the marketplace. 

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