#Kawasaki

This week’s Church feature is yet another example of the early MO crew’s writing chops. The topic this time? Cruisers! The 2001 Power Cruisers, to be exact. We’re talking the Honda VTX, Yamaha V-Max, Harley-Davidson V-Rod, and Kawasaki Mean Streak, ridden by a bunch of mad men and speed junkies. Big, powerful engines stuffed into cruiser frames, this should be a slam dunk for the Harley. The results, however, might surprise you. Read on to see who won.  

By now, we’ll assume you’ve read the Part 1 of the Ankle Biters test, wherein we asked some newer riders to ride the Honda Grom, Kawasaki Z125 Pro, Kymco K-Pipe 125, and SSR Motorsports Razkull 125. Their job was to give us feedback as to which bike makes the best learner for the absolute noob because it’s been awhile since any of the MO staff could call themselves one. Our riders had a lot of fun with the test, but as for us MOrons, we wanted a bit more excitement once we got a chance to throw a leg over the quartet.

Back in August, Kawasaki announced it was working on an artificial intelligence system that will allow motorcycles to communicate with riders. The “Rideology” A.I. project is still in its early stages but Kawasaki has released a video to depict how it would work.

Here’s a number to consider: 382. Kawasaki says that’s the percentage the naked motorcycle market has increased since 2011. For comparison, the sportbike market has stayed relatively stagnant during the same time period. With that kind of popularity in a particular segment, it’s no wonder motorcycle manufacturers like Kawasaki are trying to grab a piece of that pie.

The L.A. Auto Show is, naturally, mostly focused on the realm of four-wheeled vehicles but there was one motorcycle displayed that caught our attention here on MO. Pictured here is the Dagger, a concept bike pairing a 3D-printed frame with a Kawasaki H2 engine.

EICMA and Intermot have come and gone and the question on most American consumers’ minds is which of the wonderful new models will be making their way to the U.S.? Today, Kawasaki answered their part of the question, confirming the ZX-10RR, Ninja 1000, Ninja 650, Z900, Z650 and the Versys-X 300 for the U.S. market.

Our man in Milan, Evans Brassflagons, was running ragged on espresso fumes and adrenaline when he ran into a trio of angle-snouted, aggressively stancing Kawasakis and swung instantly into anchorman mode, which you can see below.

Technically, the Kawasaki Z900 made its debut at Intermot, but information was still preliminary at the time, with the caveat that final details would be released at EICMA 2016. Well, EICMA 2016 has arrived and, as far as we can tell after reading Kawasaki’s press materials, the Z900 hasn’t changed since its debut in Germany – save for a seat height that’s changed by one whole millimeter.

Kawasaki tipped its cap at Intermot last month about its upcoming Z650 and Z900 nakeds. It was an odd strategy, releasing a couple of images and what looks to be an early draft of its EICMA press release. Well, now the Milan show is finally here and Kawasaki has officially confirmed the two models.

News of Honda’s CRF250L Rally came first, then Suzuki’s V-Strom 250/ABS broke cover, and now it’s Kawasaki‘s Versys-X 300 that’s come to light in Milan. The first obvious advantage is the greater displacement of the Kawi’s ADV-Bike engine.

It’s that time of year again: New Bike Season. We’ve already gotten a taste of what’s to come in 2017 thanks to the Intermot show in Cologne, Germany, and AIMExpo in Orlando last month, but when we really want to drool over what awaits us in 2017, EICMA is the show to pay attention to. No less than 30 companies will be making big announcements over the course of the three days that span Nov. 7-9, and our man Evans Brasfield will be on the ground in Milan covering the action as it happens. He’ll even be shooting some video footage we’ll post right here on these pages.

Kawasaki announced a new R Edition version of the Z1000 for Europe but the future of the naked roadster remains unclear with a new Z900 model on the way. Kawasaki Europe will still offer the base model Z1000 for the 2017 model year but the R Edition may turn out to be a final production run special edition.

This weekend at Jerez, Kenan Sofuoglu not only won a World Supersport race, but he also notched his fifth World Supersport title, firmly etching his name in the history books and making himself a hero in his home country of Turkey. The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team rider, aboard his ZX-6R, didn’t have it easy this year, as his teammate Randy Krummenacher was also challenging for the title. However, Krummenacher crashed on the fifth lap of the race, meaning all Sofuoglu had to do was finish to clinch the title. Of course, in typical Sofuoglu style, the Turk fought for the win.

At Intermot 2016, Kawasaki announced the Ninja 1000 sport tourer would receive a host of upgrades to enhance both the sport and touring sides of its dual personalities. While there are obvious design changes to make the bodywork fresh, chief among those updates is the addition of a six-axis IMU from Bosch. With it, the 2017 Ninja 1000 electronics suite is now able to offer much more sophisticated levels of control. Both the Kawasaki Traction Control (KTRC) and Kawasaki Intelligent anti-lock Brake System (KIBS) utilize the IMU to get a real time picture of the motorcycle’s chassis orientation, which it can then use to intervene if needed, and the level at which intervention is applied.

Kawasaki’s jaw-dropping Ninja H2 and H2R are back for 2017, and joining them is a third member of the family, the Ninja H2 Carbon. While Kawasaki are calling the Carbon a third member of the Ninja H2 family, the title is slightly deceiving as the bike is essentially a standard Ninja H2 with a carbon fiber upper cowl, bringing it visually closer to the Ninja H2R. The carbon cowl will also be available as an accessory from Kawasaki, able to retrofit onto prior H2 models.