#Kawasaki

Ostensibly, this is a review of the 2004 Kawasaki KX250F. But read a little more into the story and you start to see this is just the old-school MO crew having fun on a new dirtbike, getting themselves wholly out of their comfort zone and being genuine MOrons the entire time. This was MO‘s humble beginnings, folks – Ride bikes, make mistakes and bad decisions, then write about it in a fun and irreverent manner. I mean, check out that lead image above. I didn’t add those effects. That’s just the goofy MOron crew at work. Anyway, enjoy the “review” and see the rest of the pics in the photo gallery.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Honda should feel pretty special. According to Kawasaki’s sales data, collected from data provided by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), the Grom is number two on the list of best-selling motorcycles in the category Kawasaki calls “Small Street,” which includes dual-purpose motorcycles up to 350cc, scooters between 50cc – 400cc, and street motorcycles below 400cc. Number one is Kawasaki’s own Ninja 300, but there’s no ignoring the meteoric success the Honda Grom has become, which has spurred the creation of this: the 2017 Kawasaki Z125 Pro.

Army veteran Brandon Jenkins was just minding his own business, waiting for the lights to change when a man ran up from behind and tried to pull him off of his Suzuki GSX-R600. He didn’t know at the time, but the man was fleeing from police for an alleged hit-and-run. Jenkins quickly assessed the situation and fought back as his assailant tried to steal his bike.

It’s a question we’re asked all the time: “What’s the best motorcycle for a new rider?” It’d be great if we could give the same answer every time, but in reality the answer depends on many factors – rider size, competency, wants, needs, and desires among them. Small displacement bikes are generally a good place to start, but read enough forum commenters and before long you’ll find someone who shares their tale of how they started on a literbike and lived to tell the tale.

While it may not have won our recent comparison test against the Aprilia RSV4 RR, that’s no reason to dismiss the bike. The completely revamped 2016 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is an impressive motorcycle. Kawasaki’s engineering staff had a tough task on its hands when taking the previous generation ZX-10R – which had just finished capturing a World Superbike championship – and making it better, but it’s undeniable that Team Green has done just that. So, for this week’s Top 10, I’m going to highlight 10 of my favorite features of the new ZX-10R.

By now we’ll assume you’ve read our comparison test of the 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RR and Kawasaki ZX-10R. If not, read it here (and shame on you for not reading it yet!) Both machines pack a wallop of performance for less than $17,000, and even though the ZX-10R didn’t come out the winner in our comparison test, it’s by no means a boring bike to ride. Kawasaki stepped up big time when updating the new 10R – which was a pretty good performer in its own right considering it won the 2015 World Superbike championship – and the 2016 model bests its predecessor in almost every category.

Look around the liter-class sportbike landscape. The field is littered with some of the most technologically advanced and blindingly fast motorcycles the world has ever seen. Trickle-down technology from the world of MotoGP and World Superbike is making its way to production motorcycles faster than ever before, and it’s hard to deny the sportbike landscape is all the better for it.

It’s official, the little green Z we reported on last October is coming stateside as a 2017 model. Dubbed the Z125 Pro, the mini-Z is set to steal some thunder from Honda’s Grom. Last year, we took a perfectly fine Grom, crippled it with a deluge of aftermarket equipment then went racing. The experience was a resounding failure, but a hilariously good time for the entire MO staff. Thankfully, we thoroughly documented every stage of the Grom’s downward spiral, so we don’t repeat the same mistakes with the Z125 Pro, because, obviously, there’s going to be an appropriately goofy shootout between the Kawi and the Honda. Any suggestions on how to go about it?

Crouched down behind a wing-festooned carbon-fiber fairing about one-third of a mile down an Oregon airstrip, I shifted into fourth gear at wide-open throttle and was both thrilled and alarmed when the front wheel departed the tarmac. I stole a furtive glance at the speedometer and saw three mind-blowing digits unexpected while wheelying: 170.

The long winter break from racing is almost over, as the 2016 World Superbike season will kick off in just over a week in Australia at the beautiful Phillip Island circuit. Jonathan Rea took the 2015 championship – his first world title – in convincing fashion, and with a new Kawasaki ZX-10R at his disposal, he looks to be a favorite to defend his title.

In one of those deals that’s frightening to watch but probably hilariously fun to do, Trick Star of Japan takes its hot rod Kawasaki H2R for a nice spin around Tsukuba in the company of what pass for “vintage bikes” in Japan. I find I don’t mind the narration nearly so much when I can’t understand the words.

When the hyperbike wars were taking off at the start of the new millennium, Kawasaki was caught with its pants down, so to speak, as Suzuki had lit the field on fire with its Hayabusa. Team Green’s response? No, not the ZX-14R we know today, but the ZX-12R. A fast bike by most measures, when placed against the ‘Busa it simply couldn’t keep up. For this week’s Church feature we have our first ride review of the 2002 Kawasaki ZX-12R, the result of Kawi reimagining the 12R (slightly) for hyperspeed touring duty since it wouldn’t win any drag strip wars. 

Join defending World Superbike champion, Jonathan Rea and 2013 WSBK champ, Tom Sykes as they unveil the all-new WorldSBK-spec Ninja ZX-10R. The ZX-10R is a whole new model for 2016, and the anticipation of seeing its technical specification and new livery couldn’t be greater. The Barcelona presentation is closed to the public, so consider this a personal invite to an exclusive event.

The chance to review an all-new motorcycle prior to the bike’s world launch is about as rare as a Vincent White Shadow, but that’s the opportunity our Australian correspondent, Jeff Ware, received late last November when he got to spin laps aboard Kawasaki’s all-new ZX-10R. Because the new 10R is the most exciting new sportbike of 2016, we jumped at the chance to publish Ware’s review so we could be among the first in the world to share riding impressions of this important new machine. Our review was cleverly titled “First First-Ride Review,” because Motorcycle.com’s official first-ride review was intended to be posted after the bike’s world launch.

In 2009, when it came to burning away mile after mile in long-distance, big displacement touring comfort, certain motorcycles came to mind. Motorcycles like the Honda Gold Wing and Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic were obvious choices, but another motorcycle deserving inclusion in the conversation was the 2009 Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Voyager/Nomad, the topic of this week’s Church of MO feature. Here, MO’s Editor-in-Chief Kevin Duke takes one for a spin, wherein he discovers you really can take this Kawasaki from coast to coast in absolute comfort. The fact it is still in Kawasaki’s product lineup, seven years on, speaks to its capabilities. Read on to get Kevin’s complete thoughts on the bike, and to see more pictures of the Vulcan 1700 Voyager, be sure to check out the photo gallery.