The First Ninja

The iconic Kawasaki Ninja 900 (also known as the GPZ900R) was a true game changer; the first modern Sports Super bike and the first to top 150mph! Much like the Z900 did a decade earlier, the Ninja 900 raised the bar for the entire motorcycle industry and was also the first Kawasaki bike to be officially marketed (in North America) under the Ninja brand name.

Developed in secret over six years, it was Kawasaki's and the world's first 16-valve liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder motorcycle engine. The 908 cc four-cylinder engine delivered 115 bhp, allowing the bike to reach speeds of 151 mph (243 km/h), making it the first stock road bike to exceed 150 mph (240 km/h) barrier and therefore gave it the title of the fastest production bike at the time.

Despite its impressive performance, the Ninja 900 was smooth and rideable in urban traffic, owing to the new suspension and a crankshaft counter-balancer that nearly eliminated secondary vibration. The fairing's aerodynamics combined with good overall ergonomics enabled comfortable long-distance riding.

With the release of the ZZ-R1100 in 1990, the GPZ900R lost its status as Kawasaki's flagship model, but continued, with some revisions of the fork, wheels, brakes and airbox, until 1993 in Europe, until 1986 in the US and until 2003 (!) in Japan.

The GPZ900 changed the face of sports bikes forever and is considered a valuable classic today.

#cmsnl #cmsnlparts #Kawasaki #kawasakininja #ninja900 #gpz900r #superbike

image from instagram