“Blackthumb” Ninja built for the Atlanta streets… For years, the Kawasaki Ninja 250R — aka the EX250 — was America’s best-selling sport bike, offering a 37-hp liquid-cooled parallel twin engine and 6-speed transmission cradled in […]
Tag: Kawasaki
Kawasaki KX500 “Carbolution” by JZ Handmade
Carbon KX from the Czech Republic! The Kawasaki KX500 is one of the most infamous dirt weapons ever created. The 500cc 2-stroke motocross bike made 63 horsepower in stock trim and weighed just 220 pounds […]
Road Racer: Stoker S-RR by Stoker Motorcycles
The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6RR was a limited-production homologation special based on the company’s 636cc middleweight, the ZX-6R. Both machines featured new aerodynamic bodywork, ram induction, and a GP-style swingarm, but the track-oriented RR added an […]
Whoa, Black Betty: Kawasaki KZ400 by Classic Moto Works
The Kawasaki KZ400 was an air-cooled twin built from 1974-1980 out of plants in Akashi, Japan and Lincoln, Nebraska — the first foreign motorcycle factory on U.S. soil. In 1974, it was marketed alongside the […]
“Nightmare”: Kawasaki Ninja 650 Street Tracker
A Grand National dirt track bike for the street… In 2017, the Kawasaki Ninja 650 was the most popular model in the AFT Twins class of the Grand National Championship, the global pinnacle of flat […]
Triple Trouble: Framecrafters / Kawasaki H1 Cafe Racer
“I put a tricked out H1 engine with the left and right cylinders reversed into a Framecrafters road race frame and put lights on it.” This was the cryptic message we recently from Mike McSween […]
Kawasaki Z750 Scrambler by Andreas Olesen
The Kawasaki KZ750/Z750, introduced in 1976, was a 55-hp vertical twin designed for riders who preferred the dependability, character, and easy maintenance of a big twin — a machine that recalled the 750 twins of […]
Kawasaki KLX250 Flat Tracker by Colt Wrangler
Texas young gun builds a track toy… The liquid-cooled, 27-hp Kawasaki KLX250, introduced in 2006, is the successor to the old air-cooled KLR250 — a lightweight dual-sport used by everyone from daily commuters to the […]
Kawasaki Z1000H Restomod by Butchered Classics
Dave Solomon is the mad Englishman behind Butchered Classics, an online community dedicated to pre-1990 bikes modified in diametrically “non-purist” fashion, embracing everything from braced swingarms to crazy engine swaps. Dave himself has earned an […]
Kawasaki “GPz1157” by Butchered Classics
The Kawasaki GPz1100 was one of the last kings of the air-cooled superbikes — the brutal, big-block speed machines fated to die at the hands of the liquid-cooled, 16-valve, alloy-frame sport bikes to come. Says […]