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#REDIRECT [[Kawasaki Motors]]
[[File:2007KawasakiNinjaZX6R-001.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R]], one of the company's most popular [[sport bike]]s]]
'''Kawasaki motorycles''' are manufactured by the [[Kawasaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle & Engine|Motorcycle & Engine]] division of [[Kawasaki Heavy Industries]] at plants in Japan, USA, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.<ref name=ar2010>{{cite web | url= http://www.khi.co.jp/english/ir/pdf/ar_2010.pdf | title= Annual Report 2010 | publisher= [[Kawasaki Heavy Industries]] | accessdate= 30 November 2010}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Kawasaki logo 1961-1967.png|thumb|right|Kawasaki logo from 1961 to 1967, which appears on motorcycles of that period.]]
Kawasaki Aircraft initially manufactured motorcycles under the [[Meguro Works]] name, having bought out an ailing motorcycle manufacturer called Meguro Manufacturing Co. Ltd with whom they had been in partnership earlier, but later formed Kawasaki Motor Sales.<ref>[http://www.khi.co.jp/mcycle/museum/w1/history/index_e.html Kawasaki Museum, Kawasaki as "Kawasaki Motorcycle Co. LTD."]</ref> Some early motorcycles display an emblem with "Kawasaki Aircraft" on the fuel tank.

During the merger in 1962, Kawasaki engineers were engaged in the development of a [[four-stroke engine]] for small cars which ended in 1962 with some of the engineers transferred to the Meguro Works to work on the Meguro K1 and the SG, a single cylinder 250&nbsp;cc [[OHV]]. In 1963, Kawasaki and Meguro merged to form Kawasaki Motorcycle Co.,Ltd.<ref>[http://www.khulsey.com/motorcycles/vintage_motorcycle_kawasaki.html K Hulsey, Classic Vintage Motorcycles: Kawasaki history]</ref><ref>[http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article45887.html Daniel Levy, Stastsheet.com Kawasaki Motorcycles - "Independent In Thoughts And Actions".]</ref> Kawasaki motorcycles from 1962 through 1967 used an emblem which can be described as a flag within a wing.

Work continued on the [[Meguro motorcycles|Meguro]] K1, a copying of the [[BSA A7]] 500&nbsp;cc vertical twin.<ref>[http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/motorcycle-reviews/2005-11-01/tip-of-the-wedge.aspx Motorcycle Classics, Kawasaki W2TT Commander.]</ref> and on the [[Kawasaki W series|Kawasaki W1]]. The K2 was exported to the U.S. for a test in response to the expanding American market for four-stroke motorcycles in which case it was rejected for a lack of power but by the mid-1960s, Kawasaki was finally exporting a moderate number of motorcycles. The [[Kawasaki H1 Mach III]] in 1968, along with several [[enduro]]-styled motorcycles to compete with [[Yamaha Motor Company|Yamaha]], [[Suzuki]] and [[Honda]], increased sales of Kawasaki units.

== See also ==
* [[List of Kawasaki motorcycles]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{commonscat|Kawasaki motorcycles}}

{{Kawasaki motorcycles}}
{{Major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers}}

[[Category:Kawasaki motorcycles| ]]
[[Category:Motorcycle manufacturers of Japan]]

Latest revision as of 07:39, 28 October 2024

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