Kawasaki motorcycles
Kawasaki motorycles are manufactured by the Motorcycle & Engine division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries at plants in Japan, USA, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.[1]
History
The company was founded in 1896 by Shozo Kawasaki. The company was first known as Kawasaki Heavy Industries. When the company started it started with shipbuilding, railroad rolling stock, and electrical generating plants.
Kawasaki emerged out of the ashes of the second World War to become one of the big players from Japan. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, Kawasaki built a reputation for some of the most powerful engines on two wheels, spawning legendary sportbikes like the Ninja series and a line of championship-winning off-road bikes.
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.[2] 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 cc OHV. In 1963, Kawasaki and Meguro merged to form Kawasaki Motorcycle Co.,Ltd.[3][4] Kawasaki motorcycles from 1962 through 1967 used an emblem which can be described as a flag within a wing.
Work continued on the Meguro K1, a copying of the BSA A7 500 cc vertical twin.[5] and on the 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, Suzuki, Honda, and KTM, increased sales of Kawasaki units.
Kawasaki motorcycle engine sizes
See also
References
- ^ "Annual Report 2010" (PDF). Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- ^ Kawasaki Museum, Kawasaki as "Kawasaki Motorcycle Co. LTD."
- ^ K Hulsey, Classic Vintage Motorcycles: Kawasaki history
- ^ Daniel Levy, Stastsheet.com Kawasaki Motorcycles - "Independent In Thoughts And Actions".
- ^ Motorcycle Classics, Kawasaki W2TT Commander.
