30 Years of Partisan Fighting on the Streets: The Ninja Story

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30 years of partisan struggle on the streets

The Ninja Story

30 Years of Partisan Fighting on the Streets: The Ninja Story-fighting5

Kawasaki 30 Years of Partisan Fighting on the Streets: The Ninja Story

The history of Kawasaki super sports models began in 1984 in the USA. Ten years later, the sharp ninjas came to Germany.

It was not only unusual for the motorcycle market in Germany when the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki gave its ZX-9R model, which was presented for the first time in 1994, the nickname Ninja, but also in need of explanation.

Ninjas were partisan fighters of pre-industrial Japan who worked as scouts or spies. A ninja on two wheels? That was not easy to convey in Europe. But Kawasaki stuck with this naming, which had been initiated much earlier in the USA: there, as early as 1984, the GPZ 900 R sports bike was nicknamed Ninja. 30 years after the difficult beginning of establishing this name on the world market, we look back.

16 valves as standard

The GPZ 900 R had some revolutionary features when it first appeared: It was the first motorcycle on which 16 valves were responsible for gas exchange in the four-cylinder engine as standard. And their in-line engine with an output of up to 85 kW/115 hp had an external timing chain for the first time, which made it possible to have identical inlet and outlet ports for all four cylinders – a very high-performance means. The fact that the GPZ had a dry weight of 228 kilograms and therefore weighed 254 kilograms ready to drive didn't bother anyone 30 years ago: The GPZ 900 R was considered the "hottest stove" on the streets, even if in Germany it was almost exclusively the 98 hp version was operated. At that time, the two-wheeler manufacturers had agreed on a "gentlemen's agreement" and limited the maximum output to 100 hp; because of the lower insurance premiums, they were mostly 98.PS versions developed.

Radical Dynamics

The European customers of the GPZ 900 R didn't realize that they wanted to impress the performance-hungry US boys with the nickname Ninja; the term was not used in this country. This only changed when Kawasaki, after several further developments of the GPZ 900 R, invented a completely new nomenclature and made the previously touring bikes much sportier. The ZX-9R was the name of the first machine of the new era, a radically dynamic motorcycle with a 899 cc four-cylinder engine and an impressive 103 kW/141 hp. With her, the nickname Ninja reached Germany and Europe.

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Already a year later, Kawasaki built the Ninja series: the smaller ZX-6R had an aluminum cast frame for the first time in this class; He helped to reduce the weight to 206 kilograms (ready to drive). Further developed for the umpteenth time, the ZX-6R now delivers 94 kW/128 hp with a weight of only 191 kilograms (ready to drive) and costs just under 12.000 euros; a variant with a displacement of 636 cubic centimeters that is more powerful off the race track has an output of 96 kW/131 hp and costs 13.195 euros. Kawasaki Germany placed a proud 21 of the ZX-9R on the market in the ten years from 1994 to 2003.650 pieces, from the ZX-6R from 1995 to 2013 even 27.570 pieces; a maximum of 3 went in a single year.100 "six ninjas" to trade (in 2000), minimum as many as four (2013).

Kawasaki pulls out the hammer

At the turn of the millennium, Kawasaki then unpacked the performance hammer with the Ninja ZX-12R: Their 1.The 199 cc engine delivered 130 kW/178 hp and made a top speed of 308 km/h possible. This made it the fastest production motorcycle in the world for a while. This initially had a huge impact on the market: 1.704 pieces of the 27th.000 D-Mark cost "Twelve" sold in the year 2000, total sales of Kawasaki Germany added up to 2006 to 5.281 pieces.

As a result of a change in the rules of the Superbike World Championship, the Japanese brought the world's most powerful superbike onto the market with the Ninja ZX-10R in 2004: the performance thermometer now stood at 128 kW/175 hp (from a displacement of one liter!), the dry weight was given as only 170 kilograms. The performance escalation that has continued since then has led to two completely newly developed models of this type; the current version has a ready-to-drive weight of 201 kilograms and 200 hp at 13.000 revolutions and costs almost 17 with ABS.000 euros. In the ten years since the market launch, at least 10 have been made in Germany.Deliver 724 copies.

extension downwards

Most recently, Kawasaki expanded the Ninja series downwards: in 2008, the Ninja 250R came onto the market in Germany. The 24 kW/33 hp quarter-litre super sports machine sold quite well despite the small displacement. Since 2013, this model has been upgraded to the Ninja 300; Its 296 cc in-line two-cylinder engine now delivers 29 kW/39 hp at 11.000 revolutions, the ready-to-drive weight of the almost 5.The little ninja, which costs 600 euros, weighs 174 kilograms. Exactly 2 of the 250 Ninja went in the five years from 2008 to 2012.127 units for sale, the 300 was delivered 780 times last year.

While Kawasaki is quite satisfied with the current sales figures for the smallest Ninja, the other two Ninja models (ZX-6R and ZX-10R) are currently finding buyers all over Europe with great difficulty; the trend is away from overpowered supersport bikes, so it looks as if Kawasaki's 30-year ninja tradition may already have peaked.

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