Kawasaki Celebrates 70 Years of Motorcycles

Admin · August 14, 2023

The Z1 900 is just one of many iconic models Kawasaki will be featuring in its upcoming 70-year anniversary celebration. (Kawasaki/Kevin Wing (for Motorcyclist)/)

Has it really been 70 years since the rollout of the B8, the first model completely manufactured by Kawasaki? In actuality, that 125cc two-stroke was produced back in 1962 by the Kawasaki Aircraft division, which then went on to merge with Meguro Manufacturing Co. Ltd. But the gist is that Kawasaki started full-scale production of motorcycles over a half-century ago, and has been connected to the motorcycle industry even longer if you include the fact that its first motorcycle engine, the KE-1, was launched in 1953.

The bottom line is there will be a party—Kawasaki will be properly celebrating the milestone 70th anniversary of making motorcycles this September, with an exhibition at Kawasaki USA Heritage Hall in Foothill Ranch, California, as well as Kawasaki Good Times World in Kobe, Japan. The displays will drill down on the evolution of Kawasaki’s motorcycle business in the US, which got its start in 1966, when American Kawasaki Motors was established.

Related: When The 1969 Kawasaki H1 500cc Triple Was King

Kawasaki’s first foray into the motorcycle industry was in 1953 with the KE-1 engine, using concepts gleaned from the company’s aircraft operations. (Kawasaki/)

The displays will also be the first in a series of events to commemorate this special anniversary, and Kawasaki’s first forays into the motorcycle business after the end of World War II when it cranked out engines under the name “Kawasaki Machine Works,” using technical know-how garnered from the development of aircraft engines.

The early years were not kind to Team Green, however, and the head honchos decided to retool their business strategies by going with a dealer model that proved especially successful in the US, where innovations included the industry’s first model year system

and a policy of “localism.” From there, the US arm went on to develop venerable bikes like the Kawasaki H1 500 Mach III and the iconic Kawasaki Z1 900 especially for the American market.

The H1 Mach III two-stroke triple took the ’70s by storm, and for a while ruled the US high-performance motorcycle scene. (Kawasaki Archives/)

Kawasaki doubled down on its US market bets in 1974, when it plowed $20 million into building a manufacturing plant in Lincoln, Nebraska, to be in line with a coming shift to a floating exchange rate in the US. The Lincoln plant became the first such facility built by any Japanese auto or motorcycle manufacturer in the US, and it’s one of Kawasaki’s main plants to this day. All Kawasaki personal watercraft and side-by-sides are still manufactured there.

Related: Kawasaki Heavy Industries - Far More Than Just Motorcycles

The 1966 A1 Samurai 250 was an early example of the “localism” embraced by Kawasaki’s US division, which sought to develop bikes just for the American market. (Kawasaki/)

There are more birthday cakes to come for 2023 as well, with Kawasaki not only marking the 70th anniversary of its motorcycle manufacturing, but also giving a shout out to its KX brand, which will mark 50 years of success on the trails and in the dirt. And next year, the American-born Ninja brand will be up for its 40th anniversary, which should be a corker. We’ll be right there with the champagne to celebrate what we called “a hard-core performance motorcycle aimed directly at the hard-core performance rider” back in 1984 for our Ten Best list.

Next year Kawasaki’s US-bred Ninja line will celebrate 40 years of willful (and some accidental) burnouts. (Cycle World Archives/)