With a top speed of 150mph, the Kawasaki GPZ900R was the fastest bike in the world. Introduced as a ground up new model in 1984, the first motorcycle to bear Kawasaki’s now iconic Ninja name badge broke the mould. Where the 1970s had seen the emergence of the UJM, the Universal Japanese Machine, with their cookie cutter styling and mechanical formats, the Ninja was an all-new design that blew everything before it out the water.
Sure it was an inline four like all high performance UJMs, but this one had a liquid-cooled engine with 16 valves and twin camshafts. It was a technological tour de force and, if that wasn’t enough, in 1986 it would cement its place into popular culture as the motorcycle ridden by Tom Cruise’s character, Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, in the blockbuster movie Top Gun. It was as glamourous as it got.
It arrived at a time of great innovation in the motorcycle industry, with manufacturers unveiling a plethora of different sports bikes which attempted to break the mould. Kawasaki had a good reputation for building high performance bikes with machines like the 900cc Z1 and the two-stroke KH models, but the Ninja was different. Codenamed ‘ZX900’ during its development, the new model shared nothing with any previous models.
Focused on creating a lighter, more powerful and more aerodynamic model than the brand’s previous flagship, the bruising GPz1100, it was an instant success. The compact 908cc motor developed 115bhp and had a chassis which, although considered old hat within a few years of its launch, was cutting edge at the time.
The steel perimeter frame was rigid and lightweight by early ‘80s standards, it had Kawasaki’s Uni-Trak mono shock rear suspension and Kayaba anti-dive front forks, tech which definitely got buyers of the time excited. The 16” front wheel was very much of its time too and, overall, it gave a glimpse of Kawasaki’s vision of the future with its full fairing and sci-fi LCD instruments.
It was a popular machine which won prestigious Bike of the Year awards with numerous publications, including Britain’s Motor Cycle News and Cycle World in the USA. Although not specifically built to race, the GPZ900R would also be the bike to beat in the Production class at the Isle of Man TT Races.
Arguably Kawasaki fired the first shot in the 1980s’ motorcycling arms race and the 900R was probably its most effective. All the other Japanese makers would have their days in the sun, but with a move towards 750cc bikes in order to meet the increasingly popular superbike racing rules, the GPZ never really inspired any imitators. In 1985, Suzuki would move frame technology on with the lightweight GSX-R750, while Yamaha’s FZ750 took four-stroke engine design up another level too.
Kawasaki expanded the GPZ-R family, with 600 and 750cc versions of the 900, and the legacy remains even today. The Top Gun connection and the exciting Ninja name (which was initially only applied in the American market) gave the quick Kwacker a certain cache, even when bikes like the Suzuki GSX-R1100 and Honda CBR1000F came along and stole its top speed crown. Kawasaki responded with the GPZ1000RX and then the first ZX-10, which reclaimed the fastest bike title in 1988, although the 900 would outlast all of them.
The GPZ900R would go on to enjoy a near two decade production run, remaining on sale into the 21st century. It was largely unchanged in that period. The main changes involved dumping the 16” front hoop and anti-dive forks for a more mainstream 17” wheel and conventional forks, while brakes, carbs and the airbox also gained some modifications.
The reborn Triumph company allegedly used the GPZ900 as the blueprint for their new products, with the first generation Hinckley models sharing many of the same engineering philosophies when they appeared at the end of the decade.
The Ninja name would also become synonymous with Kawasaki’s sports bikes and is now applied to all the manufacturer’s sporty faired machines. It was a motorcycle which changed the game in the early 1980s.
Pictures: Kawasaki
