1984 Honda Atc200es Big Red

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In the 1980s was all regarding power and speed. British motorcycles are gorgeous much faded from scene having been overtaken by the innovation and design of the Japanese manufacturers.

It was the 1968 Honda CB750 that genuinely broke the mould as far as bikes went, taking the Japanese motorcycle industry away from the light and middleweight market and up into the heavyweight section. The British motorcycle industry, consisting at the time principally of Triumph and BSA had underestimated the Japanese contenders by assuming that they would never dare take them on in the 500 cc plus market.

By the time the Kawasaki GPz900 came into the market, Honda had built up a big reputation for power and innovation having already invented the VF750F which not only saw the introduction of it is V4 engine and over 85 brake horsepower, it was likewise one of the primary Japanese machines that was competent of doing more than merely travelling in a straight line, i.e. it could handle.

In recent years, Kawasaki have invented a reputation for constructing powerful bikes, a reputation that back in the 80s had not yet been formed. It could be suggested that the big modify occurred in 1981 with the launch of the GPz1100. Kawasaki were clever here, there was not one thing exceptionally particular regarding it is 1100 cc eight valve engine, but assure performance terms it totally eradicated the contest and then Kawasaki built on this in 1984 with the introduction of the GPz900R.

Recently I was looking at these two bikes standing in a showroom side-by-side and in the same red colour. The bikes look almost identical, and though the rear tyres are somewhat thinner than you suppose on the equivalent machine today, they still looked beauteous cool.

Of the two however, it was the GPz900R ever became a unfeigned classic, with Kawasaki continuing to make them for 15 years. It saw off the two models it was intended to replace, namely the GPz1000RX and the ZX-10, both of which were discontinued before the GPz900R.

Powered by a liquid cooled four-cylinder 16 valve engine, a the bike achieves a sub 11 second standing quarter at Laguna Seca when the bike was launched, and hid in excess of 150 mph on the track. However, the speed wasn’t merely confined to the straights, and in spite of having what galore other manufacturers considered to be an outdated tubular steel spine frame, the GPz900R was one of the primary bikes that could combine both power and handling, which was in truth part of the basi design brief.