Kawasaki Ninja turns 25

Is it really 25 years since Kawasaki released the landmark GPz900R, a machine which paid as much attention to handling as raw horsepower?

Yep it is, and Kawasaki is now celebrating a quarter of a century from the first Ninja to the latest, which is the 2009 model ZX-6RR, complete with Showa's Big Piston Fork.

Of course, there are a slew of headline-grabbing models in between, including the GPX600 (1985), ZXR750 (1989) and the ZZ-R1000 (1990). All of them can be checked out by visiting a dedicated 25th anniversary Ninja portal (here) on the Kawasaki Australia website.

The GPz900R, which took a number of years to develop, was a massive success for Kawasaki around the globe, producing 115hp from its compact liquid-cooled engine, and weighing in at 228kg.

That wasn't massively light, but Kawasaki got the geometry and chassis just right, which meant it was a potent force on race tracks from the get-go, and the fastest production motorcycle in town.

The bike even scored itself a gig in the Tom Cruise film, Top Gun.

Locally, Team Kawasaki Australia returned to racing on the back of its new offering, hiring then Suzuki superbike star Rob Phillis to guide its fortunes.

It was a successful year, although Kawasaki missed the boat in the most important race, the famed Castrol 6-Hour. Its three top teams all failed to last the distance - two with gear selector problems and one overheating - with Richard Scott and the hard-charging Michael Dowson winning on a two-stroke Yamaha RZ500 from Wayne Gardner/John Pace (Honda VF1000R).

The GPz900R continued to be built by Kawasaki for a decade or so, although it soon took on a sportstouring moniker rather than out and out sportsbike - which was a smart move by Kawasaki.

That's because the racing environment became a lot tougher in the ensuing years, with the likes of Suzuki (GSX-R750) and Yamaha (FZ750) both releasing razor-sharp superbike tackle.