K
awasaki is about to
celebrate the 40th anniver-
sary of its Ninja brand of
motorcycles. The first Kawasaki
motorcycle to adorn the Ninja
moniker was the 1984 GPz900R.
I remember that bike well.
I had just joined the CN staff
a few months before the launch
of the GPz900R. I was the "dirt
bike guy," but the Ninja was
one of those few street bikes
that caught my attention then.
Surprisingly, I even wanted to
own one the moment I blasted
through the bike's six-speed
transmission for the first time,
just as I would have on a KX125.
Oh, man! What a rush. I had
never ridden anything like it
before, and from what I could
tell, despite my limited street
biking experience, it seemed to
do everything well, but what did I
know? Well, I did know one thing:
the Ninja was fast. Outrageously,
fast! This was no KX125.
Unfortunately, I never bought
one, even though, if I recall cor
-
rectly, Kawasaki offered mem-
bers of the media and industry
a chance to purchase their own
Ninja at a considerable discount.
As tempting as that was, I didn't
take the bait. After all, dirt bike
guys like me back then were
usually broke.
I, unfortunately, had nothing
to do with our first test ride of
the 1994 GPz900R Ninja. In
-
stead, legendary photographer
David Dewhurst penned our first
riding impression of the Ninja,
published in our January 18,
1984, edition of Cycle News. He
attended the Ninja launch for us,
which was held at Laguna Seca
Raceway. I wanted to look back
at that test and read what he
had to say about that very first
Ninja motorcycle. Here are some
excerpts:
• Kawasaki engineers don't
hide the fact that they like
performance. You need look no
further back than to America's
original muscle bike, the 900cc
Z-1, their 500cc two-stroke triple,
or the latest bright red GPz1100
for proof of that. So, when those
same engineers unveiled the all-
CNIIARCHIVES
P110
ENTER THE NINJA
BY KIT PALMER
In 1984, Kawasaki
unleashed the very first
Ninja, the GPz900R.
Kawasaki let the
media loose on the
Ninja for the first
time at Laguna Seca.
