Tag Archives: Kawasaki

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Team Kawasaki Australia KR350 Prototype

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With Phil Aynsley

This is the prototype KR350 sent to Team Kawasaki Australia for development during 1977. It was built in ’77 and based on a ’76 KR250. The modified 250 motor had a larger bore and a capacity of 306cc.

Kawasaki KR PA KRP
Kawasaki’s KR350 as ridden by Greg Hansford
Kawasaki KR PA KRP
The bike originally featured a KR250 motor bored to 306cc

Kawasaki KR PA KRP

Gregg Hansford tested the bike and resulting changes included modified KR750 front brakes being fitted. In 1979 a full 350cc motor was installed and the bike was raced by Rick Perry in 1980, winning the 350cc ARRC.

Kawasaki KR PA KRP
KR750 brakes were added on Hansford’s feedback
Kawasaki KR PA KRP
A 350 engine was added in 1979 and Rick Perry rode the bike to ARRC victory in 1980

Kawasaki KR PA KRP

One of the interesting features of the motor is that the water pump casing was cast integrally with the side case, rather than being a seperate unit. I was surprised to note that the whole barrel assembly is angled at 15º to the centreline of the motor.

Kawasaki KR PA KRP
Kawasaki’s KR350 as ridden by Greg Hansford

Kawasaki KR PA KRP

Overseas Kork Ballington won the 1978 350cc World Championship with a dominant 9 wins. Hansford finishing 3rd with 3 victories. The result was the same the following year with five and three wins respectively.

Kawasaki KR PA KRP
Kork Ballington won the 1978 350cc World Championship, with Hansford third
Kawasaki KR PA KRP
Racing success continued until 1981!

1980 saw Anton Mang finish in second with Jean-Fraçois Baldé in third. The KR350 filled the top three positions in 1981 (Mang, Ekerold, Baldé) and for the final season of the 350cc Championship Mang again finished in first with Baldé in third. So ended the extremely successful career of the KR350!

Kawasaki KR PA KRP
Kawasaki’s KR350 as ridden by Greg Hansford

This bike was retired after the 1980 season and subsequently restored. The motor and parts are 1978 vintage.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Motorcycle News, News

Will Kawasaki supercharge the Z1000?

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A teaser video from Kawasaki showing a supercharger and the letter “Z” seems to indicate the company is about to expand its supercharged lineup, possibly the Z1000.

Currently the company supercharges its H2, H2R track-only model and H2 SX super tourer.

Kawasaki H2 SX SE supercharged tourer centre
Kawasaki H2 SX SE supercharged tourer

Super Z1000

The video shows a “Z”, not a “ZX”, so it is likely to supercharge the top of the Z fleet, the Z1000, rather than the ZX-14R, although that would be hoot!

We don’t expect they would supercharge their Z900RS and Z900RS Cafe retro models.

But they could also introduce it in the Z900 or even the Z650, although that would rule it out of learner-approved status.

Kawasaki is no stranger to forced induction with the GPZ750 turbo way back in the 1982.

With the success of the retro Z900 RS models, maybe the Japanese manufacturer is bringing back the 750cc displacement to honour the GPZ750.

Japanese motorcycle z1000
Kawasaki GPZ750 Turbo

The new supercharged Kwaka could be introduce at the Tokyo Motor Show next month or at EICMA motorcycle show in Milan in November.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

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Points Leader Rea Wins Superpole Race

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I felt strong with the bike. I was pushing in Race Two and where Alvaro was gaining time on the front straight and the top straight, coming out of T5 I almost felt that he was increasing the gap. But when we went into T14 I had already eaten up that advantage he had in the first sector. It was enough motivation to keep pushing. He was making a few mistakes and it was enough for me to keep the pressure on. You never know what can happen and I could see the gap to Toprak was increasing in those last six laps. Yesterday I ate too much tyre in the beginning but today on lap 19 I could set a 1’43.2. I enjoyed that final race; we had a fight. I am proud of myself because I had fight in me.


Jonathan Rea left Portimao, round ten of the 2019 FIM Superbike World Championship, with two race wins and a second place finish to exten
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook

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Rea Takes Tenth Race Win Of The Season

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Thanks to my team because slowly and surely over the weekend we made the bike better and better especially in the hot conditions. I worked really hard in the beginning of the race to try and find a gap. When it got to five seconds I started getting very nervous so I started to ride to my pit-board and try not make any mistakes. Thanks to all the support out there, which means so much. I am looking forward to tomorrow because I think we can try to improve the bike set-up a little bit, especially for the end of the race – just to make things a little bit more comfortable. I certainly did not have anything left in my pocket in this race. It was target achieved today. http://jonathan-rea.com/news/rea-takes-tenth-race-win-season


Jonathan Rea restarted his 2019 WorldSBK campaign with an impressive flag to flag Race One win at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve toda
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook

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The test was really good and to be honest I needed to test. I was a little bit slow in waking up…

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The test was really good and to be honest I needed to test. I was a little bit slow in waking up yesterday. I have had a great summer break but I was not only readjusting to riding again. With the momentum I had from the endurance spec bike in Suzuka, I felt really fast coming here. At a circuit I am really strong at, I did not really feel I had much more yesterday. But this morning I woke up and we found a better lap time and also more consistency. In the heat of the afternoon I was much better compared to the opening day. I feel really positive. http://www.jonathan-rea.com/news/satisfying-official-test-rea-and-krt-portimao


Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook

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Ballyclare Colts Football Club

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After moving back home my son Jake Went to Ballyclare Colts Football Club . Seeing my shy little boy grow with confidence and skill has been amazing. Great team atmosphere. Get involved or follow them here ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️


Massive thank you to Jonathan Rea for supporting his local team Ballyclare Colts FC. Pictured today at Dixon Park with members from the Colts Development Centre and our 2010 team.
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook