{"id":20913,"date":"2023-01-13T07:57:51","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T07:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/?p=20913"},"modified":"2023-01-18T10:07:04","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T10:07:04","slug":"kawasaki-gpz900r-the-cars-the-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/kawasaki-gpz900r-the-cars-the-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Kawasaki GPZ900R – The Car’s The Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

2022 wasn’t the greatest of years as far as movies were concerned but there was one stand out track in our eyes. It was a film that went against the grain of the superhero flick and the fantasy genre – two groups of cinema that were very much en vogue<\/em> last year. It was a film that didn’t try to force any kind of political message down our throats or attempt to retcon any legacy characters, only to have them replaced with younger, more culturally diverse actors. It was, in fact, a simple sequel that took a winning formula and an iconic character and gave us more of what made the original such a popular and successful endeavour. The film was Top Gun: Maverick and in addition to the aerial stars of this particular slice of celluloid there was also a rather tasty two-wheeled ’80s hero that too made a comeback, alongside the movie’s main attraction. The bike was the legendary Kawasaki<\/a> GPZ900R ridden by the ever reliable and beguiling Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.<\/p>\n

\"Kawasaki,<\/p>\n

Cinema-goers in 1986 would have flocked to their nearest Kawasaki dealership in a rush to place an order for the very same GPZ900R they had just seen Cruise riding in the original Top Gun movie as his character, Maverick, blasts alongside an F-14 Tomcat at full throttle, triumphantly beating his fist in the air as the fighter jet takes off. In a throwback to director Tony Scott’s prior Saab commercial<\/a> it’s a poignant and seductive image that catapulted the bike to superstardom, cementing it as one of the most iconic movie motorcycles of all time. But it wasn’t just the film (and that banging soundtrack) that we have to thank for the success of the GPZ900R. The bike itself was an innovation. It was the first road bike to top 150mph in stock form for a start \u2013 taking the title of fastest production bike – and is widely considered to be the precursor to the modern-day sports bike. Quite the legacy then.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Launched in 1984 as a successor to the earlier Z1 the GPZ (or Ninja as it was more colloquially known and the first to take on that particular moniker) was a big deal for both Kawasaki and the motorcycle world in general. Featuring a 908cc, 16-valve, liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder engine it was the first of it’s type, ever and it’s an architecture that is still utilised in sports bikes today. Peak power was rated at 115bhp at 9,800rpm which was a huge number for a road bike in the mid-eighties. Not only that but the engine was more compact and slung low down in the bike’s steel frame allowing for a lower centre of gravity and therefore further improved performance. Success doesn’t happen overnight, however and the GPZ900R spent around six years in development which just goes to show the level of care and attention that went into creating this astonishing machine. So good was it, in fact, that it remained in production in Japan until 2003!<\/p>\n

\"Kawasaki,<\/p>\n

When it comes to matters of performance the proof is very much in the pudding, as they say and this half-a-decade bake certainly delivered the goods in that regard. One of Kawasaki’s oldest dealerships, GT Motorcycles, filled with the hubris that comes from stocking such a breathtaking and groundbreaking motorcycle, decided to sort the men from the boys and enter a works GPZ900R into the swirling pit of fire that is the Isle of Man TT<\/a> \u2013 the pinnacle of competition motorcycle racing. Mike Grainger sponsored the bike and its rider, Geoff Johnson, in the 1984 race in which it took first place in the production class, followed closely by Howard Selby on another GPZ, swiping the silver trophy. It turns out the Ninja was just as capable on the track as it was on the road.<\/p>\n

\"Kawasaki,<\/p>\n

Don’t let the notable competition wins and blistering performance fool you though. Despite all of this the GPZ900R is also a pretty comfortable daily thanks in part to a decent riding position and aerodynamic fairing combined with some technological wizardry such as variable damping, anti-dive suspension and a crankshaft counter balancer. 1990 saw a few minor updates, the most notable of which was more conventional forks and a 17\u201d wheel to replace the original but dated 16\u201d number. It wasn’t broke so it didn’t get fixed and the GPZ900R was so well made that it was sold alongside newer, much more advanced Kawasaki models that emerged from the Japanese manufacturer. Bikes like the GPZ1000RX, ZX-10, GPZ1100 and ZZ-R1100.<\/p>\n