Although we didn’t do any numbers, American magazines have reported a 11.44 sec/190 kph quarter mile, which is phenomenal even today, and even went on to say that if the world was a racetrack the GPz would indisputedly be one of the world’s greatest motorcycles. Of course, it isn’t and they aren’t; but the key word is ‘indisputed.’High praise indeed, because this was an era where the chassis engineers were still lazing around while the powertrain guys had worked their asses off, and this wasn’t the first time that an engine was ahead of it’s chassis. The GPz had some handling issues and as the UK’s Bike put it ‘the GPz asks you if you can cope with what it can do and the answer to that normally lay in the bottom of a ditch.’
This Kwacker was the last of the big aircooled superbikes that brought the express trucking era to a close. Even though the GPz wasn’t iconic, it did revive sales apart from having a similar effect on smaller machines.
Although this Kawasaki became head strong with 16 valves in 1983, it gave way to the 750 Turbo after which Kawasaki unveiled their liquid-cooled 900cc Ninja. That’s when the game really moved on. In that sense, the GPz was really holding fort for Kawasaki till it got the Ninja. But in the early eighties, it was a collection of ‘mosts’ and ‘bests,’ and a standard-bearer for its manufacturer’s commitment to two-wheeled performance.
Kawasaki did bring back a GPz series, but it wore its touring clothes this time around. Those Japs, I tell you; they’ll rebuild an entire motorcycle but they can’t come up with a new name for it.The GPz1100’s brutish looks and primeval growl could bring a dead man’s blood to a boil, but words alone can’t explain how good the GPz1100 Kawasaki really is, unless you count my heartbeat fifteen minutes after I have gotten off it.
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