Kawasaki’s ZX-9R has always been a bit of mongrel bike; situated between the legendary ZX7 and ZX11 series, the 899cc bike was initially developed as a response to the Honda CBR900 but never achieved top status in the segment. Although the configuration lasted for nearly 10 years, sales were never huge for Kawasaki and it…
Update 5.11.2018: Based on his latest eBay listing, the 1989 is still available. Our original write up from November is shown below. Good luck to buyers and seller! -dc When RSBFS last listed this 1989 Kawasaki KR-1R on our pages, we considered it to be a bit of a world exclusive. That should tell you…
UPDATE: This bike sold before I could post it, but I’d thought I’d share it with you all anyway, since it is so darn nice. -Tad The dream of the 1980s was to turbo all the things. Cars, hairdryers, sneakers… If you could buy it, someone was trying to slap a TURBO badge on it…
They’re relatively rare here in the US, even in states with lax registration requirements, but late 80s and early 90s quarter-liter two-strokes were pretty widely available elsewhere in the sportbiking world, considering their narrowly-focused role and limited audience. Kawasaki was largely absent from the intense class rivalry during that period, though. Their earlier KR250 was…
Kawasaki threw a spanner into the manufacturer ID-by-color system with this black and gray metallic harlequin. The green was for guys who wanted you to know they were on an H2 Ninja, a lower-cost challenger to the RC30 in the race-on-Sunday-sell-on-Monday sweepstakes. This example had a couple of close shaves but has been studiously rejuvenated.…
No computers no launch control no ABS, just 1052cc’s of grunt fed by 4 carbs all wrapped up in bodywork that would make the dark knight drool. And with less than 9,000 miles since new, this 1992 Ninja ZX11 is a treat to behold. I know the ZX11 might not seem like a rare sportbike…
Turbochargers are pretty ubiquitous these days, allowing for insane levels of reliable performance and fuel economy, especially when coupled with modern electronics permitting compression ratios that early adopters of boost could only dream of. Modern cars offer flat torque curves and seamless power, but older turbocharged set ups were notorious for lag that felt like…
Dan would have to weigh in on how many bikes Gary has listed and sold on RSBFS, but suffice it to say the past year has been a great success. Saving the best for last would be a debatable and bittersweet claim, maybe there’s another container of gray-market wonders back there ? Better to relish…