Japan is one of the great motorcycling nations, with four of the world’s great makers coming from the Land of the Rising Sun: Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki.
It is a matter of debate which of these is the greatest, but each of these brands has produced some famous bikes over the years. This is certainly true for Kawasaki. If you ride one, you will be following in a great tradition that is etched into every inch of the bike from the front wheel to the fender eliminator at the back.
The brand began life in 1878, founded by Shozo Kawasaki as an engineering firm that has been involved in providing parts for vehicles as diverse as ships and Japan’s famous bullet trains. It was not until 1962 that its first motorbikes appeared, but they soon started to make their mark.
Indeed, so many great Kawasaki motorcycles have been made over the years that debating which of them is the best could take up a lot of time among enthusiasts. Ever willing to try, however, many motorcycling websites have set about compiling their own ‘top ten’ lists of Kawasaki bikes.
Topspeed, for example, listed the H2 as the greatest Kawasaki bike of all time, describing it as “not only amazingly fast and a technical triumph, but it is also comfortable enough to be a good touring bike.” It singled out the 2015 H2 in its list of the top ten.
This point needs noting, because the Topspeed top 10 also includes variants like the H2 Mach LV and the H2 R. Yet for all the praise it heaps on the H2, none of these - indeed, none of the top ten the site listed - match up to any of the top ten lists chosen by fellow motorcycle sites Slashgear and Team ECC.
Among these two sites, it is true that Team ECC lists the Ninja H2 (“a supercharged beast that sits at the pinnacle of Kawasaki's line up”) and the Z H2, but these, in turn, are not on the Slashgear list. Indeed, just three models appear on both the Slashgear and Team ECC lists - the Concours 14, the Ninja 650 and the Versys 650.
Some of these may be marginal choices, of course: Slashgear prefers the Vulcan 900, Team ECC the Vulcan S, for instance. However, the most obvious conclusion to draw is that Kawasaki has made so many great bikes over a period exceeding six decades that it is very hard to choose which ones were, or are the very best.
Some might suggest this doesn’t particularly matter. If attempts at picking top ten lists lead to three biking websites agreeing on just three models between the lot of them, it suggests that there is no shortage of choices - and that the standard of Kawasaki bikes has always been exceptional.
As you fit a new fender eliminator to your own Kawasaki, that may be a reassuring thought. You are not missing out on the very best that the brand has to offer, because nobody can agree which one that is to begin with!