Kawasaki GPZ900R

The Kawasaki GPZ900R, also called the ZX900A or Ninja 900, is a sport motorcycle that Kawasaki manufactured from 1984 to 2003 and the earliest member of the Ninja family. Developed in secret over six years, it carried Kawasaki's and the world's first 16-valve liquid-cooled inline-four motorcycle engine, a 908 cc unit delivering 115 bhp. That let it reach about 243 km/h, making it the first stock road bike to pass 150 mph. The engine was a stressed member of a steel frame with no conventional downtubes, which cut weight and improved handling, and a crankshaft counter-balancer kept it smooth in town. Shown to the press in December 1983, works-entered bikes took first and second in the Isle of Man Production TT six months later. It was the first Kawasaki marketed in North America under the Ninja name, remained on sale in Japan until 2003, and appeared in the film Top Gun.