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The Japanese Big Four are the large motorcycle manufacturing companies of Japan: [1] [2] [3] Honda, which produces motorcycles since 1946 [4] [5] [6] Suzuki, which produces motorcycles since 1952 [7] Kawasaki, which produces motorcycles since 1954 [8] Yamaha, which produces motorcycles since 1955 [9]
This is a list of companies that formerly produced and sold motorcycles available to the public, including both street and race/off-road motorcycles. It also includes some former motorcycle producers of noted historical significance but which would today be classified as badge engineered or customisers. It includes both companies that are ...
Kawasaki conceived the KR-1 to tap the incredibly competitive quarter-liter two-stroke market; the most important JDM motorcycle class in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Kawasaki was the first of the Japanese 'big four' to cease production of its road-going 250 two-stroke, when it closed manufacturing the KR-1 in 1992.
The excellence of Japanese motorcycles caused similar effects in all Western markets: many Italian bike firms either went bust or only just managed to survive. As a result, BMW's worldwide sales sagged in the 1960s, but came back strongly with the introduction of a completely redesigned "slash-5" series for model year 1970.
View history; General ... Pages in category "Motorcycle manufacturers of Japan" ... Japanese Big Four; Bridgestone (motorcycle) C. Cabton; F. Fuji Rabbit; H.
Kawasaki dealership in Japan. Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. (カワサキモータース株式会社, Kawasaki Mōtāsu Kabushikigaisha) is a Japanese mobility manufacturer that produces motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, utility vehicles, watercraft, outboard motors, and other electric products.
Until then the bikes had been imported from Japan. The term UJM appeared as early as 1976 in a Cycle magazine review of the Kawasaki Z650. [14] The term "universal" arose from the fact that during the 1970s, the Japanese "big four" (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha) [15] all produced very similar designs. [16]
Yamaha YA-1. YA-1 built August 1954, produced January 1955. The first bike manufactured by Yamaha was actually a copy of the German DKW RT 125; it had an air-cooled, two-stroke, single cylinder 125 cc engine [1]