Kawasaki entered the '90s with a bang, launching a new flagship motorcycle in the form of the ZZ-R1100 (or Ninja ZX-11 in North America). The ZX-11 succeeded the ZX-10, with its 1,052cc engine ...

Kawasaki's U.S. arm had nothing to do with designing and developing the ZZ-R: It was requested by Kawasaki's European distributors, to challenge established Euro players such as the Aprilia Futura ...

Meddling politicians were trying to bring in a 100bhp limit, so Kawasaki restricted the ZZ-R to 125bhp out of the showroom. But the cure was simple – ZXR750 carb tops gave the slides full range ...