That Kawasaki Test

THAT KAWASAKI TEST

When Kawasaki's new GPz75O was tested in the March, 1982 Cycle World, we reported with some skepticism that the intake ports were ported and highly polished. Never had we seen a stock motorcycle with such a beautifully ported head. Non-standard, we called the treatment.

We were wrong. After the story was printed Kawasaki called and explained that all the GPz750s are like that. To prove their point the Kawasaki spokesmen brought in heads they said had been pulled from production GPz750s, and these too were ported and polished. Just to make sure, we called on motorcycle mechanics around the country who had access to the just-released GPz750 and

asked them to check. They all found the same porting and polishing we had found. Our local Kawasaki dealer was as surprised as we were to find his first GPz750 with shiny ports.

Kawasaki obviously takes performance seriously. This kind of work takes several hours on each head and must be done by skilled craftsmen. The results are obviously very good. Our quarter-mile figures for the test bike were 1L93 sec. and a terminal speed of 109.62 mph, both records for stock 750s that we have tested.

Acting as judge, jury and prosecution, we can say that the GPz750 won the competition, was protested, and found to be stock. They get the trophy.