In 1988, Kawasaki unleashed an amazing motorcycle, the Ninja 1000 or ZX10. The motorcycle press flat ran out of words to describe this thing, everyone was sure it was the ne plus ultra of super bikes. Who could imagine any factory topping what this bike could do right off the showroom floor, of course, as time went on, they did, but the reaction at the time was simply shock and awe. I owned the 1989 version of this bike, the only real difference was color, the broad red stripe was now black, and I can tell you from personal experience the Ninja ZX10 was crazy fast, but it was also a really comfortable sport touring machine and you could cover hundreds of miles with ease.
This particular 1988 Ninja 1000 is extremely clean, a rare quality in any vintage Japanese inline four, with the same owner since ’89, always garaged and well maintained. New tires, jet kit and a Vance and Hines 4 into 1 exhaust system in place of the original dual exhaust. Interestingly, it’s been re-geared to reduce the top end slightly while increasing acceleration to match today’s bikes which is where you want the performance anyway, how often do you run over 150 mph?
Davidabl says
It’ s hard for me to get my head around the concept of a ” 1988 classic Ninja”
On all three counts,
Paul Crowe says
How come? This is already 28 years old and if you were around in those days, the press coverage for this model was huge and everyone was scrambling to beat it. They did, of course, but it set the stage for all of the super bikes coming afterwards, like the ZX11 from Kawasaki itself which held the speed crown for years.
Remember, bikes like the CB750 are classic now because everyone was buying and riding them and they’re remembered by so many who knew them at the time. Referring to one as a classic when it first came out would have seemed odd, but time goes on and classics start to come from the ranks of newer bikes.
There are bikes currently being sold that will be classics someday.
davidabl says
I guess another 15 or 20 years makes a difference,as it does with romantic partners 😉
Albeit older-is-better is more likely to be a good thing with bikes..
The CB was a world-changing bike, with stunning optics.
Stylistically speaking, the Ninja is a fairly generic representation of the sport bikes of it’s era.
Frankly, I didn’t like those boat-like rear ends back then anymore than I do now.
They remind me of the ‘bathtub” bodywork of some brit-bikes from the early part of the ‘sixties.
Even with their relative rarity these days, they still seem to be viewed more as period oddities than as “classics.”
As you say all classics DO start as new bikes..