The Japanese motorcycle company Kawasaki is amongst the most famous motorcycle producers in the world. Their first motorcycle engine was developed in 1949 and production started in 1953. Before this, Kawasaki was best known for creating aircraft. They formed a racing team in 2003, and have been involved in the World Superbike Championship since 1990 with a USA based team and have won several super bike racing championships.
Kawasaki bikes are very iconic, and names like the Kawasaki Ninja are recognised globally, but they are perhaps no more iconic than when they are presented in the lime green colour that people often refer to as just “Kawasaki Green”. This was originally initiated in 1969 during Daytona Bike Week as a way of standing out from the crowd and being a little more “in your face” to differentiate from the competition who, at the time, congenitally rode primarily in dull colours or by using red, blue or yellow shades. Nobody was using green to colour their products, and despite some protests from some of the employees at Kawasaki, the go-ahead was given to paint the bikes and to attire the team in green colours for the event. This shock move captured market headlines and grew shares in the US market.
This got people talking and grew a large amount of attention to the Kawasaki brand. The Flying K logo was also penned and debuted at the same event, effectively strengthening the Kawasaki brand in yet another aspect. Later in 1969, the first production motorcycle to be painted in the iconic green, the Kawasaki 1969 F21M “Greensreak” was created. This was a 238cc scrambler, with not too much room for green on the body. Over time, the colour has become more fluorescent and iridescent to stand out even more from Kawasaki's competitor's products, and this defining shade has been introduced the street bikes as well as the products used for racing. The colour is strong enough to effectively create a brand for the company, much like the purple used for Cadbury's products, and is instantly recognisable.
Kawasaki's racing team operates under the name “Team Green” and has been providing support to Kawasaki riders for nearly four decades. They compete in both off-road events and events on tarmac in competitions all over the world.
As well as creating motorbikes, Kawasaki produces jet skis and introduced a production of stand up models. In 1976, they began mass production of the JS400-A which came with a 400cc two stroke engine and dominated the markets right up through the 1990s. They also introduced a two person model with a lean-in sport style handle in 1986 called the Kawasaki X2, and created a seated tandem two passenger model in 1989 called the Tandem Sport. They created the name “Jet Ski” for their personal brand of watercraft, but the name ha since become commonly used to describe this type of water vehicle across the board. The Jet Skis are also usually painted in the trademark Kawasaki lime green colour.