Over the years, Kawasaki has built a reputation as a company with some of the world’s most iconic and well-loved motorcycles. It is not uncommon for Kawasaki-made motorcycles to make it to the list of some of the world’s most reliable motorcycles, like this Kawasaki Ninja 650 that made it to Read’s list. The quality of the motorcycle engines plays a vital role in determining the overall reliability of these machines. And as far as motorcycle engines are concerned, Kawasaki-made motorcycles (and the engines) are right up there among the best in business.
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Given how popular Kawasaki motorcycles and engines are, it is natural for folks to be curious about where and how Kawasaki builds these machines. The international nature of Kawasaki’s motorcycling business has also ensured that the company ended up setting up manufacturing plants in several countries across the globe. In fact, we have outlined some of the facilities in one of our older Kawasaki-focused articles that deal with this specific aspect.
Today, we attempt to address the second part of that very question as to where Kawasaki manufactures its much-praised, reliable, internal combustion motorcycle engines.
Where does Kawasaki build its motorcycle engines?
Most of Kawasaki’s high-end motorcycles that end up in the U.S. are manufactured in Japan and exported from there to other countries, including the U.S.
While Kawasaki has several production facilities spread across Japan, the company’s “Made in Japan” motorcycles are manufactured at its Akashi Works plant. Noted in a 2010 Gizmodo Japan article with video, this facility is where Kawasaki assembles the engines that go into its high-end motorcycles. Besides motorcycles, Kawasaki’s Akashi Works Plant also produces a lot of other things, including Jet Ski watercraft, ATVs (All-Terrain Vehicles), portable generators, and transmissions. Outside of Japan, the production of Kawasaki motorcycles and engines primarily happens in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Brazil.
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Thailand is a hub where the company manufactures small capacity motorcycles at the Garden Pluak Rice plant. Kawasaki has also been manufacturing motorcycles and engines in Indonesia since 1995. In 2014, the company expanded its operations there with the addition of a second manufacturing facility.
Kawasaki has a presence in India, the world’s largest motorcycle market, where it makes small-capacity motorcycles as well as engines and components at the company’s plant in Pune. Kawasaki also sources some of its engines from Indian manufacturer Bajaj.
In Brazil, Kawasaki has a medium-sized production facility in the city of Manaus dedicated to small-capacity motorcycles.
How long has Kawasaki been producing motorcycle engines?
While motorcycles are usually the first thing that comes to one’s mind when one thinks of Kawasaki, the company’s “proper” entry into the world of motorcycles happened nearly 83 years after the company’s founding in 1878.
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Even though Kawasaki’s first integrated motorcycle launched in 1961 with a model called the Kawasaki B7, the company had already shown interest in getting into the motorcycle game by the early 50s. This is why Kawasaki’s first motorcycle engine called the KE1was built in 1953, a good eight years before the Kawasaki B7 came to be.
Before getting into the business of motorcycles, Kawasaki forged a partnership with Meguro Manufacturing Co. Motorcycle Worksa dedicated motorcycle manufacturing company founded in 1927. The companies developed several motorcycles in this partnership era, sold under the Meguro brand. In the early 60s, Meguro’s motorcycle business was absorbed by Kawasaki, and thus began the modern-day history of Kawasaki-made engines and motorcycles.
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It eventually becoming one of the “Big Four” motorcycle companies from Japan, which includes Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki.
Does Kawasaki make motorcycle engines in the U.S.?
If you are looking for a short, succinct answer, it’s a no. If you perform a quick Google Search on Kawasaki engines and their production facilities in the U.S., you will mostly end up reading about the company’s general-purpose engines business and manufacturing units in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Maryville, Missouri. These facilities no longer produce motorcycles or related equipment and deal with other business interests that range from rolling stock (coaches) for light rail and aviation-related products to general-purpose engines and ATVs.
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While it is true that Kawasaki no longer produces motorcycles and their engines in the U.S. the company did have a motorcycle manufacturing facility in the country in the past.
Shortly after setting up shop in the U.S. back in the late 1960s, the company set up its first production facility at Lincoln, where Kawasaki manufactured its first U.S.-made Kawasaki KZ series motorcycles starting in 1975. Kawasaki notes that it continued manufacturing motorcycles in the U.S. until 2006after which the company decided to move manufacturing to other countries with lower manufacturing costs while also continuing to retain their primary Akashi Works Plant, which Kawasaki also refers to as the “mother plant.”
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