Kawasaki was founded in 1896 and began producing motorcycles in the 1960s, releasing their first model the 125 New Ace. Major milestones include the 650W1 in 1966, Z1 in 1973 with a DOHC engine, and the first Ninja GPz900R in 1983. The company established their racing team in 2003 and has continued innovating flagship sports bikes such as the ZX series and Ninja 250R over the decades.