A Golden Era The story of how Kawasaki superbikes appeared on the stage and evolved over almost two decades is presented by Stefan R. Oehl in 8 volumes. The code name for the Z1 project “New York Steak” was already invented in 1971. Designed in accordance with the secret “The three S Styling Concept” (“Slim, Sleek and Sexy”), it would be the beginning of a legendary superbike series. Initially the major market for the Z1 was the USA and so the first road tests with the latest prototype versions (“V-bikes”) took place on US highways and raceways in early and mid 1972. To keep the project a secret, the engineers painted the motorcycles in Honda blue and installed Honda badges on the tank. Kawasaki presented its first four cylinder four stroke superbike the 900 Super Four Z1 to the public in 1972 on the bicycle and motorcycle exhibition IFMA in Cologne Germany.