The Kawasaki Ninja 500R (which was originally named, and is still referred to as the EX500 and is known as the GPZ500S in some markets) is a

sport bike A sport bike (sports motorcycle, or sports bike) is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...

with a parallel-twin engine, part of the

Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

series of motorcycles manufactured by Kawasaki from 1987 to 2009, with a partial redesign in 1994. Although the motorcycle has a sporty appearance, it offers a more

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

, upright riding position with greater comfort and versatility. It provides a combination of performance and low operating costs, which has made it a favorite as a first motorcycle with new riders and popular with experienced riders on a budget. 2009 was the last model year for the Ninja 500.Kawasaki.com
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Given that it was Kawasaki's best-selling sporty bike for a number of years, the EX500 is a popular mount for road racing, offering low price and availability of spare parts. It also offers a wide but forgiving performance envelope suitable for new riders or even veteran club racers, eschewing the significantly higher expense of campaigning 600 cc or larger supersport machines. In its latter years, the long-running (now-defunct) Production Twins class of the LRRS racing organization in New Hampshire was composed primarily of essentially stock EX500's. The United States Classic Racing Association retains a similar class, and in 2014 CCS Racing created the 500 SuperSport class, which has a competitive class for relatively stock EX500's to race against similar machinery. Its marketing name was changed in 1994 from ''EX500'' to ''Ninja 500''; the ''R'' suffix was added in 1998. In Europe it was sold as the ''GPZ500S''.

1994-2009 redesign

A partial redesign of the 500 was done in 1994. The changes made include the following: * Bigger 17-inch wheels with wider tires replaced the original 16 inch wheels * Redesigned front and rear fairing * Redesigned instrument cluster and dials * New rear disk brake replaced rear drum brake * Firmer suspension tuning * Minor changes to the engine to improve reliability such as changes to the alternator. More importantly the CCT (Cam Chain Tensioner), flywheel & transmission, all three of which may be installed with minimal modification to fit any 1st generation bike(1987-1993).

Performance

;''Motorcyclist'' magazine for 1994-2009 *Standing start 12.98 seconds @ *Average fuel consumption: *Average touring range: ;''Motorcycle Consumer News'' 2004 *Standing start : 13.9 seconds @ *Top speed: *: 4.49 seconds * Average fuel consumption:

Reception

The EX500 and Ninja 500 have been reviewed by motorcycle magazines, separately and in comparison to other motorcycles, from time to time. Upon its introduction, the EX500 was reviewed in the January 1987 issue of ''Cycle'' magazine. With a manufacturer's suggested retail price, as of October 1, 1986, of $2899, the EX500 led ''Cycle'' to pronounce, " price alone, the EX is peerless." In February 1992, ''

Cycle World ''Cycle World'' is a motorcycling magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1962 by Joe Parkhurst, who was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame as "the person responsible for bringing a new era of objective journalism" to the US. ''Cyc ...

'' magazine, in an article titled "Bargain Blasters," compared the EX500 to the

Yamaha Seca II The Yamaha Diversion is a series of all-round touring motorcycles descended from Yamaha Motor Company, Yamaha's earlier Yamaha XJ600, XJ series. Early Diversion models had a four-stroke engine cooling, air-cooled 8-valve Straight-4, inline-four en ...

, the Suzuki Bandit, and the Suzuki GS500. The Seca II came in first, with the Bandit, the EX500, and the GS500 following in that order. In April 1994, in an article titled "Bargain Hunters," ''Cycle World'' compared the then-new Ninja 500 to the Suzuki GS500E, the Suzuki Katana 600, the Yamaha FZR600, and the Yamaha Seca II. Cycle World concluded of the EX500, "it's our pick as the best overall deal in this group," though each bike had its virtues.

Gallery

File:2009 Kawasaki Ninja 500r EX500.jpg, Side view of the 2009 Ninja 500R in Candy Plasma Blue File:GPZ 500 1994 - side view 2006-04-20.jpg, Side view of 1994 GPZ500S File:2009 Kawasaki Ninja EX-500 Black.jpg, 2009 Kawasaki Ninja EX-500 motorcycle

References

External links