This nameplate first appeared for the 1987 model year as Kawasaki’s U.S.-market badge for the 750cc GPX/ZX750F sportbike. It arrived during the mid-1980s shift toward fully faired, race-inspired four-cylinder motorcycles and gave the company a mainstream Ninja-branded 750 before the later ZX-7 lineage took over the role. In North America, the bike was marketed as a Ninja 750R; in other markets the same basic machine was commonly identified as the GPX750R.
The model ran through the 1990 model year as a single continuous production period. Over those years it represented Kawasaki’s road-biased liter-and-under supersport approach: a fast, fully faired inline-four that sat between the earlier GPz-era 750s and the more competition-focused 750s that followed. It is remembered as part of the generation that helped establish the Ninja badge as a performance identity, not just a single model name.
By 1991, Kawasaki’s 750cc sportbike direction had moved on to the ZX-7 family, ending this original 750R run. Today the machine is remembered as one of the early Ninja-badged middleweight superbikes and an important bridge model in Kawasaki’s sportbike history.