Motorcycle

design Kawasaki selected the literbike platform for its top-of-the-line Ninja H2 model, rather than continuing with the higher-displacement Ninja ZX-14 hyperbike.  Cycle World 's Kevin Cameron explained that the literbike class is "the center of the high-performance market", attracting the best development in racing, with the best chassis and suspension design, so it made sense for Kawasaki to create a machine that could leverage this. The H2 is the first production motorcycle with a supercharger, although turbochargers were available on some models in the early 1980s.  Specifications in the infobox are from Kawasaki unless noted. Kawasaki Ninja H2                                                                         Production   he   str...

  In 1882, Enrico Piaggio purchased land in   Sestri Ponente   ( Genoa ) to set up a timber yard. Two years later, in 1884, his 20-year-old son,   Rinaldo Piaggio   (1864–1938), founded Piaggio & C. The company initially built locomotives and railway carriages. In 1917, towards the end of   World War I , Rinaldo Piaggio turned to the military sector: The company started to produce   MAS   anti- submarine   motorboats,   aeroplanes   and   seaplanes   under   Ansaldo ,   Macchi ,   Caproni , and   Dornier   licenses . Later the company progressed to vehicles constructed according to Piaggio's own drawings. Between 1937 and 1939 Piaggio achieved 21 world records with its aircraft and engines built at the company's new factory in Pontedera, culminating in the four-engine Piaggio P.108 bomber. Rinaldo died in 1938, by which time Piaggio was owned by multiple shareholders within the f...