 It was produced as the ZL900 A1 Eliminator in 1985 and the ZL900 A2 in 1986, the ZL900 evolved from the Kawasaki GPZ900R.The ZL900 was designed to evoke images of the wildly successful Z1 drag bikes, with a bobbed rear fender, short travel fork, large rear tire, fat chromed mufflers, a small fuel tank and low straight handlebars.The ZL900 engine was a transplanted and slightly modified version of the liquid-cooled Inline 4 introduced in the 1984 Kawasaki ZX900 Ninja.