The Japanese superbike pecking order..
People with an interest in motorcycles hailing from the land of the rising sun may be interested in this.....
Traditionally, since the 1970's, the four Japanese motorcycle companies (but particularly suzuki, kawasaki, and honda) have competed with each other to have the biggest, fastest, most awesome flag ship model. In the early to mid 1990's, the kawasaki ZZR-1100 was the fastest, capable of exceeding 285kmh. Soon Honda brought their successor to the market, named the CBR1100XX "Blackbird". Seeing this, Suzuki cleverly named their response the GSXR1300 "Hayabusa", a bird of prey which hunts and eats other birds, in particular the Blackbird (which it presumably finds tasty).
Kawasaki finally responded with their challenger, named the ZX-12R "Ninja".
After the release of the 185HP, 200mph+ capable ZX-12R, at an international conference of dealers, and after a few beers, a japanese representative of Kawasaki heavy industries revealed why the ZX-12R was named "Ninja". In ancient times, the prospective Ninja, in a show of stealth, skill and bravado during training, would capture the elusive Hayabusa, and bake them into small pie-like pastries...