Now, exactly thirty years later, a rider representing the Stroke Association Support charity is going to complete a lap of the famous 37¾ mile circuit on a restored example of the same machine to raise awareness and funds.
The driving force behind the project is 41 year old Jay McGreneghan who has devoted his energies over the past year to volunteering at the charity’s Sheffield base collecting furniture and other items to sell and raise money for a cause which, for him, has close family ties.
Jay said: “My father has been debilitated by a series of strokes and, for the past ten years, has been bed bound. Being a fan of the GPz, or Ninja as it was known in America, the idea for some kind of awareness-raising activity was always going to be based around my passion for two wheels and these Kawasaki bikes in particular.
“Thanks to their Ninja 30 celebration I have support from Kawasaki Motors UK and also via GT Motorcycles and boss, Mike Grainger, the man that originally supported Geoff Johnson all those years ago.
With Mike and his team assembling the bike plus a raft of parts, advice, support and donations from across the UK motorcycle and accessory industry, we hope our goal to ride a fund raising lap of the world famous Isle of Man mountain course during practice week of the TT in late May will be achievable”.
For details of Jay’s Ninja adventure see: www.fastninja.co.uk
For Stroke Association Support see: www.strokeassociationsupport.org.uk/
