Industry people and enthusiasts throw around bike names without a second thought. The rider's ergonomics, engine performance, and design get all the attention. However, behind every bike is a dedicated marketing team that cares deeply about the bike’s name. Get the name wrong, and you can doom the bike’s future. Get the name right, and it could go down in history as one of the most well-known motorcycle names. How motorcycles get their names varies greatly, with some having quite creative, unique, and surprising stories. These ten bikes have the best bike name origins of all time.
10 Kawasaki Ninja
The Kawasaki Ninja is one of the most well-known bike names out there. Even those who don’t ride motorcycles have heard of a Ninja. Kawasaki decided to use the name thanks to Mike Vaughan, then Director of Marketing for Kawasaki USA operations. He had lived in Asia and learned about ninja mythology. He appreciated their reputation for strength and stealth so much that he named his Columbia 22 sailboat Ninja. When it came time to name the bikes, he immediately suggested Ninja to Kawasaki. The name stuck, and now there is an entire lineup of Ninjas prowling the streets.
9 Honda Blackbird
It would be easy to assume that the Honda Blackbird gets its name from the animal. However, this would be incorrect. The Honda Blackbird doesn’t get its name from the small bird. Blackbirds are not known for being particularly fast or agile. Instead, the Blackbird motorcycle gets its name from a plane. The United States Air Force has an SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance plane. The team at Honda found themselves so impressed by the super-fast plane that they thought it would be a good name for their record-making motorcycle. The Blackbird lived up to its name, impressing riders with its engine performance and agility.
8 Suzuki Hayabusa
The team at Suzuki wanted to send a message when they named the Hayabusa. For many in America, the meaning gets lost. But when you look into the nuances, you can see its beauty. Hayabusa is the Japanese word for peregrine falcon. This is a type of bird with the fastest vertical dive of all birds. One of the peregrine’s core food sources is blackbirds. So Suzuki named its bike blackbird eater. The message to the motorcycle community was that the Suzuki Hayabusa was going to demolish the Honda Blackbird. The name ended up being accurate, as the Hayabusa ended up becoming one of the fastest production bikes on the road.
7 Ducati Panigale
Ducati has a history of naming its bikes after people, places, and things. This is no different for the Ducati Panigale. The name comes from the Borgo Panigale, located in Italy near Bologna, Italy. This also happens to be where Ducati’s head office and original factory sit. The claim is that Ducati named the bike Panigale to honor Ducati’s Italian history and pay respect to the manufacturer’s roots. However, one has to wonder if the real story was something simpler. Maybe some executive was on their way to work one day, and saw a sign. They thought the name sounded good and suggested it to the rest of the team when they got to the office.
6 Triumph Rocket III
Triumph has made it abundantly clear that it is proud of the Rocket III. The bike sports the world’s largest production motorcycle engine with a 2,500cc displacement. It has the highest torque and surprisingly smooth acceleration. With all the focus on the engine, the bike needed a name recognizing this prized asset. So, naturally, rocket makes sense. So, where does the '3' come from? It references the 1968 BSA 750cc pushrod triple. This is the original version of the Triumph Trident. Triumph manages to invoke feelings of power and performance while paying homage to Triumph’s long history of bike production.
5 Suzuki Katana
A katana is a traditional Japanese sword used by Samurai military members and those in the noble caste during the Japanese feudal era. The blades have a reputation for being incredibly sharp and precise when wielded in the hands of someone experienced. Suzuki wanted to evoke the same ideas in its new bike. Unfortunately, while the name made sense for its superbikes, it never quite fit with the less popular sport-touring motorcycles. Maybe the problem was that Americans didn’t understand the reference. Or perhaps, they did and found the touring Katanas a disappointment that failed to live up to the name.
4 Yamaha Ténéré 700
Those who like riding adventure bikes are familiar with the Yamaha Ténéré 700. However, that does not mean they know what the Ténéré is. The word comes from the Tuareg language, which is a dialect spoken by the Berber people in parts of Algeria, Libya, Niger, and Mali. Ténéré means desert. It is similar to the word Sahara, which means desert in Arabic. Both Ténéré and Sahara tend to refer to an entire desert region. For Yamaha, it makes sense to name an adventure bike Ténéré. After all, the Yamaha Ténéré started with the Paris-Dakar Rally when riders complained that the Yamaha XT500 could keep up with the BMW bikes.
3 Triumph Thunderbird
The Triumph Thunderbird got its name from a random hotel in South Carolina. Edward Turner was an English motorcycle designer. One day, he decided to take a tour of the United States. As a part of his travels, he stayed at the Thunderbird Motel in South Carolina. He liked the name so much that it stuck with him even after he made his way back home. As the designer of the 650cc bike, he offered thunderbird as an ideal name. The name ended up sticking and has now become the name of one of the most iconic motorcycles in history.
2 Indian Springfield
Typically, Indian Motorcycles stick to a theme when naming new motorcycle models. The Indian brand pays homage to Native Americans. So, the motorcycle models have names that relate to this community of people and their culture. For example, there is a Scout and Chieftain. A scout is someone who could be a soldier, tracker, or guide. A chieftain is a community or tribal leader. The Indian Springfield, however, is named after Indian Motorcycle history. The bike is named after the brand’s birthplace, Springfield, Massachusetts. The goal was to celebrate the history of the motorcycle brand by honoring the town that bore witness to its humble beginnings.
1 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
The Harley-Davidson Fat Boy has one of the most boring naming origin stories, making it uniquely unremarkable. According to Martin Jack Rosenblum, a historian emeritus for Harley-Davidson, it came from a brainstorming session. A group of employees got together one day, threw some ideas around, and this was the best they came up with. According to Rosenblum, the bike had a massive appearance. The team at Harley thought that Fat Boy was poetic and artful. In reality, it is just a literal description of the bike. Harley produced a similarly named bike, the Fat Bob. Apparently, both bikes look unusually wide when looking at them head-on.