The Kawasaki Ninja 500R (which was originally name, and is still referred to as the EX500 and is known as the GPZ500 in some markets) is a 498 cc motorcycle manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries from 1987 to present. The US 2008 model has a MSRP of $5,099 USD. It has a liquid cooled parallel-twin engine with a six-speed manual transmission and a chain driven drive train setup. This motorcycle is considered an "entry level" sport bike, but has considerable performance. The EX500's parallel-twin configuration provides a combination of power and light weight that has made it popular as an entry level race bike.