One of the most iconic motorcycle/movie scenes was Tom Cruise riding a GPz900 Kawasaki in the film Top Gun. With the release of Top Gun: Maverick upon us, it's time to talk about the bikes Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell will be riding, in case you didn't already know.

Kawasaki Once Again Features in a Top Gun Movie at the Expense of Honda

It's one of the most iconic motorcycle-in-a-movie moments of all time - right up there with the whole of On Any Sunday and Easy Rider. Tom Cruise, in all his 1980's cheesy-grin pomp, blasting along helmet-less on the 1986 Kawasaki GPz900 in pursuit of Kelly McGillis. Or was it a fighter jet? Not sure I care, really!

When the next instalment of the Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell story was being written, it was obvious that much of the story would be exactly the same - hot shot American pilot takes on the might of some dastardly foreigners and gets the girl at the end. Oh, and he'll ride a motorcycle as well.

Yet again, 'Maverick's' choice of motorcycle is a Kawasaki - couldn't be anything else, could it, really? This time it will be the latest flagship of the range, the Ninja H2 Carbon, that is the transport of choice.

Apparently, Kawasaki supplied four Ninja H2 Carbon machines, alongside two restored GPz900s and a selection of 'surprise models' that could appear in Maverick's personal hangar! It would be interesting to hear how many other ex-servicemen can afford their own hangar complete with collection of motorcycles! But then, they're not called Tom Cruise! Or 'Maverick' for that matter.

Apparently, when the first Top Gun movie was in the pipeline, Honda was approached to supply a bike for the hero to ride. In one of those 'the-one-that-got-away' moments, Honda declined, balking at the thought of Tom Cruise's character riding bare-headed. Maybe they though that every jock in the world would suddenly start riding helmet-less in emulation of the fictitious hero, leading to a spate of fatalities among the pilots of the U.S. Air Force.

Kawasaki obviously had no such qualms and history was made, as were - no doubt - Kawasaki America's bonuses that year as sales of the GPz900 skyrocketed.

It's hard to predict whether the latest Top Gun movie will have the same effect on H2 Carbon sales as the original did on GPz900s but it will certainly propel Kawasaki back into the cinema-going public's eyes. No-one has said how much it has cost Kawasaki to have their motorcycles product-placed into the movie but, however much it is, Kawasaki obviously thinks it's worth it. As does Tom Cruise!