General information about the elements of lever mechanisms consisting of kinematic pairs is presented. The classification features of pairs are given: constraining conditions imposed by this pair, their graphic images, as well as brief descriptions of some of them. Two main problems of kinematics are highlighted. There are two main methods for solving the first problem of kinematics related to the solution of mechanism positioning questions: analytical and numerical. The second problem is an inverse one. A variety of methods for solving it is shown in the paper. The choice or development of the method is mainly determined by the complexity of the mechanism. The analysis of the documentary flow on the problem of kinematics of lever mechanisms allowed us to identify the main areas of research in this area. One of the promising areas is geometric computer modeling, which has a number of advantages in comparison with others. Its application makes it possible to study not only coordinate spaces formed by geometric elements of the lever mechanisms themselves, but also objects generated by products involved in these mechanisms functioning. The line of such research allows us to improve directly CAD systems used in modeling and obtain new results in various application areas, which is an urgent task.