Kwakisaki Mach 3?

[Biff]

Anybody here ever brave enough to ride one of these animals? Sometimes referred to as the Kawasaki Kamakazi, if memory serves me correct they were available in 500 and 750cc vesrions. Triples. Two strokes as well I think. Nasty, evil machines. The most violent power band I've ever encountered. I think I recall that they were actually banned form being sold in some countries.

Or am I talking shite agin?

[bugjuice]

my bike often travels at mach2.. mach 3 is just out of reach, but only just..
bring it on!!

pics of said bike?

[Sniper]

I have heard of them and believe they are farking dangerous!!!!!!

[Biff]

my bike often travels at mach2.. mach 3 is just out of reach, but only just..
bring it on!!

pics of said bike?

I just Googled, and I was right - they did exist. And it looks just as I remember it. Looks tame enough - but an absolute bitch to ride safely and smoothly.

There's one on here

http://www.motorbikes.be/en/Kawasaki/1973/Mach%20III%20H%201D/

[bugjuice]

nearly as much torque as hp.. and a drum rear brake and single solid disc at the front.. stopping isn't really the aim, is it..??

[zadok]

I think they were called 'widow makers' as well. Could fair fly, but couldn't handle. Example pic attached (mach IV).

[Fart]

A nice retro looking bike.

[Paul in NZ]

You are talking shite...

The mach III was the 500cc triple, the H2 was the 750. There were 250cc and 400cc versions.

A mate had the early 'sculptured tank' model with drum brake which was the most fearsome of the lot... It was OK and nowhere near as bad as people made out as long as you were semi sensible.

Where it went horribly wrong was when blokes jumped off their speed twins onto these things and they had to be ridden differently. The front brake actually worked and would stand you up in a bend. Worst thing ever was hitting the power band cranked over into the hospital beand around Hagley Park... Oh Lordy, I saw the angels....

Given decent tyres and aftermarket rear shocks the handling was not really any worse than anything else of the era (that I rode)...

As time when by they got heavier and tamer and easier to ride.

They had the reputation though... "Do you know that of the first 14 imported there have been 11 accidents' sort of crap. Good reading but not based on fact..

Hard to restore now as the cycle parts / electronics etc seem very expensive...

Wonderful wondeful machines though! Mad as a scuba divers wet suit lined with Deep heat.... japanese just copiests? Nah! They were glorious!

Paul N

ps - 750 was much more civilised and very fast. More torque seemed to make it less manic

[vifferman]

A nice retro looking bike.
That's because it IS retro.:rolleyes:

[vifferman]

The mach III was the 500cc triple, the H2 was the 750. There were 250cc and 400cc versions.
It was OK and nowhere near as bad as people made out as long as you were semi sensible.
Given decent tyres and aftermarket rear shocks the handling was not really any worse than anything else of the era (that I rode)...
Probably quite true. Apart from a vicious powerband on the 500, none of them were that bad. Oh - apart from the noise they made...

My sister's boyfriend had a 250; the brother of a friend of mine had the 400, and a pillock at my school had the 500. He used to crash it nearly every week, but a lot of that was that it was his first bike, and he used to fall over manoeuvering at low speeds and that sort of thing. It took his next bike (Z1) before he managed to hospitalise himself.

I regret I never had the opportunity to ride any of the Kawasaki triples...

[Big Dave]

I didn't think they were as bad as their reputation either.

Problem back then was that you could go and get one on your learners permit - there were no size or power restrictions.
And when they hit the power band they were VERY wild. Inexperience killed more Mach 3 riders than the 'hinged frame' I suspect.
Scared the shit out of me first time it 'came on' but i was experienced enough to be facing the right way when it happened. Have friends who were not so - and payed.


Pukekohe last weekend:

[James Deuce]

S2 & S3 were great fun.

[zadok]

You are talking shite...It was OK and nowhere near as bad as people made out as long as you were semi sensible.
Worst thing ever was hitting the power band cranked over into the hospital bend around Hagley Park... Oh Lordy, I saw the angels....
Geez......tell us what you really think. Semi sensible......
It seems like the two stroke was just too powerfull for the frame construction of the time.

[eliot-ness]

First model came out in 68. 60bhp, By 76 the power had been reduced to 52bhp. more in line with it's handling capabilities. The 750 Mach four followed with 74bhp and 130mph plus a slightly improved frame. Rocket ships at that time but never handled well.

[phantom]

Phil Turnbull Suzuki in Palmie have got one on display in the showroom , along with a couple of D.O.T. scramblers, half a dozen Bantams and other olde worlde bikes. I think they all belong to Phil, was talking to him the other day and as he has sold the business they are all going to have to go. Hope they go to someone who will look after them.

[Paul in NZ]

If you look at the frame it is well up to the job. IMHO and from experience with Honda 350's, 400, 450,s 740s, Kwaka 350, 500, (etc etc) Nearly ALL the japanese brands in that era suffered from spindly forks, crap tyres and utter rubbish rear shocks.

Whack on some decent english rubber, a set of good shocks, beef up the springs / oil and whack on a set of ace bars and they were a different bike.

Like Dave said... Trouble was any first year apprentice could go put one on HP and wheelie off into the sunset. In a straight line, hitting the power band was not a terribly big deal and you got a bit complacent, powering out of a bend a gear too low and hitting the power band with useless shocks and solid nylon tyres tended to stand the poxy thing up and spear you into the shrubbery.... People raced these things with good results and relatively std frames...

We are talking 58bhp over optomistic 1970's BHP here - the average CBR600 owner would wonder whats all the fuss...

As time went by the port timing was softened to make it a little easier to ride and make a bit less noise and smog and eventually made it utterly pointless...

The RD350 yamaha was a far better package but someplace i wonder if I still have the issue of Cycle World where they ported a 750cc triple and put expansion chambers and shit on it... Suitable transport for a person whos main hobbies are shark hunting with a bowie knife....

[Pwalo]

I can remember getting very excited about riding the 500 triple. Only a very short ride but as I recall the bloody thing went across both lanes at the bottom of Ngauranga Gorge when I tried to corner and open the throttle at the same time.

I really should have known better. My younger brother had a GT380 which probably wasn't much slower than the 500, but was a much nicer bike to ride (in that 70's sort of marshmallow Japanese way). Still holed the middle cylinder fairly regularly.

Does anyone remember the Kawasaki two stroke twins that came out before the triples? I think that they were called 'Samurai's'. Chap I knew at school had one.

[Motu]

As everyone who was there has said - it was 90% inexperiance...any 16 yr old kid could get daddy to sign the papers,pay the money,the kid gets off his Puch moped and onto one of the most scary bikes of the day.I've riden 2 strokes with a bigger hitting powerband than a MachIII,but they weren't street bikes...um,maybe that made them scarrier.They were toned down with age,that was why the 750 came out,to get the performance back without the powerband.

Eric Bone,who has more experiance riding and racing big K triples than the rest of the country put together reckons he's never been tossed off a 500,he reckons the 750 is the dangerous one.He was spat off his H2 at the esses at Paeroa a couple of years ago.

All the Jap bikes of the era handled quite well if used sedatly,but if pushed were bad news,that's why British and Euro bikes were held in such esteme for so long,it wasn't until the 80s that the Jap bikes gained any resemblance to handling.The sweetest bike of the 70s was the RD,because the power wasn't excessive,and Yamaha knew a little more bit mnore about handling than the others.

[TLDV8]

I pretty much went from a S1250 to a H2 so don't know what all the fuss is about,you could handle it or not,no different to today regarding sensibility :devil2: ..H2's still hold a lot of 750cc records,running in the 7's included...the early bridgeport 500s simply had a major power increase from 6000 to 6500rpm and it could catch folk our while cornering on occassion...Most H2's were around 62RWHP the first 500 or so H2's from late 71 on made more apparently.....With modern tuning applied 110RWHP is easy and reliable,some of the US tuners are saying 160+RW with big reeds etc...not to mention the machined from billet crankcases from Europe that take GPZ 6 speed boxs to solve that problem.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/manurewa/dencotriple.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

[TLDV8]

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/manurewa/S1.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

[TLDV8]

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/manurewa/LearyFay.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

[TLDV8]

Can you tell i like Triples :whistle:

Tony Narcosa this is a semi laydown chassis..how about a new World record in 1971 on a 500 with a stock chassis... 10.7 et at 125mph and compare that to a modern 500cc ?

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/manurewa/Tony-Laydown-singleeng.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

[Ixion]

Anybody here ever brave enough to ride one of these animals? Sometimes referred to as the Kawasaki Kamakazi, if memory serves me correct they were available in 500 and 750cc vesrions. Triples. Two strokes as well I think. Nasty, evil machines. The most violent power band I've ever encountered. I think I recall that they were actually banned form being sold in some countries.

Or am I talking shite agin?

Yes. They were. All of that. Vicious malevolent homocidal maniacs. Mine used to brood all night thinking of what vile trick it could play to try to kill me the next day. I escaped though. Sold it before it actually managed to kill me . Guy I sold my Kockasucky to escaped also. He owned it for less time than even I did. It killed the next guy. I saw it in a wreckers, recognised it as my old one, and asked what happened. Threw him off in a highside under the wheels of a truck. Bloodlust sated. I really believe there was some sort of evil spirit on that bike. Like Mr Ramius's Suzuki. I reckon I was really lucky to escape alive. Put me off Kockasuckies for life it has. Vicious evil things.Like a rabid pit bull. Now the Suzuki two smokers of the period, lovely docile friendly creatures, - like a golden retriever, wouldn't harm a fly.

And it don't think it was entirely inexperience or being a different sort of bike. I came to it off a Yammy 350 two smoker, with about 6 years experience. It wasn't just the power band , or the tank slappers , it was just the total unpredictability of the handling. The slightest thing would upset it.

Myabe with different shocks and modern tyres -- and better forks--- and a different frame -- and an exorcism.

EDIT: yeah, it was the early drum brake model.

[trev]

Awesome bikes - especially the 68's & 69's. I had a play with a mates new 69 Mach III model. It took me about a dozen attempts to get going without stalling it or wheel standing it.
Piece of piss to beat them with a T500 Suzy. They ran town or open road plugs - most had the open road. Just slow them down for a few minutes so the plugs fouled then blow them off.

[justsomeguy]

A friend of mine had one (or maybe it was another similar 750cc 2 stroke kawasaki)- told me they were the devils creations, evil to the core......

This chap is an experienced rally driver who also did a bit of bike racing and go kart racing - but this thing scared him too a bit - put him in hospital once........

But sooooooooo much fun when it all came right...... or you realised you were still alive at the end of the ride, he said.

[Bonez]

Anybody here ever brave enough to ride one of these animals? Sometimes referred to as the Kawasaki Kamakazi, if memory serves me correct they were available in 500 and 750cc vesrions. Triples. Two strokes as well I think. Nasty, evil machines. The most violent power band I've ever encountered. I think I recall that they were actually banned form being sold in some countries.

Or am I talking shite agin?A border own one when I was a wee laddy.
Launched him into buildings with a single bound, daily spark plug clean, didn't handle, had to own a petro chemical company to keep it on the road. Did I mention launching into buildings..............

[Kickaha]

Didn't ever get to try a 500 or 750 but had a 250,350 and 400 around the place at different times, all good fun to ride and with a hellish thirst for petrol (15mpg) when they got thrashed (which was all the time)

[Pickle]

If you want to see one ridden well go to Wanganui on Boxing Day, Tony McQueen has been racing his highly modified H2 for the last couple of years.
He was getting high placings in post classic. He has had to fit extra fuel lines just to get enough fuel into the motor and went thru a tank of gas per race!
Sounded awsome.

[Macktheknife]

My eldest brother had the RD250, 350, then 400, he still says they were the best bikes he ever owned. My other brother had the S1, nearly killed him twice, then he 'modified' it and it went a little faster and handled a LOT better, until he stopped it on a large rock!
That said tho, it did go like Feck!

[Biff]

the kid gets off his Puch moped

Holy shit! You must have been there. My only experience of riding a bike (my age at the time was still in single figures) was a Puch semi auto scooter thing. Then a mates brother let me ride (ok - we knicked it from the shed) one of these things. No sweat thought I - An 80cc Puch (?) to a 500CC, just take it easy.

Things started off ok, slowly let out the clutch (a novelty in itself coming from the Puch) and away I went. Thinking that it was a bit slow I opened it up, slowly accelerate, then took off like a fkin rocket. I think the front end came up, because I vaguely recall, what I thought to be, a sensation of flying. I shat myself. The thing almost tore my arms off. For a while afterward my shoulder joints hurt.

Thankfully I didn't bin it, but when I got off my mates thought it hilarious to see me shaking like a dog shitting peach seeds.

[Motu]

You been readin' my mind man? I just wrote up about this on ADVrider - my first ride on a powered 2 wheeler was my cousins Puch moped....oh boy,a clutch thing....and with him running beside me we got it into 2nd,like,that's top gear! Far out,that was the fastest I'd ever been without pedaling,I was gunna get one of these things eh?!

[Jantar]

My first time on a Mach III when was when I was 18, and the fastest bike I'd ridden up till then was a Suzuki T125 :shit: It was scary. I didn't try that again until I'd had another 2 or 3 years experience on more intermediate sized bikes.

[Sensei]

Blow my mates 500 triple up giving it Death up a road in town here . Went excellent till crank case seal let go then nobody home . Still hasn't for given me for that LOL

[Dadpole]

Friend of mine had a matched pair (500 & 750) until mid 80's. As new condition, and great fun to ride. Not great hp, but brakes and handling were out of the Ark. A 1981 GSX750 would beat them in every department.
Chris got rid of them when i showed him what a well sorted GSX1100 could do. Bet he has not forgiven me for that. :whistle:

[Pixie]

Yes. They were. All of that. Vicious malevolent homocidal maniacs. Mine used to brood all night thinking of what vile trick it could play to try to kill me the next day. I escaped though. Sold it before it actually managed to kill me . Guy I sold my Kockasucky to escaped also. He owned it for less time than even I did. It killed the next guy. I saw it in a wreckers, recognised it as my old one, and asked what happened. Threw him off in a highside under the wheels of a truck. Bloodlust sated. I really believe there was some sort of evil spirit on that bike. Like Mr Ramius's Suzuki. I reckon I was really lucky to escape alive. Put me off Kockasuckies for life it has. Vicious evil things.Like a rabid pit bull. Now the Suzuki two smokers of the period, lovely docile friendly creatures, - like a golden retriever, wouldn't harm a fly.

And it don't think it was entirely inexperience or being a different sort of bike. I came to it off a Yammy 350 two smoker, with about 6 years experience. It wasn't just the power band , or the tank slappers , it was just the total unpredictability of the handling. The slightest thing would upset it.

Myabe with different shocks and modern tyres -- and better forks--- and a different frame -- and an exorcism.

EDIT: yeah, it was the early drum brake model.
The malevolence was due to the alloy for manufacturing coming from recycled WW2 kamikasi aircraft wrecks.The spirits of the dead pilots migrated to the new machines and possessed them,a la Steven King's Christine

The RD was an exception to this, although when I got a '73 one as a first bike it was generally expected to shorten my life expectancy.

[roogazza]

Kawasaki H2 750 1972 .(the blue ones )............a full grid of the buggers, rattling, clanging, smoking , animals ! and it was push starts in those days too, guess you had to be there ? Heaven ! G.

[Bonez]

A 1981 GSX750 would beat them in every department.
Just to remind people what one looks like.

[Madmax]

shit i still have one, bloody good fun
try going from a ZX10R to one in one
day thats fun
:eek:

[Madmax]

http://mojokawasaki.com/
I love tripples but this guy is madder than me
plus you have fast by gast
and purple haze racing in there as well
gast has some some good times going
:buggerd:

[TLDV8]

http://kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17592

[TLDV8]

http://mojokawasaki.com/
I love tripples but this guy is madder than me
plus you have fast by gast
and purple haze racing in there as well
gast has some some good times going
:buggerd:


http://kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17493

[nudemetalz]

You just have to see this on-board movie of an H2R around Laguna Seca.....
This bike sounds absolutely AWESOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want one,...I want one,...I want one....!!

http://mojokawasaki.com/video/LSShortTake3.mpg

[Podo]

In my youth I had the 350 triple (S2) and went on to a Mach 111, 500. These machines were 3 cylinder 2 strokes and powerful in their day, they were heavy on gas consumption also, the Mach 111 would blow away a CB750 no sweat. Some riders came to grief on these machines because they were prone to wheelie when the power band kicked in quite viciously at 5k rpm, something not too common with standard road bikes of that era. The frames were prone to flex and the engines set back a tad too far which I think contributed to the wheelie tendancy, hence the term widow maker. To put things in perspective though they were only 56hp which was a lot in those days. They were awsome machines and cleaned up many production races, Eric Bone was (still is) the master of these bikes at races and still races one in post classic racing. Ginger Molloy was a runner up world champ with his mach 111 based machine. These are a sought after collectors piece now.

[Mitche]

My first bike was a 500 Mach 3. It was a 73 model' two tone green triple 3 cylinder 2 stroke wild thing. I didn't think much about it at the time, just happen to be the first bike I bought (only ever had three bikes). I used to ride between Toowoomba and Ipswich quite a bit and it was great on the highway but a little hairy at speed which was most of the time. When I wanted to get up it I lay along the seat with my feet tucked under the sissy bar and the elbows down pulling hard on the clip on bars to try to keep it straight. Braking was a bugger but luckily you don't need to brake much on the highway. My second bike was 2 years later, a 900 Duck (Kawasaki 900 Z1B). A little more sedate than the 500 but just as much fun in it's own way.

[cheshirecat]

Lusted after one when after seeing an all black 500 in a poster. Went round to a friends house to try his just acquired one out. He started it (well sort of) coughing and spluttering down the road at 20mph leaving a huge smoke trail and exhaust rasp causing leaves to fall off the trees. if you could see them fall off cause of the smoke that is. When he got to a roundabout all three cylinders kicked in, front wheel popped up and back went out sideways leaving him on the deck with the bike in the bushes still pushing out two stroke smoke like no tomorrow even though it was just idling (in a mach 1 sort of way). Wasn't quite so enthusiastic after that especially as it was raining.

[James Deuce]

Omgwtfbbq!

[Mitche]

Sounds like a Mach 3. They could be very ratty if not tuned properly. Being a 2 stroke they were very sensitive to the right oil. Running well they were like a speedway bike for the bitumen, running poorly they were a pain in the butt.

[Dodgy_Matt]

I like the use of this motor, looks like a GSX -r frame?
248289

[Crasherfromwayback]

I like the use of this motor, looks like a GSX -r frame?


It is. But why the fuck you'd do that is beyond me.

[kiwifruit]

Cos it's choice!

[Crasherfromwayback]

Cos it's choice!

It's quite cool for sure. But the original power plant would kick sand in it's face.

[\m/]

I like the use of this motor, looks like a GSX -r frame?
Bet it's a shitload of fun to ride.
Build thread is here: http://www.customfighters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24146

[Coolz]

Some guy built a five cylinder version...crazy!248297

[Crasherfromwayback]

Some guy built a five cylinder version...crazy!

Much bettera.

[GrayWolf]

It's quite cool for sure. But the original power plant would kick sand in it's face.

think if you read the build page, you'll retract that comment, its a GSX 400 frame with an ex drag H2 motor,,,, that'll kick sand in the face of a lot of 100cc sprot bikes.

[Kickaha]

that'll kick sand in the face of a lot of 100cc sprot bikes.

I could beat 100cc sprot bikes on the girl friends scooter

[Crasherfromwayback]

think if you read the build page, you'll retract that comment, its a GSX 400 frame with an ex drag H2 motor,,,, that'll kick sand in the face of a lot of 100cc sprot bikes.

Yeah I saw that after I'd posted. I thought it looked like a 750 chassis. But I hate to tell ya this...a hot rodded H2 wouldn't get close to a 1000cc modern sports bike mate. Even my old Z1RTC, which in the day was THE nastiest thing around ain't as good as the modern engines unless I wound the boost up to dangerous levels.

[Shaun]

First rode a Mk3 500 when I was 11 years old in the main street of Patea

3 Drunk Adults held and ballanced the bike for me to take off with out falling over as I could not touch the ground

YEP, it was very scary and fast

[GrayWolf]

Yeah I saw that after I'd posted. I thought it looked like a 750 chassis. But I hate to tell ya this...a hot rodded H2 wouldn't get close to a 1000cc modern sports bike mate. Even my old Z1RTC, which in the day was THE nastiest thing around ain't as good as the modern engines unless I wound the boost up to dangerous levels.

HMM well I ride a ZZR1100, not the 'fastest' i agree but will keep ANY sprot bike honest! I owned an H1a, and ridden H2's... A drag tuned H2? I completely disagree with you, it'll scare the shit out of many 1000cc bikes of today.

[Crasherfromwayback]

HMM well I ride a ZZR1100, not the 'fastest' i agree but will keep ANY sprot bike honest! I owned an H1a, and ridden H2's... A drag tuned H2? I completely disagree with you, it'll scare the shit out of many 1000cc bikes of today.

Take your rose coloured specs off.