Kwakisaki Mach 3?

[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 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.

[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

[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

[TLDV8]

http://kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/...ic.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

http://kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/...ic.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.