Kawasaki H1 - 500cc triple

[merv]

Levin circuit hairpin 1973, I think ? Loved my H2.

Attachment 240742

Nice pic Gaz.

[wingnutt]

remember the mach 111 well, I never road one, (probably was good thing at the time) I had a fairly leisurely yds5 yamaha at the time.

the kawi 500 quickly gained a reputation for being deadly in the wrong hands, and they where raced standard, nothing could get near them.

there was a story, how true I dont know, that the 500 was the reason for the law, restricting the cc rating a learner could ride. apparently, as the story went, an 18 year old got his hands on one as his first ride, and he lasted only a few hours.

[dangerous]

remember the mach 111 well, I never road one, (probably was good thing at the time) I had a fairly leisurely yds5 yamaha at the time.

the kawi 500 quickly gained a reputation for being deadly in the wrong hands, and they where raced standard, nothing could get near them.

there was a story, how true I dont know, that the 500 was the reason for the law, restricting the cc rating a learner could ride. apparently, as the story went, an 18 year old got his hands on one as his first ride, and he lasted only a few hours.

what I heard was the 1st 9 in the country killed 7 off... might have been a Aussie roumer tho? alas the "widow maker"

[MIXONE]

I saw one where the front forks were 100 yards down the road from the rest of the bike.Rider was definately dead.

[Bandit Rider]

Had an H1B - the orange tank 500. Great machine in their day. But a long way from a modern bike, and not in a good way.

On the road, 4 stroke, fuel injection, a frame that handles, and tyres that stick are magic. Replacing spark plugs weekly is not a good thing.

Had a nice piece of gravel road where I regularly wound up the Mach III in a short section to an interesting speed - realised this may not be a good idea when I noticed the hang glider guys on the hill had started watching me. A hand glider in the day way the one thing with a worse reputation than the Mach III.

[GrayWolf]

the kawi 500 quickly gained a reputation for being deadly in the wrong hands, and they where raced standard, nothing could get near them.
there was a story, how true I dont know, that the 500 was the reason for the law, restricting the cc rating a learner could ride. apparently, as the story went, an 18 year old got his hands on one as his first ride, and he lasted only a few hours.

Probably not true, the 250 restriction came into force in the UK before then. I think it was basicaly due to the power of the 250's being 'almost' as fast as a Brit 650. 350's upwards WERE/ARE as fast. Later in the early 1980's the UK dropped the learner legal size to 125cc, due to 2 bikes, the Suzuki X7 and then the RD250LC which was the 1st 'genuine 100mph' 250 available en masse. The Govt then introduced a 12bhp power restriction on 125's because Yamaha 'advertised' the LC125 which was capable of about 90mph.........
I'd guess you'll find the true story is a similar one here too.

[tanken2]

I hand two Mach IVs then needing a cheap bike bought an old Mach 3 as a commuter . blue tank model with drum brakes . longest ownership of any bike I had , seized the crank and spent countless hours trying to waterproof that damn distributer. It had the power of a 175 at low throttle then at a certain point you got the lot aaargh. mastered the handling ??? and compensated for the things on the wheels that passed for brakes. Pushed the damn thing home from Howick to Bucklands Beach then another night from Pakuranga. I loved it I hated it but I would ride it now if I could . Did a lot of miles on the old girl sadly missed the widow maker felt sorry for me I guess.

[tanken2]

I've ridden both the 500 and 750 triples many years ago. They certainly defined the meaning of the word "powerband". It's a shame the alkathene frames and less than effective brakes weren't up to the engine's capability

love them , miss them , had drum brake Mach 3 for years and two Mach 4s and still alive to tell the tale. loved them to bits . mach 3 had power of 175 until you hit powerband then all hell broke loose . Electrics had waterproofing of a sponge lol.