Kawasaki H1 - 500cc triple

[LBD]

Who remembers the original H1? "The Widowmaker" as it was fondly called.......

......

The "Widow maker" title is a bit of a fallicy, most of the riders who did not survive were still to young to be married...

I remember the bike well and had a few good blasts on an orange version belonging to a friend from Waikuku.

One incident on East belt Rangiora, with a young foule from amberly astride the beast....during lunch...at high school, said foule rode past the school in third, throttle wide open, leaving a trail of smoke as he screamed past the by, one hand holding the throttle wide open, and one holding his helmet on... helmet straps flapping in the breeze, tears streaming from his eyes... cost him 6 of the best from Mackey and 6 weeks suspension.

They dont make them like that any more.

[dangerous]

... cost him 6 of the best from Mackey and 6 weeks suspension.

have the welts gone down yet?

[LBD]

have the welts gone down yet?

The deviate he was, he probably pays to get a fresh set of whelts inflicted weekly....but lets not go there....

:slap:

[pete376403]

The "Widow maker" title is a bit of a fallicy, most of the riders who did not survive were still to young to be married...

I remember the bike well and had a few good blasts on an orange version belonging to a friend from Waikuku.

By the time they got to the orange one they were getting tamed, almost civilised. They even had brakes.
The first white ones were the real nasties, then the blues. Skinny flexy forks, 8" drum brakes, whippy frames - but what a motor!!

[Madmax]

the white ones were a beast
you had to put the brakes on at least a block away from where
you wanted to stop!
Parts are getting harder to get now, so i make most of my own
gearbox parts.
You can use yamaha TZR rods on H1s (.5mm shorter)
just make new big end pins, the labrynth seals for the crank are
scarce as hens teeth but got round that too!

[gammaguy]

when i was a kid at high school in Poriruawe had a girl in our class killed when a pillion on the back of a Kawasaki H1 500.very sad thing,she was thrown into a brick wall if i remember rightly.

Back in those days counselling was unheard of,so was the whole school going into mourning for three days.

All we got was a special assembly of the class by the headmaster and told in no uncertain terms how"bloody dangerous"motorcycles were,and how we should all keep away from them.

Bout six months later,i left school,got a job and bought my first bike.....

[taff1954]

I (briefly) owned a H2 in the UK in the late 70's - I was pretty much talked into buying it by its' original owner, my CB 500 having just died. Being just 5' 4" and 9 stone wringing wet (then, not now ) I had issues handling it from the word go. We parted company - literally - on a wet Welsh Sunday morning heading south over the Rhigos (any ex pat Taffs remember the road?), got into a double ess, and gave the throttle a bit of a twist on the exit. Like Mixone said, the power comes on like you've thrown a light switch. The damn thing lit up and I ended up sitting in the grass on the verge with the bike pinwheeling in the middle of the road. One thing I always remember about the H2 was the frame feeling about as rigid as wet spaghetti - definitely not confidence inspiring stuff.

[LBD]

By the time they got to the orange one they were getting tamed, almost civilised. They even had brakes.
The first white ones were the real nasties, then the blues. Skinny flexy forks, 8" drum brakes, whippy frames - but what a motor!!

If the orange one was the tame one....Farrrrrr.....

[kiwifruit]

still have 23 of them

TWENTY THREE!!? Bloody hell man. Can i come round some time? I'll wear a bib.
I've got ONE, in my lounge. A blue 71, unrestored but tidy. Planning on riding it once a month or so to keep it moving. Bought it mainly as a piece of modern art. Could probably do with a carb service... it doesn't like idling much, will do that in spring.

tons of spares

Any mirrors?

EDIT: and a rear hub?

[Owl]

I've got ONE, in my lounge.

A nice smoke-free home?

[jaffaonajappa]

A nice smoke-free home?

Bwahahaha. Man, my missus would Kill Me if I tried that.

[cheshirecat]

Had a poster of the black one in my bedroom. Was going to ride one but saw (or wouyld have seen if he hadn't smoked us all out in blue two stroke fog) the owner nearly come off when the power came on (was it 5,162 rpm) exiting a wet roundabout. Totally un pc/green machine.

[slofox]

Bwahahaha. Man, my missus would Kill Me if I tried that.

Which is why I don't have a missus...

[Edbear]

I wanted the green one!

[kiwifruit]

I wanted the green one!

The green one came out a few years later, with less power, a stiffer frame, better forks, a disk brake and a few styling changes. My Dad sold his green H1D in 1979 when i was conceived, Mum sold her RD350.