Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club 2014 AIMExpo Display
1969 Kawasaki H1 claimed power 60hp 8,000rpm Maximum speed 119 mph engine test period inline 498cc 2-stroke air-cooled triple, 60 mm x 58 mm bore and stroke 8 7 1 compression ring rate tank half 415lb Weight 188 kg MPG Tank Capacity 4gal 15ltr 36 4mpg trial period then now 999 Price 6,000- 15,000.
BRRACK The pleasant background murmur of an old bike swap meet is suddenly drowned in a haze noise 2 times and someone just pulled their exhaust Kawasaki triple, and while some people cover their ears and cursing the machine and its owner, others step on it to see the bike.
Kawasaki triples time 2 appear to be polarized machines, the object of intense hatred or intense love Hans Agren love, noise, blue smoke and all he was just 17 when he saw her first H1 When he grew up in Sweden, was a motorcycle transportation, something you have to work or school, weather permitting H1 was different, it was fast and antisocial, and just what a young man wanted.
Hans had savings, and he found someone selling its H1 only six months after purchase, I do not know why they were on sale, said Hans Maybe he was too fast, or perhaps be they needed money at the time Swedish law forbids teenagers under 18 to possess 500cc motorcycles, but Hans finagled his way around this little detail.
Hans and his buddies were in drag racing, which was very illegal, of course One night the police arrived while they were racing The police stopped their car and came, I had run off and hid the bike in the garage my father so I went back to where my friends were when I showed up two hours later, my friends were happy to see me, they were worried the police had rushed to their car, but all you could see was the smoke from my exhaust There was no possible way took me.
Kawasaki, the manufacturer of this ode to speed and bad behavior was an old Japanese ship and bridge construction company that had the misfortune to end up on the losing side of World War II with the abrupt end of his contract war, its factories had a lot of extra space management, looking around for something to do, decided to start producing motorcycle was destroyed the transport system of the country, and people need good transportation market, so small motorcycles, scooters and mopeds were Kawasaki popular started doing two wheels through its subsidiary Meihatsu, and in 1960 they bought the first motorcycle company success in Japan, Meguro, and merged with Meihatsu by subsequently, the first bikes named Kawasaki appeared.
Other Japanese factories were capitalizing on the export success of Honda and Kawasaki decided to follow suit their singles 2-time sold well in America, and Kawasaki felt it was able to challenge Honda the heavy industry sector the company was again do well, and management decided to use deep pockets, it has provided to finance the subsidiary motorcycle, which was only consumer division of Kawasaki.
Kawasaki engineers began developing three very different 750cc 4-stroke 4-cylinder for its debut in 1970, a double 2-stroke 500cc which was essentially a larger version of its 250cc and 350cc 2-stroke, and a new port 500cc triple piston prototypes were built, and the triple was found to be lighter and faster than the twin at the same time, Honda's CB750 Four, feeling and actually very similar to the prototype 4-cylinder Kawasaki.
Kawasaki engineers were ordered to continue working on the 4-cylinder until they have something that was different and superior to other hand CB750 a 2-time 3-cylinder engine configuration exotic and unusual in 1969, and therefore excellent for the recognition of the brand Kawasaki Kawasaki wanted shelved twin, put off the beginning of the 4-cylinder and went with the 2-stroke 3-cylinder to ensure that the company tapped on youth market, triple, badged H1 Mach III was 1000 list price for a bargain even in 1969. During the night, the old, staid company has become the source of young men new dreams 500 has got to be the Kawasaki bike kinkiest street never sang the April 1969 edition of World C ycle.
For its time, the motor H1 was quite amazing, with cylinders of silicon-aluminum alloy with cast iron liners, large and complex ailerons, oil injection, electronic ignition, aggressive and silent port of the chamber expansion All that adds up to 60 horsepower at 8,000rpm, providing an August 12 second quarter-mile with a terminal velocity 99 5 mph and a top speed of 125 mph announced Unfortunately, the offer loving care with which the engine was developed did not extend the frame, forks and brakes.
Cycle ran seven Superbike Shootout bike in its issue of March 1970, with the H1 included naturally Drum brakes, which have received much criticism over the years, were the first passes in the cycle of second best tests behind Honda CB750 with its front disc brake Unfortunately, they started to fade after several testers hard stops also found frightening H1 up quickly on bumpy curves He pitches and mini-wavers, they said rear impacts were considered and lower ground clearance was less than another quick bike as he had in the test of the global cycle, H1 shone in the quarter mile with an elapsed time of 12 81 seconds and a terminal speed of 104 was the 4 mph third fastest, and smallest of the group.
Kawasaki quickly came up with a production racer, the H1R, with improved racing frame, better ranges, better ground clearance, 75 horsepower and a top speed claimed 150mph at a cost lower than 1500, and with silver dangling emergency, the boys fast tracks across America lined up at dealerships.
The H1 also quickly attracted controversy It was noisy, blew blue smoke, and the kind of people who wanted to climb it was also the kind of people like Hans, who got into trouble on the bikes handling problems and brakes prone discoloration does things Kawasaki, concerned about bad publicity and lawsuits responsibility began to decline more and more, the beast has been tamed.
For 1970, the frame and suspension have been improved, and the dispenser cover has been redesigned to make it waterproof ignition of the most important changes appeared in 1971. The front forks are more heavily damped rear impact has been improved and electronic ignition, which has often failed on version 1969 has been updated Unfortunately, the brakes still not faded a side effect of a more efficient engine, quieter and less smoky than quarter-mile was no longer in 12s a smaller version 350cc H1, known for better handling, appeared in 1972, the same year, 500 have finally got the front disc brake, he cried because since its inception a quarter-mile in H1 however, moved earlier in the 13 second Kawasaki column also has the electronic ignition and replaced by a conventional cutting points system.
At the same time that some young people were worshiping at the altar of speed, others were more concerned about the environment and the environmental contingent became the ear of government emissions controls and limits of decibels is on the horizon and Kawasaki, finally convinced that his 4-cylinder 4-stroke was a worthy opponent of the Honda CB presented the 903cc Z1 very fast but also very civilized, 1972.
Despite the success of the Z1, many people liked the 500 triple and was upset when he came out of production in 1975, just before the laws that mandate standards for emissions than the three could not meet the Kawasaki Triple clubs was launched by amateurs around the world in 1979 when the sources parts began to dry up, and they're still strong There Triple clubs in Canada, Australia, UK Italy, Netherlands, the US and Hans country Sweden amateurs from around the world dedicated to the preservation and ritualistic flogging of the notorious triplets Kawasaki 2-stroke as a forum proclaims.
Meanwhile, Hans Agren is mounted its H1 to school, it is mounted on travel in Norway, he painted and he finally exchanged for a more comfortable, more reliable and more boring Honda He was not as powerful as t Kawasaki, he remembers the Honda was sold and bicycles were shelved for a while Hans moved to the United States in 1982 and bought a Honda XL in 1984, which unfortunately was stolen, it began exporting bicycles, mostly gold wings US to Sweden and bought a Honda and Ducati hawk with benefits and back of his mind was the thought of his first love the H1 there about 10 years, he decided to start looking.
1969 H1s are not easy to find their raucous nature meant they suffered a lot of violence, and most of the thousands manufactured by Kawasaki didn t survive the sixties and seventies Hans put an ad in a magazine, and someone one called him two days before planned trip to Sweden the owner tried to organize a bidding war between Hans and another acquirer and I got on the plane, said Hans After that, things got dried for a few years.
Finally, two years ago, a 1969 H1 in poor condition came on eBay at this point, Hans had sought for years without result, then he swallowed hard and I bought restore since he got the race bike, but it was not reliable I wanted to trust, and not be worried, I'd be stuck somewhere, he said, but I must have picked up two or three times when I blew the engine the engine was a mess, but David Singleton, a Tesla engineer Hans helped rebuild the crankshaft bearings with better and modern seals and updated electronics He also contributed to the transmission and rebalanced the crank to face the weight lighter new high-tech rods engine is now reliable and very fast.
Hans has not only restores the H1, but also development work on the suspension, ignition and brakes, the work that Kawasaki didn t bother with when they introduced the bike I wanted to keep the appearance stock bike, Hans said, but the chassis appears only be Hans stocks built a stealth triple Kawasaki, who takes over as burns slip bands.
Vintage racers told him about a firm called Vintage Brakes in Sonora, CA The guy told me I should send him hubs and it would take six months Six months later, the brakes were back he was like night and day, Hans said, adding, the brakes are now much better than shares Hagon shocks appear stock, but unlike the original units they actually work as advertised Hans spent a lot of time working on the fork prior to the run better he purchased a pair of fork on eBay installed stiffer springs and heavier fork oil used, it is also been tapered bearings of the triple shaft so that the mounting of the fork would have a positive association with the frame.
Now the bike is set up, maintenance is minimal Hans riding the bike two or three days a week for short trips, and accumulated 2,000 miles on it so far, carburetors have remained in the air and the motorcycle idles Being out a 2 -stroke, no valves to adjust, but the heads are removed every 5,000-10,000 miles to clean the combustion chambers You know when it's time, he said the bike stops functioning properly.
For an old bike, it is very fast, Hans said is very light, and I'm used to flex within that I can keep a good pace with this bike There is no engine braking and n ' there is no power at 5,500 rpm using both brakes and keep the engine speed during cornering.
When I told him, Hans had just returned from a ride, smoking a Ferrari on a backroad north of San Francisco where he lives is never too late to have a happy childhood It was nice to restore the bike and it is the total satisfaction mount the pleasure I can give many people with problems somewhere, someone's probably cursing Hans while three others watch with envy MC.
On the hunt 1969 Kawasaki H1 Classic Japanese motorcycle Motorcycle Classics, 1969 Kawasaki, Japanese motorcycles.