remember these ?

[panayoti]

https://www.kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/index.html

 

[V GER]

Nice flashback!

My sister had a 250 triple. The only thing bluer than the paint was the smoke coming out of those pipes.

Drool factor = 11 :dribble:

 

[Hotboot]

Remember them well, my buddys 750/3 scared the chit out of all who dared, never hit the same power-band twice and wobbled like a fat drunk woman. The sound and smell are forever etched in my memory. Never should have sold my RD-400 either....

 

[panayoti]

i don't remember the specs on hp, and quarter mile times. I wonder how they would compare to the current crotch rockets. I know the top speeds wouldn't compare due to the poor aerodynamics of a naked bike. I think they were pretty peaky. I do remember that a yamaha rd350 with some porting work, expansion chambers and a little jetting magic would beat the 750 four strokes of the day.

I can't believe some of them are still running, they had a reputation as being kind of cheap and tinny. That is the way i remeber it, of course i was only 12 or 13 years old.

 

[shokdimn]

I loved the “two-smokes”. Not a typo. Had two (73) RD350’s and a (73) H2. Also, spent a good bit of time on a (72) H2, it belonged to Dangerous Dave. My RD dusted plenty of the big 4 strokes. First stock engine in my RD blew in short order. Its replacement was “very nice”.

The only thing locally (small town) that I wouldn’t pit the RD against was two 72 (H2’s). One of the H2’s was of course fitted with chambers, carbs, and filters. Its owner, Dangerous Dave, and I swapped bikes frequently. Those were the days! Hmm, almost sounds like the lyric of a song. Well, anyway, “we thought they’d never end”.

Wish I still had the first RD, and my H2.

 

[Charlie Hoss]

I had a 1970 500 triple with all the usual attributes, both good and bad. Hardly any torque taking off. With 2 up, had to seriously slip the clutch to get going.

But when the tach reached about 6 grand, LOOK THE F@%K OUT!! It was like a turbo had kicked in after flipping a switch.

After about a year, it didn't seem to give me the grins that it did when newer. Performance can degrade very slowly on 2 strokes, as I had learned from dirt biking, usually caused by carbon deposits building up in the exhaust baffles.

So...out come the baffles, out comes the propane torch and some good carbon picking tools. Got them all cleaned up, reinstalled. Started her up, jumped aboard and gave her the gas.

Yep....you're exactly right...that sucker nearly came over backwards. So THAT'S where all that power went!

Those were the days!

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

My cousin's boyfriend (future husband/future ex-husband) had a 500 triple. My memories are of smoke, loud hard-to-describe noise, and his screaming (yes screaming) as he rode by.........that boy peed his pants when the tach hit the right number I think .... :yahoo: :lol:

They were fast in a straight line. Thin front fork tubes and ****** frame made them hard to handle I hear. By the time I owned a bike I went with a four stroke CB750

 

[feejer222]

My cousin's boyfriend (future husband/future ex-husband) had a 500 triple. My memories are of smoke, loud hard-to-describe noise, and his screaming (yes screaming) as he rode by.........that boy peed his pants when the tach hit the right number I think .... :yahoo: :lol:
They were fast in a straight line. Thin front fork tubes and ****** frame made them hard to handle I hear. By the time I owned a bike I went with a four stroke CB750

I had a K6 750 four. After that : GT250 suzuki GT 500 suzuki GT550 (triple)suzuki (broken leg) Missed out on the RD's and Kawasaki 2strokes although they were common here too and had the same reputation especially the H2 750.

 

[timk]

I had a h4 750. First stock bike to run in the 12 second quarter. Mine turned 12.89 when it was a week old with stock gearing. 2 weeks later I got a recall letter. Wrong front tire, it was only rated for 88MPH!!! Big mistake selling it.

 

[Geezer]

I had a '75 H1F 500. I remember it having about 60 hp stock. Pretty wimpy by today's standards, but with the spaghetti frame, terrible suspension, and peaky power output it was pretty hairy to ride.

 

[shokdimn]

Maybe I’m mistaken but I thought the 1969 500cc triple was first to return a 12.0 ET. Anybody know of printed material confirming which stock Kawi triple actually made the mark?

I remember when one first showed up at my brother’s drag-strip. I’m thinking it was the spring of 1970. Anyway, lot’s of hoop-a-la that day about the bike.

 

[snikr]

Oh do I remember those. I had a 750 and a 400. The 750 was MORE than any human could handle. :dribble: Wish I still had the 750. It sure would be fun now.

Tom

 

[Mike-H]

A good memory question is...."does anyone remember the original warrantty wording that was used for the H3 during the 1st 3-4 months of it's introduction"?....anyone? :fool: ....

 

[shokdimn]

I was mistaken, found some print on the khi website.

 

[huron52]

I remember two riders with the same model of triple 500 . The one knew where the power band was and almost never had the front wheel down... The other guy never did understand a two stroke and all it ever did was bog and smoke.

 

[SmokeWagon]

I had two of the 500's a blue one I think was a 1970 which was fast - bought it non running condition, it had been thrashed. Put in new crank, new pistons, bored cylinders, 2nd grear, shift forks etc. What a thrill to ride. Sold it to buy a 1972 500 which I got trick paint job, cafe' bars. Looked for Pic to post can't find it. 72 was not as quick as my first one, thought porting was different. The only other street motorcycle I've ever wanted (Besides FJR) was Suzuki RG 500 which you could only get in Canada,Europe. Memories don't fade, first week I had FJR I took to same 30+ yrs. ago- get off of work route, go home road, to compare preformance. FJR spins up 100 a bit quicker

than when I use to ride 500's

 

[bikerskier]

I bought a new '73 purple 750 triple and 3 or 4 hours later I took it back to the dealer, complaining about it wanting to come apart in the corners. It felt like the seat was coming loose, the rear wheel wanted to come off, etc. and scared the **** out of me several times. The dealer laughed and said,"Get used to it, that is standard!" Anyway, I did get used to it, sort of... and rode the **** out it for 2 years, scared half to death most of the time. Even threw some canvas bags over the back seat and put a small backpack on my wife andwe rode it 2500 miles on trip, spewing oil and blue smoke at everyone we passed. Felt and sounded like riding an old washing machine half full of pieces on junk rattling around and at a high pitched screech. Traded it for a '75 Z1 900 which was like riding in a Mercedes after the triple. Still, now I wish I had kept it.

 

[timk]

A 1972 h4 like the one I owned :angry:

 

[oldaxe]

I had a 73 S2 (thats the 350) Fun little bike but no torque. Head wind or a hill and the best it would do was about 75 mph. Tail wind or no wind and 100 mph was easy. Hit 6 grand and the front wheel went skyward in 1st and 2nd.

I sold it after a year or so and bought a car. Better gas miles (the bike got only 19 mpg) and stayed dry in the rain.