curious about the kawasaki triples..

[Allan k]

did they have kawasaki ""CCI"" and where they really that fast as people says? and if, what made them that fast?

Thanks

[titan performance]

When I was a young buck in the 70s, the H1 and H2 were reputed to be missiles. I came very close to owning a blue 71 H1 in 1976, but the dealer and I were £40 apart on the deal with my GT250M and so I never got the H1. These bikes were few and far between even then, so those that were about, were even more legendary.....tales of monster petrol guzzling high speeds and ill handling followed both the H1 and H2, but I never had any first hand experience to justify the rumours. I got my first T500 in 77, and another in 78....the latter was an ex proddie racer, and handling was sorted and superb. One of the local lads got himself a 76 KH500, and was raving about the power, and how he was going to waste me on the 20 mile trip to our local race circuit...a twisting country road all the way. He let me have a ride of the KH one day....what a bag of shite ! The engine was lovely...responsive and smooth, and definitely more refined than my twin, though not noticeably quicker, but the handling was dire, total rubbish compared to my very sorted T....just a shame we never met on that road, as I would have made him look very silly. He crashed the KH quite quickly, (no surprise), and that has been my only experience of the big triples to this day.
There were plenty of the 250 triples about when I had my 250M, but to be honest, they were always a bit lacking in performance compared to other 250 strokers of the era in my experience.

[Craig380]

The Kawa triples all had 'Superlube', however I cannot remember if it lubed BOTH crank bearings and cylinders (like CCI) or just metered oil into the inlets (like Yam's autolube).

The porting on the Kawa triples is usually more aggressive than on the Suzis, so they usually had a much more noticeable power band. Also, some of Kawa's exhausts had internal expansion chambers inside the outer shell, unlike Suzi pipes which just have flat baffle plates.

However, looking at UK and US road tests from the 70s, stock road-test machines weren't actually faster than the equivalent Suzuki or Yamaha 2-stroke when it came to performance testing. The S1 / KH250 was nearly always the slowest 2-stroke in its class; the S2 350 was about the same as a GT380 (the S3 / KH400 was a little bit quicker, but no faster than an RD400). When the GT750 was hotted up from the M model onwards, UK road testers usually got almost identical 1/4 mile times to the H2 750.

As Titan said above, a lot of the difference is down to the different 'feel' and looks of the bikes, rather than them being much faster.

[MikeH1A]

An interesting question and one that probably will get different responses depending on the forum and company you are asking. There is undoubtedly a greater level of mythology attached to the Triples and I think it is in the interest of triple owners not to dispel these stories . One of the variables to keep in mind is the type of purchaser that was attracted to the triples versus some of the other bikes. They were advertised as being FAST and the advertising presented an image that targeted a particular sector of the bike purchasing public - this appealed to riders who perhaps had a bit more of a thrill seeking nature and therefore maybe rode the beasts a bit harder. They also gained wonderful descriptors such as "widowmaker" which reinforced the deadly image. Balanced against this is the fact that a number of 16 year olds purchased the bikes and didn't all depart this mortal coil. I can personally compare the 71 T500 and 71 H1A as I owned them at the same time. Two different bikes with different personalities for different moods of the rider. The Mach III accelerates faster, has a lovely power band but does not corner and has brakes that don't The Titan is more comfy, more fuel efficient, corners nicer and has lovely torque. The latter is noticeable when going up hills and through twisty bits. The H1A requires constant picking of the best gear and changing to get the acceleration you are after.

Overall, I can say that I hate my triple with an intense passion at times but I also love it in greater volumes when it is running right. The triples seem to tap that emotive part of your brain a bit more - infuriating but also seductive.

[titan performance]

So beautifully put Mike......almost poetic, I think you have missed your vocation.

[Allan k]

Thanks for these good stories... It gives a great pocture of how they were... Did they have any new things at the time? Like CCI, SRIS... Aso? Were they similar to the suki?