1971 Kawasaki 500 Mach III

[Joseph Byrd]

Hello to all, this is my H1A, my second H1A, the first I bought and sold over thirty years ago. I have been riding since 1969 and have had 51 different bikes. I now own five, a Honda Valkyrie Interstate, a Kawasaki ZRX1100, a Honda XR650R, a Honda CR500R, and my Kawasaki Mach III. I bought the H1 a couple of years ago and rebuilt the motor completely, repainted the tank and side panels, recovered the seat, bought period correct Spec II chambers and had them chromed, rechromed the forks and rear grab rail and generally fixed everything under the sun, sometimes several times to get it to suit me. The old girl runs great, just like I remember. 6000 rpm and the front wheel is up in the air and then "Hang on Momma we are going to town!"
I had been to the Davenport meet many times and these last two years I brought the H1, it was quite a hit with the guys around my age. I joined your club this year and am looking forward to sharing some conversation around old bikes. Joe Byrd

[Paps]

Joe......that machine scared the livin hell out of me back then. My Buddy bought one at at a Penn State dealer new. Quick runner for sure ! I played with it too. I gave another friend of mine a ride on it. Being a five speed, I went through all the gears in a few seconds. Getting on it through town, I slowed to a stop, to find my friend no where ! I dumped him a few gears back ! I swung around and ran back down the street to look for him. He was lying on the ground with road rash everywhere ! Had that bike at 140 mph several times. LOL Paps

[koanes]

I bought a very low mileage 1971 H1 in the spring of 73 from a guy I was working with. The machine scared him bad a couple of times and it was sitting in his garage getting dusty. It was extremely fast, but no tuning remedy would get it to pull away from a stop at less than 4500 rpm and none of the girls I was trying to impress could keep their feet on the passenger pegs. It was fairly dependable, although I had some trouble with the charging system. When I bought a new CH Sportster in 75, I sold it to a friend. Not long after he bought it he wacked the throttle to pass some traffic and the rear hub separated from the rim, spokes snapping off. Put him down in the center of the four lane. I don't think the bike ever saw the road again, likely still stuffed in the corner of the machine shed.

[Joseph Byrd]

1971 H1A Kawasaki



I bought my first H1 when a friend killed it with some creative wiring, I had it fixed in a couple of minutes but he said he would lose his license or his life if he didn't sell it, so never one to pass up a good deal I bought it. Cheap. A fine beast it was, too ….. six bend pull-backs, a foot and a half long luggage rack and a three foot long sissy bar. To say the least, it lost those fine accruements in no time and after cleaning out the baffles, it ran fine. At that time I was the sort to always be looking for a technologically improved bike, so I sold it to buy a 1978 GS550 Suzuki. The contrast was and is the Suzuki had the character of a kitchen appliance and the Kawi had all the character the Suzuki lacked.
When I got this latest one, it took about 5000 rpm to get it away from a stop sign and didn't have much top end either. It was a fine shade of fluorescent ear-plug green and had so many problems I could write a long book about them all. One thing that was an issue that I solved was the lack of bottom end power; the previous owner had sold off the air box and put on a set of chrome capped K&N style filters. I took me a while to figure it out but the K&N style filters set up a strong reversion wave from the intake blow back and killed the bottom end power. Now this sounds like a bunch of baloney but that is what it really was. I replaced the K&N filters with some sock type filters and then finally put on some velocity stacks ahead of the carbs. What this did was create a column of air that the intake blow back couldn't lift and increased the bottom end power ten fold. No kidding. I now can ride down the road, two up, at 3500 rpm and accelerate up hills. It isn't a four stroke but it is so much better it is hard to believe it is the same bike as before. My wife even notices it when we go out for a spin. She said the original configuration was pretty scary to ride on. Joe Byrd

[miker]

Its a beauty, loved those triple witha ripple!

Of course nowadays at 275 lbs I'd look as silly on that as I do on my 75 Honda 400F when I take it out around the block.

[HarleyCreation]

Period 2-stroke Masterpiece!

Very interesting about the peculiar 2-stroke tuning to gain some low end oomph. These bikes were period masterpieces of 2-stroke design and no mistake, even if built a little "light" for the power. (The story about the hub disintegrating made me cringe.) The blue restoration looks top notch too. My pal had one of these in the 1970s but didn't have it long. It was faster than a raped ape and with all peculiar 2-stroke smells, sounds, and smoke.

Did it actually smoke?

Can't remember for sure....but I think so...at stoplights a little???

The styling is also very attractive. More appealing to me than the weird "plumbing" mostrosities and freaks built today.

Would like to have one myself as there is something rather fascinating about 2-stroke motors and their simplicity and high-power output. My chainsaw arsenal (including a 90cc job) is the closest I have.....

The "water-buffalo" was another interesting period bike....

[Joseph Byrd]

1971 H1a

About the hub disintegrating; I would think it would be more of an issue of loose spokes causing the hub to break as opposed to a weak design, I have not heard of too many hub failures among the faithful. But I certainly could be wrong.
The styling of the early triples has suited my eye since I noticed the first one in 1970. The low stainless fenders and the general European look is classical. Later 'plastic-looking-tail-section-with-no-rear-fender-all-integrated' ones are OK but lack the timeless style of the 69-71 models. Of course that is just jaded opinion.
The triples were notoriously over oiled with the stock oil pump settings, many turn them down so the smoke (do to the obligatory total loss oiling system) is not visible. With the money I spent going through the motor and the fact the plugs don't foul even in mosquito fogger mode, I just let her smoke. Thanks for the replies. Joe

[LarryHeil]

Awsome Bike

I helped a freind bulid up one of these as a Wera Cafe class race bike. I designed custom expansion chambers and had a race car fab guy make them up. Very fast MC. Never did handle too good. Lots of frame and swing arm mods, but still felt like there was a hinge somewhere in the frame. Top rpm (9,000) made the vibration so bad that the hand grips felt like they were 1 foot in dia. Told the owner rider to NEVER get the rpms above 9,000, (factory racers had crankshaft problems above this speed) one time he was too busy trying to catch the guy ahead of him, too many revs, blew the motor BAD. coasted into the pits and pulled the exhast pipes, poured many pounds of metal out of them onto the ground.

[Joseph Byrd]

1971 Kawasaki H1A

Larry, as you said there is no lack of HP. I was just telling my brother the 500 Triples had a 60 HP motor in a 10 HP frame. I have not had much trouble with mine, a rare fit of headshake but generally OK, but I live in Iowa, perfect Triple country, there are lots of straight roads and not many corners! This H1 has a set of H2 shocks, new forks and two steering dampers. The handling is adequate but going down the interstate at 80mph feels like you're riding a 10 speed. Naked. Just around town with an occasional two lane trip, the old girl handles plenty good enough.

[INLINE4NUT]

Back in the day when that bike was brand new a friend of mine (only one not on a Harley) Had one and to this day wishes he would not have sold it ,MAN the things he did with it still make my hair stand straight up !!! He was CRAZY !!!!! still a nice bike glad you are enjoying it !!!

[pem]

Sounds like a lot of our friends rode these things. My buddy had a 750 triple and lived to tell
the tale. He rode that thing all over. One night coming home from a bar he was at speed
when he crested a hill and a car pulled out in front of him. I'm sure the guy in the car never
saw him coming he was moving so fast. Bob hit the car broadside flew over the top and hit
another car coming the other way. Not good! I knew some of the guys on the ambulance and they don't know how he survived. They found him laying in the middle of the road wearing only his belt with the belt loops attached. All the rest of his clothes were gone. His wife made a macromay necklace for him which acted as a garotte. Somehow he lived and eventually ended up at home in a body cast. Nipples to toes. Drove him crazy. One day he had to go in for a check up and we put him on his bathroom door and loaded him into a van.
The nurses had a laugh about that one. The next week he took a pliers and screwdriver and
took off his body cast.

This was in the seventies and I remember plenty of other guys crashing including myself.
Somehow most of us lived thru it. How I don't know.

Dick

[Joseph Byrd]

Here is a true story, I hope despite it's length, it's a worthwhile read;
The year was 1975 and Sam, a coworker of mine wanted to come over to try out my newly acquired Kawasaki Mach III. I had recently purchased the Kawasaki from a fellow that decided it was better to unload the Kawi than end up with no driver’s license or wake up dead. When the motorcycle arrived at my house, it was a fine looking beast, six bend pullbacks, a very large luggage rack and best of all, a three foot sissy bar with luxurious black carpet backing on the backrest pad. By the time Sam got there, I had removed all of these triple chrome plated accessories and put on a more appropriate set of low rise superbike bars.
When Sam returned from his test ride he said the Mach III wouldn’t do a burn out. He then backed the three cylinder up to the service door of my unattached garage and aimed the raging missile down the narrow sidewalk leading to the back of our old story and a half. As my wife came out the back door and walked over to see what in the world was going on, I stopped the proceedings
At this point, I, being fully convinced that I was smarter than the average bear, knew why Sam could not break the back tire loose, he was simply too fat. At this time I suppose his weight was 225, I have since discovered by personal experience that 225 is not overweight! I told Sam to get off the bike and I would prove to him and anybody else that cared, the Kawi could indeed break the tire loose. “And besides, if anyone is going to run into the back of my house, it’s going to be me!” No truer words have ever been spoken. Sam somewhat reluctantly stepped off the motorcycle.
I mounted my mighty steed as Sam and my wife looked on, I settled in to the seat and grabbed a big waffle gripped handful of smoking, rattling Kawasaki two-stroke horsepower and dropped the hammer. Immediately the front wheel shot for the sky. “No problem.” I thought as I assessed the situation. And with dirt bike honed reflexes I chopped the throttle and instinctively grabbed both brakes.
When my front wheel came down I was off the narrow little sidewalk and on the grass. As I previously mentioned, I grabbed both brakes. The front double leading shoe brake did what double leading shoe brakes do best in these situations, it locked up. Immediately the bike was down, no where to be seen and I was making a low pass over my freshly manicured lawn. As my hands and knees made contact, I made a perfect four point landing and with surprising residual momentum, slid the remaining length of the back yard. I firmly smacked the top of my head against the back of our home.
There was not a dry eye in the house, but these were not tears brought on by the witnessing of a terrible accident! But tears of joy, of uncontrolled mirth! Sam and my wife were beside themselves in their individual fits of laughter.
While I was not physically injured I was emotionally devastated. Where was the rush to see if I had survived? Where was the concern for my helmetless head? There was not even a casual inquiry if perhaps I was OK. But there was plenty of laughter and they both stopped long enough to agree that this was the funniest thing that they had ever seen. When the stinging embarrassment and shame abated and the two stroke smoke cleared from my contusioned scull, I thought back to my Dad reminiscing about his one and only Harley and the corn crib, I think I remember him saying, “If your gonna be dumb, gotta be tough.” Joe

[pem]

Great story! Thanks and speaking of embarrassment and shame. I remember riding down Main St. in Hartford, Wi. circa 1970 in the middle of a rain storm on my brand new Harley Sprint. I knew from experience that hitting the gas pedal in my car while driving in the rain that you could spin the tires pretty easy so I figured it would work the same with a motorcycle. I just had to show off.

Sooooooooooo, in the middle of downtown I gave er such a handfull and immediately went
down, doing 360's and scraping along the pavement. I managed to crawl on top of the seat and fuel tank and rode it like a ride at the county fair. The bike was still running so when it stopped I quickly jumped up and picked up the bike and rode away but not before looking at a lady on the sidewalk. She had the most astonished look on her face.

I learned a very valueble lesseon that day and I didn't even get hurt or wreck my bike. Unfortunetly some months later I learned another lesson about ripple bumps and tank slappers and how to set broken bones and that putting rubbing alcohol on road rash does kill the germs but burns like hell.

Dick

[Chris Haynes]

Believe it or not. The best thing to put on road rash is Preparation H. It keeps the wound moisturized and it also numbs the pain and itching.

[Lethal Farce]

Back in the late seventies, when it seemed we all were riding Kaw Z1 900's or KZ1000's, one of the guys who worked with us at the mcy shop shows up with a drag setup 750 triple and what must have been 3 foot wheelie bars hanging off the back. We all took turns burning the rear tire off up and down the alley out in back. The wheelie bar sure gave you a nice safety factor with a bike you did not know well. It was a unbeatable in the 1/8 mile, but my 900 would overtake him at about that point. As far as long term, we never got to play with it, the owner pissed somebody off in traffic, and the guy followed him in to a police station parking lot and shot him, right there. My friend survived and the shooter got away. But, we all drifted away by the time he was up and out again. Always wanted a little more time to get to know the triple. Had another guy in the hood, he bought his first bike a 500 triple and sold it before the summer ended. He never said why, but the rumors were "it scared him"
LF