As a teenager with a Kawasaki H1D 500 on the road I would marvel at the gods of speed on their Kawasaki road racing machines. Thanks for the view of what it was like to be on one of these H1R racers.
I had a 1973 H1 and rode it for 4 years. Great video and loved the sound-nothing like a powerful 2-stroke. I remember if you took a sweeping curve too fast the front end would start see-sawing until you slowed down.
The 500 h1r was not an original Kawasaki Mach 3,, not by a long shot. It was highly modified. A few of the modifications were, it used an oversize external dry clutch. The bottom of the cylinders were milled to increase crankcase pressure. Top of the cylinders were milled to increase compression. A special billet crankshaft was used to take the stress from the higher RPM. Exhaust and intake ports were modified, Port bridges were removed and chamfered. Factory expansion chambers. Pistons and rods were balanced forged and lightened. Oversized Mikunis. Custom frame and fairings. Power band was from 6k to as far as you dared. Definitely not a street bike.
Geez…! This is a beast … If you don’t do this for a living … you should! …Amazing ride…! Wish I watched close enough to determine how many riders you lapped in this 14 minute video!!..😎 Thanks for posting …
I was proud owner of a 500-H1B for more than 20 years, I bought it 73 and it dident took long before it was transformed to a H1_R, I bougt expansion chamber, H1-R cranks, big Mikuni and so on,, from "Arligton motor Sports",, THOSE WAS THE DAYS!! Love you video, I cryed as I was 18 and not 63 ,,,, :0)
This is an open lap day ( street riders ) . If you notice there are no flag men , only one bike ( I saw ) had numbers and most of the guys seemed inexperienced in braking and in how to take the turns . It's a good way to get new racers and I don't blame them for not wanting to wad up their everyday rides . The guy on the Kaw 500 was probably a racer and did not have as much to lose if he laid it down . They did pretty good , no one crashed and for the most part were conscious of faster riders . PK
5 minutes immobiles vraiment passionnant on s'en voudrait de rater ca, il faudrait vraiment faire un meilleur montage car ces temps morts gache la video
Hé oui .... Tavéka la garder ;-)) Tout comme moi.... J'en ai eu deux : la première, la "vraie" avec l'allumage conventionnel, la peinture blanche, les bandes bleues et les freins à tambour...Puis l'autre, vert candy , disc brake et allumage électronique . Plus stéréotypée, mais bien quand même . Inoubliables, surtout la première : tenue de route d'enclume et freins inexistants, mais quel bruit, quel pied , mes aïeux !!!!!!! Ce coup de pied au cul quand t'ouvrais à fond après avoir lâché l'embrayage ....Tout le monde se retournait sur le nuage de fumée bleue et le hurlement d'enfer du trois pattes .......
This is why it was a huge mistake to remove two strokes ( new bike sales ) from racing ( motocross / road racing ) . When two strokes ruled , it was a cheap , easy to work on and an easy to hop up motor . It by it's nature was a learning tool and an invite to new racers . Most of the bikes new ran between 2 and 4 thousand dollars and allowed racers to update to a new bike every year . I was racing in the early eighties and very few racers ( even the novices ) ran year old bikes ...... now look . Prices have gone through the roof , it's killed some local tracks . Mom and Dad backed racers are mortgaging the house to buy new bikes and guys who are starting out and paying their own way ( like I did ) are getting fewer and fewer . Now they are racing ( and not buying NEW you industry twats ) old or used bikes for two years at least in the amateur ranks . Never mind that the repairs on four stroke race engines are astronomical compared to the early days of two strokes . It was the dumbest mistake the motorcycle industry ever made . Of course when Harley Davidson got the US government to impose tariffs on Japanese bikes back then , it doubled their prices within a few years . Japan ( and Europe ) realizing they had been handed a government sponsored price increase that they had wanted for years .... RAN WITH it and now we have car prices for all motorcycles ! Why is it that , in the name of short term rapid rise profits , government and corporations are willing to cut their own throats ?????? The whole cleaner air motive was bullsh@t anyway because these bikes were not operated full time ( usually an hour or two a day a few times a week ) . It was just another LOOK AT ME I'm doing good political move that hid the fact that Washington DC is corrupt as hell ! But , I digress .... PK
