Oh my goodness, I had this exact 1974 H2B model but in 2-tone Green. I lived in New Zealand back then. I was 17, about to turn 18 & under the laws at the time, I had to wait a few days in order to be legally allowed to jump from a 250 to something larger. My 3 riding buddies at the time, all had H2's, were a tad older & I joined them when I took delivery of mine. It had to be a 74, coz that's what was missing. And so we each owned 1 of each model.....a 72 H2 in Blue, a 73 H2A in Gold, me with the 74 H2B in Green & a 75 (the last of the breed), H2C in the Bronze....& nothing could touch us. Of course the mighty Z's were around & they comanded instant respect & awe but we weren't worried.... About the only thing that did worry us was a fast rider, who knew what he was doing on, off all things, an RD350 Yam. In the right hands, those RD's were incredible. Ahhhh, the memories 😌
Same as mine, then, bought in '79. Check THIS out: First or second night I had mine, I took a co-worker home from work. Only about a mile to his house, but we hit over 100 mph on one road. Dropped him off on a dimly-lit residential street that I had never been on before. Ripped off from his house and hit about 105 mph (just checked the map today; less than 1-1/2 residential blocks) when I came up on an s-curve that I couldn't make. Slowed down in a straight line, sailed through some tall sawgrass (could NOT see where I was going), and got down to about 80 mph when it appeared that I was breaking out in-line into a dirt road. But it was actually a CANAL. Longer story, but if I had gone anywhere other than straight ahead, I would be DEAD. So, yeah... aim for a hospital. You'll be there before you know it 😜
Yes, brother, true words, indeed. In the right hands, they were incredible... In the eighties and nineties I've been riding several RD 350 YPVS. We weren't a club, just some riders loving 2strokes. The challenge was called: chasing superbikes. Wè haven't lost the run for any single time. At the gas-staion I was asked: "Why don't you brake before corners?" My answer: "Why? If my speed is fitting the line?"
I owned a stage II ported (Aprox 120hp) '75 built up by Keith Bontrager of now Mountain Bike Fame (protege of Erv Kanamoto) - Perhaps the fastest 750 on the road at that time. I drove it to its limits . It dipped into the high 9's in the 1/4 mile. Not bad for a street bike in 1975.
stage 2 doesn't mean anything. it's marketing nomenclature. If i sell 3 level of power adders or parts kit, those are the 3 stages. it's not a standard by any definition. my stage 3 might be the next guys stage 1. it's meaningless.
This was my first street bike. These things literally taught their owners how to ride. Not the other way around...ever...seriously. You did what it allowed you to do on any given day. This could also change on any given day. However, when you cracked that throttle you were guaranteed the ride of your life. I have had dozens of street bikes since including gpz s and gsxr s (1100) and fz s. Nothing ever came quite close to that first H2....so glad I survived it.
My older brother bought a previously owned Kawasaki H2 750 Mach IV in 1981. I got to drive it, but I was in high school and not an experienced rider. I survived, but it scared me. My 21-year-old brother also survived the H2, and he rode dangerously fast everywhere he went. He eventually joined the Navy and sold it. The sound of that three-cylinder 2 stroke in your video brings back quite a memory. That bluish smoke out the exhaust pipes also brings back memories. Much later I bought an 80s Honda V45 Magna and drove it up the California coast highway, down Baja in Mexico and to the Grand Canyon. I then sold it. The Honda was tame by comparison to that H2. My brother bought a dirt bike he still rides. I moved on to airplanes--much safer. We're both in our late 50s now.
Brings back a lot of memories, I bought a brand new 1972 H1b in November of that year, I was only 14 at the time and everyone said I would be dead in a week, it was my fifth motorcycle and I had a lot of respect for it, thats why I'm still here, thanks for posting! 🇺🇲
@@cjsteele9594I thought the same thing b s. Additional income, when was a fourteen year old going to get two thousand dollars in nineteen seventy two.
I had a Stan Stevens tuned H2 in a Magnum frame in 1974, it went from the scariest thing you could ride in standard trim to a fire breathing beast that handled as sweetly as you could wish and was the fastest bike in N.Ireland for most of the 70s.
I rode one of these for nine months back in 1975, borrowing it from the boss. I quickly learnt the machine commanded great respect and special handling to keep the front wheel on the ground or somewhere near it. The clutch lever was so heavy to pull, I had an aching arm for the whole time. I also had some fun on it, recognizing the top speed was limited by how strong I could hold on against the wind about to blow me off the machine, while there was still more to go on the throttle. I'm still alive today because the boss asked for his machine back. He sold it soon after. I think he was afraid of it. It certainly commanded respect and justified its reputation as a widow-maker.
Hell, I took my little brother... he was about 12, and didn't have a helmet... on mine up to 125 mph in the early '80s on the ratty original front tire ('74 H2). Not too smart.
My gosh, brings me back to '77, '78 when my cousin sold me this bike for $500. Can almost smell the Klotz. Wickedly fast and didn't renew my cycle endorsement. Scared my cousin, myself, and everyone else. Thanks for the memory jog. Much appreciated!
I love classic bikes and own a small collection including 2 bikes from the 70's. I wouldn't dream of riding my 1973 Honda CB360 with the original tyres, which it had when I got it! It got new, classic looking tyres, I value my life and my bikes! You can't beat the sound and smell of two strokes, I have one two stroke, a 1972 DT3 250 Enduro, not as quick as the 750 but fun just the same!
That sound is not one I'll ever forget. I've never had a bike that liked to wheelie the way that my H2 did. Crack the throttle in the 1st 3 gears and the front would come up effortlessly and just hold there. I do miss that bike....
I had one briefly. I was a bit of a lunatic in those days, believing that the only reason manufacturers put words and letter on the sides of tyre, was for extra grip in my very low cornering. In under a week I realised that it was going to kill me and swapped it for a gorgeous Suzuki 750 GT. That's probably why I'm still alive.
I have owned both of those motorcycles including two KZ 1000 and a KZ 1300. Loved them all. My H2 was highly modified and lightened. It was my most fun bike
I've been riding Kawasaki motorcycles since I was 5. Over the years, I've owned an H1, H2, several 900/1000s, and I still have a 1975 Z1B cafe. That bike has been in my will since I bought it 20+ years ago. With the H1 and H2, the only modifications I have ever done is a set of VW coils, and a seprate oil tank. The coils were hotter than the stock ones, and man o man did it ever wake them up!!! Great video!!!
Using VW coils to replace the awful Lucas electrics and wiring on a 650 BSA ( Bastard Stopped Again) fixed them and made them run without missing a beat making them smooth runners. Thank God for good coils. Or VW.
@@BrightsideMedia Tend to agree with you though It did seem that upon hammering it up the road full steam ahead, a rider would run out of gears extremely rapidly!
this is the bike that i wish i had kept! i had a 75' H2 purple, i put s&w rear shocks and rear lowering extensions on it. an additional front steering stabilizer, jetted the carbs, denco expansion chambers, high voltage coils, cafe bars. had the cylinders ported and the heads shaved. this was a rocket up to 140mph and then you had to hold on tight for the high speed wobble. never cured the wobble problem even with the extra stabilizer.
I had a Honda 90 that speed wobbled around 60 mph but after stacking it in a ditch the steering angle changed by about 2 degrees and it never came close to wobbling again. I got it up to 90 mph a few times due to gearing and I could turn around in the width of the road with no hands. Geometry is super important, the Honda 350 had a 33 and 1/2 degree rake, it it was bent back 1/2 degree you could do tricks without any hands and it cornered like it was glued to the road. Geometry again. No speed wobbles either. Rake and tire trail will fix the wobbling problem and stabilize the whole riding envelope. Otherwise they were roadrash looking for a home. And there you are...
Thank you very much :-) So glad you enjoyed the films and they want to make you ride. We've just shot a new batch of films, so there will be a lot more coming over the next several months.
H1D in the UK 1973. More time spent on maintenance and polishing the crankcase than riding. Tank slapper at 70mph, steering damper stuck and threw me off, plugs always fouled, carbs coming loose, I only used it for pleasure, a bus or car if I wanted to get somewhere , but I loved it, a thing of beauty , 2.8sec 0-60 at Donnington. (I did rebuild it!)
In 1979 I moved from the farm and got a factory job. My roommate owned a h2 750. When it was cool it was a monster, after it warmed up it settled down a bit. Beautiful bike, he still has it. At the time I rode a Kawi f7 175 2 stroke with an unsilenced expansion pipe from a hill climb bike. Good times. Thanks for the video!
My first bike--- a Kawasaki KH 400, the smaller version of the Mach IV. Loud, smokey, terrible mileage and twitchy. I loved it! It was destroyed in 1983. Will always be fondly remembered!
In 1978 or 79 my Buddy had an H2 750 that he made a chopper out of, with about 4 foot long forks, raked out. When he showed it to me I told him he was crazy. Joke was on me because I rode it! The H2 wasn't exactly the fastest bike of its time but it was certainly the quickest. You would get the winning ET at the track but not top speed. You were long gone on the H2 before your competitors bike woke up. Didn't matter its top speed, the rest were not as quick. Riding that raked out H2 was probably the most terrifying rides of my life. It's 1 thing to have your front wheel a few inches off the road on take off. It's quite something else to see your wheel way up in the air at the end of a spindly ladder, attached to a frame that was not up to the task in OEM trim. I'd buy an H2 tomorrow if I could find one. Edit; the H2 did train the rider how to ride, quickly, or you crashed it.
Nice video. I had the orginal blue H2 and loved it. The craziest, scariest fun on two, mostly one, wheel. Started racing it in production racest and "unlimited" classes. It held its own against out and out race bikes and l loved to turn the lights on during the last lap! Then had a H1RA, H2R and Kawa Yoshmura 900cc. Still wonder how l lived through those years LOL
The first time I saw a lime green Mach III parked outside Cusworths in Doncaster - well, I was awestruck. Amazing machine that also looked so beautiful. It drew a crowd - and that's outside a dealership that had a good proportion of the new models available at the time. Probably 74, maybe late 73
I've always wanted an H1 or H2, but maturity tells me I no longer have the necessary reactions to cope with one. Good to see you do. These machines are things of raw beauty. 👍
Owned a 1972 H2 MACH IV nicknamed her "Old Smokey" . Stop light to stop light I never encountered anything that could out run that bike. She was a fire breathing beast. Thanks for posting the great video 👍👍
Beautifully shot & informative video. I had a 250 S1-C as a teenager & currently have a gorgeous 350 S2-A (the rare one). Never been able to get Kawa triples out of my blood!
Allegedly this could pass anything on the road except a petrol station. When squeezed these things gave well under 20 mpg. But who cares? They were lovely bikes.
I never got into 2 strokes, being a classic Brit bike rider they just didn't appeal to me. I did ride a few but they delivered their power in a very alien way to what I was familiar with which made cornering very unpredictable. They also sound wrong to me too which made riding one feel like riding a massive chainsaw ! I know those are the things that made them exciting for a lot of people, learning to control such a machine and getting the most of out of them was a serious challenge, it was all or nothing, no half measures, do or die ! Seeing one in totally original condition like that brings back many memories, some of them quite sad.
Fair enough, we get your point. It's a much different experience to something like a Norton of the era. These are edgy bikes, for sure and you're right that that's the appeal for many.
Used to ride one from time to time…… Handled like a log of wood, gas station visits were way to frequent, far from comfortable, in short a terrible bike…….but accelerated in a straight line like nothing else…… fantastic!
I used to ride a 500cc version. I never rode the 750 but if it was anywhere near as squirrelly as the 500, I'm glad. You're right. A terrible motorcycle.
I have an H2b 750. It was the "must have" for me as a teenager, but could not afford one at the time. I have had it for about two years and love it. I went out on it for a Sunday morning ride with friends using four gallons of petrol, doing 74 miles 🤪 at a steady 50 MPH! You are constantly going up and down the gears when riding sensibly. My mates had got spattered oil on their visors from my exhausts when I was at the front. These bikes have great character and of course, very antisocial.
Just gorgeous..and that sound! Always lovely the 2 stroke triple sound and could tell the various models apart. My uncle owned a Suzuki GT750 which was a different beast. I remember my first trip on the back of it to this day. Despite loving bikes since a child I never had my own till I was in my early 30s so sadly never owned a two stroke triple, indeed my only 2 stroke was my first bike - a KH125 - ah well.
The GT750 is an awesome machine as well. But you're right, a very different animal. We've got a film in the pipeline about it coming out soon, so watch this space (and subscribe if you like). And get yourself at triple! It's never too late ;-)
Better start saving your nickels, AeroR. In the US you can't touch a running H2 for under $9000, in only "Good" condition. Important arts are impossible to find.. and these bikes require CONSTANT professional-level maintenance.
@@888jackflash They are really basic machines to maintain. There is nothing too complex about them. I had the 250 back in the day and what a fun bike that was. Also had a suzi 250 X7 and a Yam RD400E. You don't need to be a professional to maintain them ,honestly. Just a good basic level of understanding how a 2 stroke works is good enough.
Excellent video - I had a Suzuki GT550 - and always lusted to get my hands on one of those H2s - the coolest 2 stroke of its era - still is - period - this were the days, the new Pink Floyd album, a young chick riding with You & You feel immortal/ like the king - at least on the road ! Those were the days!
I had both of those back in the day. The GT550 was a helluva bike, so well engineered. I used to ride mine from the Bay Area to Carlsbad CA with a short nap in San Luis Obispo in the rest area. H2 was way more dominating but the Suzuki was more dependable, IMHO.
I remember my first time encountering an H2. Standing outside a watering hole I hear off in the distance a howl. Bhaaa, bhaaa, bhaaa; getting closer and closer, then a sound of screeching tires errrrrrrrrrr. Out of the darkness appears a bike skidding to a stop and turning into the driveway. Yep an H2 with a full set of chambers, the dainty little bike sounded glorious when up on the pipes. All the outlaw bikers that were inside the bar stepped out to see the offending noise maker. Yep the end of the hog was pending. 😎
Got a lot of bikes in my garage. It's the H2's people are drawn to when ever I let people have a look at my bikes. Even young lads are surprised to learn a 750 two stroke ever existed.
I knew a guy that had one of these about 15 years ago, he had no idea (none of us really did) what he had. Guy found a Kawasaki triple two stroke bike that looked *exactly* like this brown one just green, literally sitting in a scrap heap. He rode it up and down the road until he got a car, and then I think it either got scrapped or was run over by a truck. I remember it being loud af and realllllyyyy fast.
Wow, keeping it and restoring it would've probably paid off. It's a shame to hear when classic machines meet their demise. But we're sure it has given quite a few people a lot of pleasure at some point in its life 😉
My 1st bike was a 500 in a basket. All in pieces but it was all there. Took forever in 79 to fix. I found chambers, bored it 2 over, took my time, rattle can paint and I raced the hell out of everything I could and smoked them all.
They were a mad weapon. I was a B Grade racer and it scared the crap out of me. Head Shake would pull the grips out of your hands. Here in Australia, they were uninsurable.
@@BrightsideMedia It helps to realise that you don't HAVE to have insurance to ride on the road in OZ Pretty dumb not to though as you're personably liable
If I remember correct, Kawasaki wrote in their ads: "The Mach 4 is the parfect long journey cruiser, with turbin-like smoothness", or something similar. And that's is the total opposite to the reality...
GO THE DISTANCE.. short rides only.. NOT 1974 was the summer, rode my H2 17,800 plus miles that yr. X Canada form Toronto to Vancouver and back 11 days on saddle. 7,300 miles. Here's the fun part. I needed a new rear tire while stopped over nite in Calgary. Waiting in the show room at shop, the mechanic came looking for me and ask if I could come back to shop with him.. the question was as he pointed at the exhaust pipes. " How did you get the ends of the pipes powdery white".. I laugh and said, just drive the dam thing hard enough and long enough. No oil on me! Loved That blipping bike
Greetings from New Zealand!! Have a green H2B and a Z1 in my toy box! Great video of a real crowd puller. I think I would put the front tire in a trophy cabinet or list it on ebay! Had a new H1E a life time ago and have come to let the good times roll again!
You should do a video on the 1975 Suzuki GT-550 triple. It was air cooled and I put 73,000 miles on mine. I went coast to coast 6 times with it. And never had the engine apart and never had a break down. And it was fast. Really fast. Especially the night she outran a biker gang. She would eat the Kawasaki 500 triple, but not the Mach 4. Nothing could touch the Mach 4. Even a 900. Kawasaki's only real problem was they didn't hold up. Neither of their triples. The engines wore right out. The Suzuki's were a far superior bike with their oil injection system. And we ran Castrol synthetic in them all the way back then. In fact, we switched all of our snowmobiles over to it as well. I didn't like the tall gearing on the water buffalo and that's why I had the 550. In the mountains where I lived at the time, the water buffalo was nothing but downshifting constantly. The 550 had enough RPM's to top the tall hills without downshifting at all, and it was noticeable. My best friend had a water buffalo and we bought our bikes together. And you need to put a front tire on that Mach 4, what's the matter with you? I can't believe you're riding it. You don't even know the front is the original. But it is totally unsafe with all that dry rot in the tread. CHANGE IT NOW. Put in on a different rim if you have to, and armor all the crap out of it. But DON'T ride on it. Are all your bikes that way? Unsafe and you're riding them? We'll be reading about you. Se La Vie.
Just discovered your channel. Chainsmoker - fabulous name, I love it. As a kid growing up in Germany I dreamed of owning a Mach IV one day. Fate brought me together with a crashed Z1 at age 17 in 1974 and it became a habit, as about 30 more crashed Z1s and Z900s followed. I always had a great bike, with 4 in 1 😉 due to the cost of replacing the original exhaust, however. The Kawasaki 900 phase of my life taught me so much about business and I look back with many fond memories, like meeting Pops Yoshimura while buying some of his parts in L.A. Most of the profits ended up in the purchase of a brand new 1978 Corvette. 😅
Thank you :-) And cheers for the story as well. A lot of these bikes are dreams to be chased and that's why we love them. They're not just beautiful and fun, but also take us back (and forth, sometimes). We're working on a new film about the Z1 that we'll upload later on this year. In the meantime, have you seen this one? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YW4_YZ3Skh0.html
Bloody hell that took me back ! I rode an AP50 , quickly progressing to a candy apple purple KH250 then a KH400 . The duplex Cradle frame was the same held together with pigeon dropping welds the front disk was lethal its stopping power was so inadequate. Such a dangerous bike but i loved it when it was running .
My brother in law had a H1 he let me ride back in the 70's. I still drool over the H1 and H2. If I only had 20 K to just spend on anything I wanted it would be and H2.
I instantly recognized that rear tire as the original factory equipment, whether this particular example was a replacement or not. That ribbed front tire was a change from the first issue of the blue H-2s (in the U.S. anyway) as they had a more universal tread which the factory had us replace on any that came into our shop for service. There was a stability issue they were setting out to overcome. I put many miles on customer H-2s for testing after service and always felt that the engine was trying to self destruct though most got along being very sturdy though piston rattle was always present. We also sold Suzuki and they were so gentlemanly and refined by comparison.
Thanks for pointing that out about the Front tire. They were trying to solve the speed wobble problem so the shops advocated putting an Avon ribbed front tire on it. It worked. Although on any High-Performance Bike you can induce speed wobble by applying too much power too early on high-speed Corner exits or by encountering seams in pavement and patches of different types of pavement right where you're trying to pour on the power. Like a concrete patch in a turn of all turn that's all or an asphalt patch in an asphalt turn where the asphalt is slightly different and the patch leaves a seam. The tire getting in a Groove can start the oscillation. You see it happen on MotoGP bikes all the time. Nobody complains the MotoGP bikes have bendy frames but they blamed it on the H2 all the time.Thanks for pointing that out about the Front tire. They were trying to solve the speed wobble problem so the shops advocated putting an Avon ribbed front tire on it. It worked. Although on any High-Performance Bike you can induce speed wobble by applying too much power too early on high-speed Corner exits or by encountering seams in pavement and patches of different types of pavement right where you're trying to pour on the power. Like a concrete patch in a turn of all turn that's all or an asphalt patch in an asphalt turn where the asphalt is slightly different and the patch leaves a seam. The tire getting in a Groove can start the oscillation. You see it happen on MotoGP bikes all the time. Nobody complains the MotoGP bikes have bendy frames but they blamed it on the H2 all the time.
*It was a very good motorcycle in its time and it was very fast in Caracas Venezuela. Many of these motorcycles were sold. I was about to buy one but it was very expensive when I was young. If the bike is yours, congratulate you on this relic. Angel.*
Back then I had a Suzuki GT 750, had to change the rear tire, chain etc. after the first 3000 km, that’s when I decided to be a little bit more gentle on the bike. Had a 250 RGV in the 90’s, a truly fantastic bike!
