Kawasaki is turning 70 in September

I'm with John! I own two right now, and if I had to have only one bike, I haven't found one that works better for me than a Versys, so HBD Kawasaki! :party
 
budman said:
Rock on Team Green. :thumbup
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flying_hun said:
I'm with John! I own two right now, and if I had to have only one bike, I haven't found one that works better for me than a Versys, so HBD Kawasaki! :party
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:thumbup

this is awesome:

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Racing History

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they don’t even bother noting the mighty KX 500 winning every Baja 1000 from 1988 through 1996! :party

what I love about Kawasaki is how they design these cool little engines, and then tool up and churn them out for 20 years.

between the EX500 and the KLR 650 I must have owned over 25 Kawasaki motorcycle engines over the years. HBD, Kawasaki! god bless them, I say. :ride:toothless
 
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I have one now.. although not a runner :facepalm

I loved the sexy Ninja 600 back in the day. I was the only AFMer near the front that did not tuck the front with that 16" wheel. :teeth
 

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budman said:
I have one now.. although not a runner :facepalm

I loved the sexy Ninja 600 back in the day. I was the only AFMer near the front that did not tuck the front with that 16" wheel. :teeth
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:thumbup

Kawasaki Ninja 600 was a game changer, for sure!

couple my Kawasaki pics:

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a typical $2000 used KLR, at the Arctic Circle in Canada …

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this hand-made frame by Glen Gibson’s brother, around a Kawasaki EX500 engine, and some of the club racing trophies won with that venerable Kawasaki engine over the years. :afm199
 
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That is a solid display of racing chrome!! :Port
 
Jammer said:
In July, their motorcycle division will be 68. Mother Yamaha was founded on the 12th of October 1897.
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Maybe you should start a belated happy birthday thread.
 
budman said:
I have one now.. although not a runner :facepalm

I loved the sexy Ninja 600 back in the day. I was the only AFMer near the front that did not tuck the front with that 16" wheel. :teeth
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That's the one I had, too. So crisp. The following year's red white and blue colors were pretty slick though, especially if you painted the wheels white. :drool

Mine was a 'Wednesday' bike, fast from the factory. I'd pull on other identical bikes from a freeway roll-on every time. :ride

I think about picking one up now and again but then remember that it's a heavy, 37 year old bike. :laughing
 
Everyone was touched by Kawasaki.

About 1978 I had a Z-1 that was Yoshi kitted. Had a braced frame and rattle can paint. What an 'effin BEAST.

It was heavy, didn't fit my body, had a ninety mile range, consumed tires like potato chips, was obnoxious and constantly needed little repairs (death by a thousand cuts).

But, like with that one girlfriend all your bros told you not to date, I ended up with memories of a lifetime.
 
I’ve only had two; a JS550 and a KX500. Fun times.
Kawi was the first to make a jet ski, no?
 
The 1971 H2R, a 748 cm3 two-stroke three-cylinder production racer, inspired such awe in racing rivals at circuits around the world that it was nicknamed the “Green Meanie.” In the 1973 AMA Road Racing Championship, Gary Nixon won three races to take the title.
 
Kawasaki put the 750 2 smoke triple on the Flat Track grid too. Of course Kenny's success on the Yamaha put a quick end to those bikes being allowed to compete. Saw them at the SJ Mile.

Need to kick some brain cells in the ass to remember who rode them. There were two.
 
budman said:
Kawasaki put the 750 2 smoke triple on the Flat Track grid too. Of course Kenny's success on the Yamaha put a quick end to those bikes being allowed to compete. Saw them at the SJ Mile.

Need to kick some brain cells in the ass to remember who rode them. There were two.
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:thumbup

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1974 Kawasaki H2R Flat Tracker: Kanemoto’s Dragon
motorcycleclassics.com, by Dain Gingerelli, 08/02/23

tl/dr:
… a month and a half prior, July 6 to be precise, another multi-cylinder 2-stroker had already won an AMA Regional flat track race, the Stockton Mile in California.

The winner of that non-National event was 21-year-old Scott Brelsford, riding the No. 19 green monster featured here.

The bike, built by still-aspiring tuner Erv Kanemoto and powered by a Kawasaki H2R 750cc 3-cylinder air-cooled 2-stroke engine, now belongs to collector Mike Iannuccilli.

It remains the first multi-cylinder 2-stroke to win a major AMA flat track race.
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nice, long article. :party
 
Nice John.

I think it may have been Gary Nixon who joined Brelsford. He had given it a shot in '74 but the bike was not stable enough to challenge. He did have the fastest top speed though.

I was pretty cool seeing the two smokes blow by the HD's and Triumphs on the last 1/3 of the straights.
 
A pix of the old Sacto mile, long straights, narrow tight turns, 2-smokes, and brakes in '75 ?
Timing getting tight, when were brakes allowed in flat track?

Without brakes, and that blistering acceleration over 4 strokes over the last 1/3 of the straights? Not possible, right?
 
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