Is this a stupid question?

[Bic_Bicknell]

I have had this thing in my mind for a very long time now so need an answer. After much thought I'm willing to post up my question and get a load of stick from Neil the Don and all H2b owners.

As some of you may know I am a designer with a graphics background but for the last thirty years been a product/brand designer so I see everything from an aesthetic point of view. Ugliness and bad proportions offend me in a way that to others may seem a little bit neurotic - but that is the way it is for me, and most other people who work in design.

Anyway. This is my problem. Why does the H2B and the H1E (I think it's this one) not have the coloured graphic stripe continuing onto the tail piece? WHAT WERE KAWASAKI THINKING? Were they trying to save money? Were they just lazy that year? Did someone think it was a good idea? Obviously someone put them right because by the next year they'd reshaped the front stripe to be more in keeping with the new tank shape and added the stripe onto the tail.

At any shows, or in model line-ups they stand out amongst all the other years as looking completely unfinished and thoughtless.

I'd often looked at H2Bs when I was searching to find a bike to buy but I could never overcome my dislike of this so always knew I'd end up with a C. (Told you I was neurotic!)

Is there a good story behind this historical aesthetic cock-up?

While I'm at it. Why do some of the H1s of the same period not have grab rails? They look doubly unfinished too.

[Neil the Don]

Not a stupid question. , as it opens up infinite possibilities to ramble on without a definitive answer.

so perfect for knobs like us.

firstly, All H1s were fitted with grab rails from the Factory. folk removed them. Along with rear mudguards, centre stands, mirrors , high bars , original seats , and shocks etc for obvious reasons to young men back in the day. Streamlining !!! Ground clearance . speed !!!!

I know what you mean about the " missing" speed blocks on the 74 range. The 73 H1D in green had a weird black and white pinstripe on the tailpiece. Which has no design similarity to the tanks " chainsaw" design. I suppose you'd need to try and understand the Japanese design fashions and aesthetics . Japanese pretty , may not be the same as UK or European pretty. ( look at the way the Dutch or Norwegians wear brightly coloured trousers. What do the Japs think of that ?!!)

Here's one thought on it. Maybe with a rounded front end on the tank , and deciding two small pinstripes were not the answer ( feedback from customers ?? ). Then the Factory design teams feared matching up with a reverse round edged flash on the tailpiece ? It would look like a sausage !!!! So left it tastefully mono colour.

In 75 , with the Cutlass flags ending in a forward point , it was ok to put a flash on the tailpiece with a flat end. It seems more symmetrical ?

Let's face it, I've seen a few home grown pair jobs with the 74 chainsaw flash AND the 75 tail flash added . and it just desn't look right to me ???

( then, I also get itchy when I see any bike after a K reg with a black and silver number plate. It's just wrong !!!!! )

[Neil the Don]

Oh, and this is the kind of topic we should be talking about . Not bloody politics !!!

I'm sure I can mange to drag this down into the gutter and be shouting Bollocks !!!! To somebody over a choice of colour scheme fairly quickly anyway ?

[thelodgers]

As an H1e owner I can speak authoritatively and say that I've never thought there is a tail/tank mismatch . So there

Cheers

[Veteranix]

H2B colours:
http://3cyl.com/mraxl/paint/triple_colo ... od12e.html
and look this pictures, you will see whar happens with the tail
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ka ... ORM=IQFRBA
Cheers.

[husson73]

The fact that the H2B tank was relatively short explains why there isn't the coloured graphic on the tail rest.
Works on H2C cause the tank is longer and add the fact the H2 was the flag of the triple range.