Easier than the 70's.

[Baff1960]

Hi.
Back in the day you rarely came across a triple on the roads and almost never saw one in a shop for sale apart from KH250/400'S. Now we are spoilt for choice. You've only got to do a quick online search and you can find almost any model/colour. If anything its starting to look like there's too many! [ if that's possible ]. How many of us that had the good fortune to experience them in the glory days don't already have one or two now? Lots now seem to be hanging about and imported projects are looking to be very overpriced.

[Triple Parts]

Prices have definitely stagnated a bit in the past 6 months, some cheap £5k 500's being advertised now.
In the late 70's/early 80's we only regularly saw 250s and 400s like you say. The odd KH500 would pop up and there were a couple of 72/73 H2's around here. Oh and I went to college with a lad that had a H1E, but he was always banned

[Antarctic Boy]

Indeed, growing up as a triple obsessed young teenager you had to keep a keen eye out in the mid seventies for any pre KH triple. Most of the people I bumped into at shows with often mega shiny examples never owned one back in the day.

The triples were totally impractical so all the "sensible" people bought stuff like Honda CB250 G5s, CJ250T, 400 fours etc. I was, along with a mate the only idiot stupid enough to spend most of my wages on petrol and pistons!

If I recall it was much harder to actually buy a Kawasaki back then as there did not seem to be very many dealers so a lot of people bought other makes. Ironic that the very last KH versions ended up the most popular and "milked" the reputation of the earlier ones.

I loved and owned (every capacity) triple back in the day, suffering mental anxiety as they got slower! But today I'm a "pipe and slippers" triple owner preferring the very last versions - hence my KH400 and KH500, 80 odd mph more than enough for the rural Norfolk B roads and in my experience the lost bhp equals better reliability.....

Though it may be that I no longer try and scrape those precious pipes round the corners anymore!!

[skub]

I started riding in 1971 and the factory where I served my time had loads of apprentices. There were triples aplenty.

S2 350

A couple of H1s,orange and brown H1b and ?

H2 (a red one,not sure of the model,maybe H2b?)

S3 400

A white S1 250.

They all were very popular locally.

[Doctorpayday]

A quick tot up and I remember only ever seeing 1 kh500 in 1976.

A friend of a friend of a friend had a s3a.

Very rare sighting of anything bigger, when out and about.

Saw more triples on my first ever triple rally than i had ever before.

Doc

[Akashi Classics]

Back at the beginning of '73, I bought a new Pearl White S1. Loved it, and had it for a few years.
Then, there were quite a few 750's, 500's, 350's in Aussie, but not too many 250's. Probably because for less than $100Au more, you could get a 350.
400's sold reasonably well when they came out too.

After '76, we didn't get many/any 250's, and I don't recall any KH400's either. KH500's were around, but the popularity was starting to drop well off by then.
There seems to have been a fair number of H2-B's, but far fewer H2-C's. I really only recall seeing one.

I do see agree with the OP though, at any gathering these days, there is often a gaggle of triples.

[husson73]

On the glory days as I got my driving licence on 1972 any K triples were rare birds but on the small town where I lived near Paris we were 3 on 1975 running H2 and all the 3 raced later on production races 1000 cc on H2.
Sadly the 2 other are died now: on 2018 for one on 2019 for the other both for illness
The both kep their H2 until the end

[Wolfie]

By the time I bought my S1 in 1975 I had only ever seen one other S1(b), luckily on my way to somewhere one day I happened upon a Kawasaki dealer in Wakefield...

It just fell bang on time for an inheritance, I bought the S1c outright.

[Treeman]

I was lucky round this way as there was a green H1E, a brown H2B and a purple H2C that I saw regularly. There were also plenty of 250's, including my B2 .
Probably due to the Kawasaki shop - 'Godfrey's of Sheen' (who also had a Cheam branch). This post has made me remember a long term regret - I had always wanted a white S1 and one evening when I came out of work by Chiswick Roundabout in South West London (on a very wet winters evening and on a push bike for some reason), there was a white S1 on the grass verge by the roundabout, that had clearly just been dragged out of a nearby garage, with a crude cardboard 'For Sale' sign on it . I was so tired and wanting to get home through the rain that I thought I would check it out the next morning I never saw it again, except in my minds eye every time I think of an S1 to this day!

[robh1f]

Chiswick is in WEST London.....W4....grew up there.... Where did you work back in the day mate.....we went to same school I recall ???

[Treeman]

Hi Rob - sorry for the delay in responding - I worked at the big Peugeot garage right on the roundabout and before that in a crash repair shop right next to Kew Gardens Station (which is now a gated development for rich people).
I grew up in Petersham just beyond Richmond and went to Grey Court School in Ham . I used to go to Chiswick Kawasaki? down the High Road for second hand spares .

[Luke Sharp]

I could recognise the sound of every bike in the town where I grew up: Hondas, Yamahas & Suzukis. Until a new sound came to town, Shonney Johnson on his blue S1C. So different. He gave me a ride around the local technical college car park and that was it, hooked. But apart from that, nothing.

I do remember clocking a green H2B from the bus to college one morning. Again, hooked!

And visiting the local dealers Eric Housely in Clay Cross of course there were a few about.

[CJWChris]

I was pretty fortunate growing up in Congleton in the early 70s, my mate had a friend with a blue h1f which i saw often and then a year or so later i knew some one with a blue s1.
I liked it but the only ones available by then were kh250s so i bought one and every time we used to go to Darley Moor races we use to see loads of triples in every colour. Ok most of them were s1 and s3 but there was a few h1 and kh500s.
Only ever saw 2 x 750s on the road and one of those was in my home town when a lad with a purple kh400 traded it in for a purple h2 from Speedway motorcycles in Crewe. He promptly sprayed it black for some reason! By god was that bike loud!
Also another local lad had a early white h1 which he had gas flowed and tuned and that sounded awsome but he could never get it to run right which was a shame. Happy days and it always seemed warmer and we had more time then!

[Wolfie]

There are probably far more Triples available in the UK than were ever imported by Kawasaki in the day..

RB, Scottish Neil and others are probably responsible..

[RacerRB159]

My very first experience of triples was a S1, think it was a C, that my friend had when we were 17. I had a ride on it and loved it. I can not recall ever seeing a 750 until I saw a C at the Festival of 1000 bikes at Brands Hatch about 30 years ago, yes, I did ask if the centre cylinder seized up
In fact, I saw a Z1rTC in Molly colours in Coventry before I saw a H2. Then I tripped over a bubble wrapped H2b fuel tank at a friends house, and then I met Rick at Stafford and now I’m a hopeless Kawasaki addict