First time Triple

[SAM]

The first time a triple took my attention was when good friend Gary turned up on a brand new S1C!
It was so awesome in every way. The bright blue paint, deep chrome 3 pipes & that unique chirpy sound they made.
Thats when i realised my GT250L Suzuki was on borrowed time

[malc87]

The first one I seen was my mate Colly's in the Isle of Man who bought a brand new S1C. It left my CB200, in green, on borrowed time but I traded it in for an RD350

[Olde Coney]

I recall seeing them at Huddersfield Kawasaki a long time ago

The first one I purchased was an H1b bought from Martin (Bizcarts)

[husson73]

was 13 years old and mostly interesting about cars racing.
On may 1969 I bought, as each month, a monthly new paper with half was cars and cars racing and the other half motorcycles and motorcycles racing calling CHAMPION.
On the front cover was Johnny Servoz-Gavin on his Matra 650 spyder during 24 H of Le Mans test on april and the first test of the Kawasaki 500 H1 white with the blue stripe.
The tester Christain Lacombe who did all his carrier on motorcycle newpapers wrote the bike was awesome and performed than any other bike.
Seems fabulous but was humbly waiting to have 14 years old the 2 january 1970 to pick up my mum's moped as she just got her car driving licence and bought for 500 francs (around £ 60) a 1949 black VW Beetle split windows
Don't know at this time that five years latter I will got one a 69 H1

[Wolfie]

Me and local mates were all coming up for an upgrade from the Mopeds, one bought a Honda 125 and promptly wrote both the Bike and another mate off

But we started buying Bike Mag and in there was a 6 Bike 250cc roundup, by far the best looker was the S1c.. I was just coming up for an inheritance and one day on a ride around Wakefield, I stumbled upon a Kawasaki dealership with one... A few (interminable) weeks later it was mine.

[TallyB]

Back in 1971 early 72 saw an S1 and fell in love with triples there and then.

[scouse]

I started quite late I can't remember what year but I was in my 20s,
I was a Yamaha twin man.
I've told the tale before, my mate rang me up all excited " I've just bought Westy's H1 " I replied a what? His exited reply was " say there " I thought, well I wasn't planning on going anywhere.
Next thing I hear this din, I went outside and there he was sat in this bike with 3 pipes burbling away, grinning like absolute idiot, he rode off on one wheel with a trail of 3 lines of smoke
"I like that" I thought and the seed was sown .
The rest as they say is history

[Doctorpayday]

It's Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend in 1974, I'm in mum and dads Ford Cortina 1300 Deluxe and we're on our way to Ringwood in the New Forest.

The traffic is crawling slowly (the M3 isn't finished yet) it's hot and the Cortina isn't happy in the heat.

All the windows are open and dad's squeaky wheel isn't in tune with 'Beach baby ' on the radio.

I'm roused from my boredom, by a procession of bikes filterering, through the endless line of cars.

I peer through the open windows enviously and I couldn't tell you the makes, but the last one was red and had 3 exhaust pipes and sounded like nothing I had ever heard.

It would take me some time to identify the make and model and even longer to finally own one.

If i ever hear a H1 burbellingl past I'm instantly transported back to the time we first met.

Doc

[Zytec]

As a 15 year old kid in Wrexham triples were as rare as hens teeth and even rarer in the few motor bike dealers that we had in the area as we had never ever seen one when me and my mates used to make our Saturday morning pilgrimage around what motorbike shops there were looking to see if anything was different in the stock but there rarely was. The guys at the dealers must have thought here they are again

So this one Saturday we decided we had enough money for the bus fare to Chester as we knew there were far more dealers to look around so we made a list of the ones we knew and there rough location from the yellow pages and off we went. Bill Smiths was the last we visited as it was furthest out of the city and at that time a Kawasaki dealer amongst others, we didn`t know this, when we walked in we saw the usual offerings but as we ventured further inside we saw our first triple a H2 and we all went wow look at that in unison. I think we examined every inch of it and all dreaming of owning one but knowing that it was beyond our reach as we had a couple of years before we could have a licence anyway and the price tag was something a 15 year old thought was a fortune.

We continued to look then we came across a blue S1C which was identical in our eyes to look at as the H2 but smaller and cheaper, still a lot to a kid, but it gave us hope plus it was a learner bike too that made it accessible for when we eventually reached the age to own one. That was the turning point and I vowed that day that I was going to have one for my 17th birthday.

[downpipe3]

Same as Sam same bike my neighbour

[Hobbo]

My first bike was the ubiquitous Fizzy, purchased second hand as soon as I turned 16. Great fun, but as soon as the year was up I traded it in for a RD200, loved this bike, quick and very nimble. Another year and I left home to go to university, no money so I traded the RD for a battered Suzuki 125 trail bike so I could get around.
Back home one of my best mates bought a blue H1a. I remember the first time he rode up our road, a screaming banshee trailing huge plumes of heady smoke. Once I had had a go, I was smitten, but no money meant no bike.
Sadly, Dave who had the H1 traded it in for a Z900, and within the year had died in a tragic accident.
As the years rolled past I never lost my fascination for the triples, but sort of thought there would never be any left, too rusty and too thrashed to last the decades. However, a burst of curiosity brought me to searching the web to see if I could find one, and I did, a knackered old KH400 in Hull. I loved a project, discovered Maxrls bible and set too dismantling and rebuilding the bike. Once complete I absolutely loved riding it.
A year later and the itch for another project niggled so I bought a H1F from an import site. It turned over, but obviously hadn’t run in years. Another complete strip down and rebuild created a lovely looking bike, though I chose to have it painted green, just love that colour.
Riding the two bikes each summer was great fun. However, I’ve always admired the aesthetics of the blue H2, and fancying another project bought a real basket case one. This was in a far worse condition than either of the other two. Badly seized engine, lots of rust and corrosion, but since it was going to be completely stripped and rebuilt I thought wtf. Should have known better, it took ages sourcing the correct parts and the engine was a nightmare. Eventually I managed it and was right proud, it looked great but surged badly.
Then one day a few months later I had a bad accident on it, bike all bent and me with several crushed vertebrae. It took 6 months before I could walk properly again, though now with a bit of a permanent stoop, just old age!
I’ve now, this summer, recommissioned the H2 back into service and am working through a load of minor, but niggly issues. I didn’t love it before, and had decided I would sell it next year if I felt the same, I fancy trying a RD350 project. However, the more I ride it, the more I love it, unsophisticated yes, but a definite buzz, so it looks like it will stay.
I still have the three triples, and every now and then I reminisce about Dave and the first time I saw a H1.
Paul (Hobbo)

[Triple Parts]

That story needs to go in the magazine Paul, especially if you have some pictures

[Zytec]

That story needs to go in the magazine Paul, especially if you have some pictures

I agree, even without the pics it sounds a good story