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The 10 best motorcycle engines ... ever! - 10. KAWASAKI H1 500
You can?t have a motorbike without a motor, and over the decades there?s been some truly glorious bike engines. This is our Top10 list of the greatest, most important and most innovative bike engines ever made, as we pay homage to horsepower.
Posted: 9 July 2010
by Ben Cope
10. KAWASAKI H1 500 2 of 11
10. KAWASAKI H1 500
Year: 1969
Horsepower: 53bhp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 38ft.lb @ 5,000rpm
Layout: 498cc, air-cooled, parallel-triple
There has arguably never been a streetbike more dominated by its engine than Kawasaki?s H1 triple of 1969. The 498cc, air-cooled two-stroke, also called the Mach III, was created mainly for the stoplight-racing crazy US market, so Kawasaki went all out for power-toweight ratio. This meant designing the most powerful engine possible, and bolting it into the lightest chassis they could make.
Kawasaki tested twin-cylinder prototype motors before choosing the piston-ported triple, which has potential for more power than a twin because its extra cylinder wall area allows more port area. Young engineer Yukio Otsuki, who headed the project, specified big cooling fins to guard against the middle cylinder overheating, and used an innovative ignition system to allow high revs. The smooth running, 120-degree crankshaft meant the clutch and gearbox could be notably light.
The H1 motor produced 60bhp at 8,000rpm - in a bike whose skinny steel frame and pencil-like forks contributed to a dry weight of just 174kg. The result was a stunning bike that screamed through the quarter in less than 13 seconds at over 100mph, and ?trounced any mass production motorcycle regardless of displacement?, according to Cycle World.
The peaky motor came alive at 5,500rpm with a mighty kick and the H1?s high bars and 57 per cent rearwards weight bias made the Kawasaki the world?s first production streetbike with a barely controllable urge to wheelie. Predictably scary handling added to the excitement. The Mach III cost a dollar under $1,000 in the States in ?69, and was a huge hit that put Kawasaki firmly on the map.
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