Kawasaki Triples Club

1973 a friend of mine got a kawasaki H1 69, he let me rode it in Paris I opened full throttle 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th gear, was damm fast and crazy sound and acceleration fucking traffic lights went red, used the brake crossed the junction w/o stopping still alive so wanted one

My first triple was my H2b, I bought it without riding it( last year) then spent many a happy/terrified mile learning about rattles, bangs, shakes and how many expletives I can put into a sentence describing the brakes
I just wish I had had the chance to experience one sooner
Rich

I was the guy with dial gauge and meter in the early 70s so set up all the local two strokes. Friend had an S1C. So that was the first. Blew my mind with the look, sound and performance.

Kh400 1976 bought brand new from Kawasaki world in South Shields NJR 525R

KH250 on the fields aged 15ish.

An 18 month old KH500 in early 1978 (PKE 428R), then sold it in summer 1979 to get an H2C (MVH 725P)

My mate's KH250 when I had a CB400N.


I went and bought a KH400 soon after.

First was a KH250, cheap but it was a knacker. The gear change return spring had broken, so on every down change you had to lift it up first. It regularly jumped out of second gear so it was safer to go first to third. The first time I opened it up to about 60mph there was a large bang and I thought what the hell was that? The centre plug thread had been stripped by the previous owner and it had blown the plug out! Despite all this I bought another one and used the knacker for spares. Started a lifelong obsession with triples.

KH250b4 ( DEK 225T ) bought new just after my 17th birthday from Steve Hartley's in Warrington, loved that bike.

kh250 OSG 5P 1976

September 1978 KH400 A4 (Purple) XHB 999T, new from Kawasaki House Cardiff, its still alive somewhere, according to DVLA it had Tax & MOT last year

S1C in Spring 1976 GTN 699N

Bought a H1A (CJU 563K) new February 72, no test rides just loved the look of it, snowed on the way home and did the running in on the Dragon rally the following weekend. Sold it 18 months later after 30,000 trouble free miles, that includes production racing it.

KH250 B1 bought new from Doug Hackings Bolton when the KH's first came out in November 1975, KBN 684P, no longer about according to the DVLA - pity it was a great bike.

I owned a Suzuki GT750M in 1975.....2 mates got new H2C's..... a ride on one and that was it.... i'm now on my 10th H2, latest one for the last 9 yrs....

Brand new with delivery miles inly KH20B2 Blue. Loved that bike!
UTB922S

New KH250 B1 in June 1976 NBU 669P

KH250 B2 (UGK 114R) - bought when about sixteen and a half and then done up for six months as it was in a terrible state, even though only 2 - 3 years old (as per. the article in the previous club mag).

It was originally bought from Godfreys of Sheen (they also had a shop in Cheam) where me and my mates used to cycle to regularly as kids - just to look at the bikes and take home the leaflets to dream about I remember cycling there early one Saturday morning to see the unveiling of the brand new Z1R ....must be getting old

Oh yes - still got the KH250

Mr K's S1c, in 1975.


Clearly made no impression on me.


doc

Great to see the little ones getting a mention.
KH250 B2 Blue SGM682S August '77 new from:- Still together.
MalcP

June 1978. Bought a R reg KH 500 for £610. The bike was 9 months old. Was paying a weeks salary every month for insurance. Kept the bike for just over a year before I could no longer afford to keep it.

Circa '72 or so 1st Kaw triple ride was a beater '70 H1.. UGLY (to me) but boy that engine sang a song that enchanted me!


Excerpt from a story I wrote some time ago..............

"A year or so later I got rid of it and got my first Kaw triple, a faded orange H1C, electronic ignition thank you very much. I won’t go into the details of what I did to the bike but while the Zuk was efficient, unobtrusive, tractor-like and smooth, the Kaw stuck two middle fingers directly at everyone else on the road! It was noisy, smoked like a sailor, was fast and most importantly, it FELT fast!
As we all know, it was never happy cruising at a steady speed but was in its element when it was being wound out!

It would wheelie on command in the lower couple of gears and could smoke the rear tire if I was so inclined……both satiated my extrovert personality. I know things are different now but like a lot of us, I grew up with zero respect for the law, my group didn’t drink but we did “other things” and fighting was always an option and I wore that IDGAF (I don’t give a f…)attitude on my sleeve where everyone could see it. The triple was the perfect bike for me. It would smoke the guys dressed like pirates on their farm implements from a stop and was cheap to get and cheap to maintain....."

jeffk