Kawasaki H1 500

Cevan · Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 3:41 pm Post subject: Kawasaki H1 500

I'm looking for a vintage bike to restore. I've looked at a few. I've got a line on a 1973 Kawasaki H1 Mach III 500. I can get it for practically free. Are parts readily available for these?

Rizingson · Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:39 pm Post subject:

Are you Joking? If you can get an H1 for practically free, the PO has been living under a rock! It's only the most sought after Vintage Japanese Bike out there that was sold to the general public. Also the world's fastest bike in it's era (1969-71 for the H1 and 1972-75 for the H2) regardless of size. Don't believe me? Check the bid activity on Ebay on any bikes or parts!! I know my 1973 H-1D will stay in my collection for a long time as it is 100% original and complete.

Freaky_1 · Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:56 pm Post subject:

Personally, I'd pay good money for one that was pure junk, just for the wall hang factor!

Oh and yes, MUCH still available. One of the best crank builders for them (also great source of information) isn't far from me. He did my H2 crank and ended up leading me to all the parts I needed.

Damon Kirkland
111 Zachary Rd
Dothan, AL 36301-8179
(334)677-7141

Damon's e-mail is: bitkirkland [at] aol [dot] com

Frank

Swedemoto · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 4:21 am Post subject:

Damon just retired and passed his business on. I can;t recall his name. It's on the KTW forum.

H2Lou · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:56 am Post subject:

They are a fun bike. Cool

Freaky_1 · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:49 am Post subject:

H2Lou · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 12:04 pm Post subject:

There is an awesome guy in Sault Saint Marie as well.
He goes by Tripletriplnut on the Canadian triple board.
On the KTW site there is porschedave as well...both great guys

ol55 · Commuter Joined: Feb 09, 2009 Posts: 391 Location: VA

They are lousy bikes to restore. PM me the info and I'll get rid of it.

Who wants to ride on only one tire? Shocked

(you better move fasssst)

Larry

Bikegeezer · Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:54 pm Post subject: Re: Kawasaki H1 500

H2Lou · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 5:28 am Post subject:

They are one of the best bang for buck bikes you can ownâ€¦they do have a bit of an attitude and they take a bit of getting used to but what a blast to ride.
You are your own throttle control board and have to ride in your skill set on any bike.
I have ridden the triples as daily riders since 1975â€¦I have zero complaints about them. Cool

Rizingson · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 6:08 am Post subject:

I hope we hear from Cevan soon on this H1 and find out he got it! but I'm not holding my breath. If it was listed on any public for sale site it would have been long gone before he finished posting his questions. I know a few people who have their computers set up to call them within 30 seconds of any Kawasaki triple bike or parts listed nationwide.
Stu, you are right, the H1's and H2's have become a cult bike based on performance, but many of the seekers are now young kids that have no interest in restoration or reputation from past days. It's only about the "money" they believe they can quickly make trading parts etc.
Many of the ads for them on craigslist are hoax's, but it might be that one in a million shot where the owner doesn't know anything about it. In my area there was recently an ad on craigslist which only said 70's Kawasaki, runs good, just purchased newer model $1200 OBO and it was about a 100 miles out in the country. Just happened to open the ad and it was an original 74' H2 with pictures that looked authentic and the bike was complete. After e-mailing from about four different accounts I could never get a response. Still wonder if someone got a screamin' deal or if he was tipped off or it was just a hoax.

Steve Searles · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 6:12 am Post subject:

My 2 cents. These bikes I guess are not for me. Two guys rode in to the local bike show last weekend with H2 750s and what a mess. Oil all over the exhaust pipes. Leaking from the exhaust. Smoking badly and loud. Almost rat bikes due to hard to keep them clean with the oil spatter. Guy couldn't start it when he went to leave. Flooded. Had to push it to get it going. Nope. I will stick to my nice smooth, quiet inline four strokes with electric start. Just my opinion. If you want a bike to just sit and display, never start it or ride it and have it appreciate in value then I would consider one. That's just me, a japanese motorcycle addict for 30 years.

Rizingson · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 6:33 am Post subject:

Steve you are so right! They would make the worst daily driver you could own! My '73 is a garage queen, but is not for sale even though I never ride it. It was just to difficult to find one (came from a Wisconsin barn) that hadn't been screwed up.
Here's a pic of mine, should be the same as the bike Cevan was thinking about. (Note the leaking forks)

H2Lou · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:11 am Post subject:

Wow...hard crowd. Cool

I owed a 74 Z1 for about two weeks once...thought i would like it.
Nope, to boring to ride, handled nice and everything but I found it very boring.
We die hard triple guys that know how to tune and wrench these things get 1000's of trouble free miles.
Two strokes are a simple engine but you do have to pay attention to their care.
Maybe more than most would want â€¦and thatâ€™s ok
It is sad that the price of them has gone through the roof with the e-bay parasites; it makes finding parts very hard.
Plus itâ€™s good that most people like the diesels since it leaves more of the triple two strokes for us that love them and ride them like they should beâ€¦Hard. Twisted Evil

ductune · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:12 am Post subject:

I used to race H1s and H2s with WERA back in the 70's. Yes they were evil handling but with a few modifications I won my share of races. My old race bike had forks from a later Z1 and a dual disk setup that was better then my TZ. As far as oil leaks, a little high temp silicon on the exhaust flanges made for a very clean machine.