1969 Kawasaki 500 Mach III - 7-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article

Description

1969 Kawasaki 500 Mach III - 7-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
KAWASAKI 500 MACH III
Amend The Old Proverb To Read: There’s No Substitute
For Cubic Inches, Except More . . . Efficiency.
KAWASAKI’S NEW 500 has got to be the kinkiest street
bike ever! It’ll raise the hairs on the back of a rider’s
■ neck, or turn them grey in 13 seconds flat. At top
speed, it will run faster than the Osaka Express. It will trounce
any mass production motorcycle that comes in full street trim,
regardless of displacement. The stench of rubber smoke and a
1 OO-foot-long black strip give ample evidence that it has
departed, yet it is as docile as a kitten. Its p.o.e. price of 9
is incredibly low, but it puts out more honest-to-goodness
horsepower than a Manx Norton.
CW Editor Ivan Wagar rushed to Japan when he heard the
tales about Kawasaki’s modern new way to commit harakiri.
After a preview demonstration and technical conference with
the Mach Ill development engineers, he returned home—some-
what wide-eyed—and the staff was forewarned. On the day the
beautifully designed three-cylinder was delivered to the
CYCLE WORLD offices, one wag suggested a lottery to
determine who wouldn’t have to ride it through the quarter-
mile. Another went out and bought a new face plate, figuring
that he would otherwise get his helmet sucked off the top of
his head. But the trepidation was not that necessary. The Mach
III, in spite of its racer-like tendencies, is far from being a
beast. It starts easily, has terrific brakes, is extremely
manageable in traffic, and forgives the rider if he lets the
engine speed drop too low. One would never know that the
500 is a racer in disguise, were it not for the fact that the front
wheel readily lifts into the air if the throttle is jerked on in the
first three gears.
Il is not at all invidious to compare its output favorably to
the Manx, for its performance is everything Kawasaki claimed
it was. Even the average rider may rack up a 100-mph standing
start quarter, and, with some practice, get his e.t. into the 12s.
Drag racer Tony Nicosia already has managed to push his own
fully-equipped Mach 111 through the LADS timers at more
than 109 mph. A 60-bhp 500-cc production motorcycle would
have seemed impossible just a few years ago. But it had to
happen. The performance market is “where it’s at” in
America, and the giants of the Japanese motorcycle industry
have the technical resources to exploit it.
Kawasaki began development of the Mach III in early 1967...
12689-70rta-08