1975 Kawasaki H1F 500 - 8-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article

Description

1975 Kawasaki H1F 500 - 8-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article
Original, vintage motorcycle article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
KAWASAKI
still the fastest
straight-line 500 around,
but it hasn't yet learned the
fine art of turning gracefully
Back in 1969. Kawasaki unleashed the
first of their famous asphalt-burners, the
HI 500cc Mach 111. Anyone with even a
trace of sporting blood in his veins was
turned on in one wav or another bv those
white-tanked screamers. People really
paid attention when a Mach 111 stormed
away from a stoplight, for they knew
something spectacular was bound to hap-
pen. They usually heard a heavy intake
roar, followed bv cither a burnout or a
wheelie—or perhaps both—maybe simul-
taneously
To say that those first 500s were peaky
was al least the understatement of the
year. And to make matters worse, one end
of the chassis didn't seem to know what
the other end was doing It wasn’t too
terribly bad for straight-line riding, but
when you stuffed it into a turn, it was
anybody's guess where it would come out.
It would wobble and dance around and
sometimes lift the front wheel at the most
inappropriate limes. Nevertheless. Mach
11 Is sold wzell because the buyers liked that
blistering engine performance.
In the two years that followed. the en-
gine was mellow'cd somewhat to make the
bike more rideablc. Those bikes kept the
same frame design, the same ignition
(CDI), and the same front brake, but they
were a little bit slower.
In 1972. Kawasaki put back some of...
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