page_title: Kawasaki triple
section_title: Mach III H1 500
hierarchical_section_title: Kawasaki triple / Mach III H1 500
caption_attribution_description: English: Kawasaki 500SS Mach III H1 (1970) 日本語: 1970年製カワサキ500SSマッハIII H1。ホンダ・コレクションホール所蔵。
context_page_description: The Kawasaki triples were a range of 250 to 750 cc motorcycles made by Kawasaki from 1968 to 1980. The engines were air-cooled, three-cylinder, piston-controlled inlet port two-strokes with two exhaust pipes exiting on the right side of the bike, and one on the left. It was the first production street motorcycle with capacitor discharge ignition. Right from the first triple model, the 1968 Mach III H1 500 cc, it was a sales success that gained a reputation for almost unmatched acceleration as well as an air of danger for inexperienced riders trying to cope with the bike's increased power to weight ratio over any previously available stock motorcycles.
context_section_description: The market for motorcycles in 1968 was changing from utilitarian transport to more aggressive sporting motorcycles that disregarded fuel economy and noise, in favor of quicker quarter mile times, which were prominently advertised by manufacturers. While Kawasaki had an inline-four four-stroke in development, it was not going be ready in time to upstage the 1969 Honda CB750, so instead they moved up the release of their conventional piston port two-stroke triple to "make a real splash". They turned to the N100 Plan, a project begun in June, 1967, whose intent was to design the most powerful production motorcycle engine in the world. They first considered increasing the bore of an existing engine but instead created an all-new engine, experimenting with both inline and L cylinder arrangements, with both two and three cylinders. They settled on an inline-three arrangement after testing showed that an inline layout did not adversely affect cooling of the middle cylinder.
  The result of this project was the H1 Mach III, with a 15° inclined, inline-triple 498 cc (30.4 cu in) engine, first produced in September, 1968, 14 months after the N100 project began. The new model did indeed sell well with young men in the late 1960s, with total production eventually exceeding 110,000 units, though it was unpopular with authorities. The bike gave Kawasaki a "rebel" image, "outside the law", which played well with sport bike riders. The racing version, the H1R ridden by Ginger Molloy, took second place in the 1970 Grand Prix World Championship.
  The H1 was the first multi-cylinder street motorcycle to use capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) which operated through an automotive style distributor, previously only used in off-road single cylinder motorcycles. The first version of this electronic ignition was overly complex and proved unreliable, so Kawasaki gave up on it briefly, using traditional breaker points, one set for each cylinder, in 1972. For the 1973 H1D, a redesigned CDI was used, which was more reliable with a hotter spark at lower engine speeds, which in turn made it possible to re-jet the three Mikuni carburetors for a wider power band. The US version came with a high handlebar, but a low bar was used in the European market.
  The bike had both detractors and enthusiastic fans, who either complained of poor handling and tendency to wheelie, or praised the power, light weight, and tendency to wheelie. For inexperienced riders the two-stroke engine's suddenly increasing power curve, with little response until a rush of power about 5,000 rpm, contributed to this unexpected liftoff of the front wheel, creating "fearsome reputation". The Mach III became known to its critics as "dangerous for inexperienced riders".
  The H1 had a high power-to-weight ratio for the time, 45 kW (60 hp) and a dry weight of 384 pounds (174 kg), comparable to a top racing motorcycle, but had generally poor handling and weak drum brakes front and rear. It could accelerate along the  mile test course in 12.4 seconds. When the H1 was first announced, Motorcycle Mechanics criticised Kawasaki for their "own ambitious claim" that it was "the fastest and best accelerating road machine ever produced, being capable of 124 mph and 12.4 sec. [sic] for the standing start quarter mile". Cycle World's 1969 test quoted 119.14 mph and 13.20 seconds, with bike-retailer Reads of London at 109 and 13.5, whereas Dutch motorcycle drag racer Henk Vink, importer of Kawasakis into the Netherlands, was quoted as achieving 13.48.
  Motorcycle Classics said in 2009 that the frequent complaints about the brakes of the H1 by modern writers did not account for the generally poor braking of all motorcycles of the period, noting that in a 1970 Cycle magazine comparison of seven top bikes of the time, the H1's braking performance was second only to the Honda CB750. Cycle World's test found: "Repeated high speed stops did not disclose any braking difficulties. The two-leading-shoe front stopper performed the task of slowing this...very admirably, but without locking the wheel. The rear brake...wo
caption: 1970 Mach III H1 500SS
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