Kawi2strokes.com Forum

1986........Dad comes home with 4 bikes in his truck he picked up in Marietta, Ohio for $100, a 72 or 73 CB360, a 71 DT250, a 75 RD350, and the 75 S3 I have. He spent a while getting them all running. I rode the CB around for a while, decent power, but it was a heavy bike and I didn't like it too much. I ran the DT250 on the trails with my friends for a year. Right before graduation, Dad gave me the DT and then gave my sister and me choice between the RD and the S3. My sister didnt like the S3 so she wound up with the RD. I ran the S3 around the neighborhood a couple years and then parked it before I moved out. A few years went by and I met the wife and bought a house. When we were moving, last thing I had to do with the Uhaul was to go get the bikes. When we got there, the rear brake had seized and I had to pick up the back of the bike to push it in the truck. I would up having to bust the brake plate out with a hammer to free it. Couple years later, I started doing some work to it and it's been in the garage ever since.

The S3 had 8k on it when I got it and now has over 36k on it. It now shares room with 4 other bikes, including the H2.

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74 H2B with reeds and 34mm carbs
75 S3A Ram Air with reeds and 30mm carbs
73 S2A (wife's bike)
71 Yammi RT1B
83 HD Sportster
03 Yammi R1
06 Kaw 750 Vulcan (wife’s bike)
12 Yammi vstar 250 (wife’s bike)

When I was a kid , a guy down the road would do a fly by every day on a white 69 Mach III . I was mesmerized by it and wanted one . My first bike at age 13 was a 1970 G4TR , when I turned 16 I got the FIRST 73 h1 in town (vin#00895)... today I have my restored H1b and an S1a (rider) , a 1972 G4TR and restoring an old Samurai 250.

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"Love people-Use things-NOT-Use people-Love things"

Those are some nice motorcycle there, Zammy. It that your sports grill, or just a nice backdrop?

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

Zammy Nice H1 really nice

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1975 S3 project bike
1974 H1 project bike
1972 Yamaha R5
1974 Yamaha RD350

Dad acidentally began to accumulate bikes in the 80s/90s. Got a call from a friend that had an H2 at a local shop with problems and that he was done with it and if my dad wanted it he could go get it. He got it. Did a carb service and it ran fine. Ugly duckling. 72 motor in a 74 frame, painted white and cheap vinyl lettering on tank. Dad has no intentions to ride it. Alabama lets you get unlimited motorcycle license passing only a written test in the mid 90s. I pass the test. Looking to move up from a Honda Trail 70. Kawasaki is the only bike that won't give my Dad a stroke if I lay it down. It becomes my bike. I rode it thru high school and college. It is the fastest bike he owns. I move to get a job. 12 years later I see H2 covered in dirt in back of garage sitting on flat tires. Ask dad if he cares if I take it home. He doesn't. I take it home. Spend summer replacing all rubber, painting in 74 colors, and putting correct decals on. Ride one summer and put in Ivan's needle kit. It's great. Ride only on nice fall or spring days now. Get lots of attention when I do.

age
-44 year 1916- my grand dad hangs out with his elderly neighbor, Jon Maxwell (famous inventor and car manufacturer) who had a well outfitted garage for all sorts of serious tinkering with mechanical things
-39 PopPop gets a 1914 Harley with a 2 speed transmission no less.
-34 PopPop has his own trucking company; 1 new 'milk can' hauling model T truck, and a Indian motorcycle (one of many)
-11 year 1948; my Dad wants a Whizzer for his 16th birthday but PopPop gets him a Indian instead.
-8 PopPop sells his 1936 Indian Four for $15 ! ! !
0 Dad opens his own garage business overhauling cars, selling new boats, outboards and chainsaws,(McCulloch) 2 strokes abound.
6 Dads DuoGlide blows the front cylinder(racing no doubt) and he parks it. PopPop retires from hauling but starts repairing lawnmowers specializing in LawnBoys. I play with timing chains in the sandbox.
NOTE; at this point, I can’t eat sleep or crap without hearing about pistons or carburetors
12 Dad sells the busted Harley and buys a brand new blue H1. ! ! ! !
17 I bussed tables, stocked shelves in 5&dime store, pumped gas, prepped new cars in 2 dealerships before landing a great job at an excellent repair center. I repaired motorcycles on the side for spending money.Bought and rode a 74 H1.
23 sold the H1 to a neighbor kid,, rode Harleys.
45 bought Dads H1 from him. also 2 ’74 H1s found me .
57 and still at it.

I bought a GT 380 suzuki , when I was 16 ready for my Lic , loved that bike , tought me a lot about how bad bikes can handle and no ground clearance , I was taken out by a drunk driver on that bike , while on crutches at bike shop I saw MY H2 750 Blue , and feel in love with it , told my dad it was a sedate tourer ( he didnt believe me ) , so he would lend me the money , I have never fallen off it no matter how hard I tried ( worn pipes through etc ) ,It handled , stopped , and went , use to love racing Z1s on the street as it was like a wolf playing with a puppy , and its still in my Garage with my other toys , and I still get a grin on my face everytime I ride it Al in Aus

G'Day everyone, My name is Baz(short for Barry)I live in a small semi rural mining town on the South Coast of NSW about 50ks south of Sydney, you can blame RODH2 for me being here

Anyway, I started ridin at 13yrs old, went halfs with a mate on an SL100 Honda, I had a few bikes after that, first legal bike for the road was 1973 a couple of months before my 18th birthday, I purchased a 1970 650 Triumph Trophy Ex Police bike, after that was my first new bike, 1974 RD350 Yamaha, from my first bike at age 13 I've never been without a bike, my first triple was 1989/90, a H1B 500, and around the same time my current H2-A 750, both were going to be race bikes, I was racing an RZ250 and a 1985 GSXR750, I chose the H1 to race, as I was winding down my modern bike racing, and for reasons I can't remember, the H2 sat in the garage for the next 30 + years, I've done all forms of racing over the years, but my road racing was the most fun.

Time to look around

My H1B, oh and that's my RZ250 beside me, I sold it to him, a good mate of mine and he turned it into a 350.

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Cheers Baz.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”

1973 H2-A
2000 F650GS BMW

Was introduced to motorcycles in the summer of 1965 at the age of 16. They were all small Hondas. Naturally, Oct. 16 1965 I started off on a Honda S65. Through the next nine years I moved up the Honda chain from a S65 to S90 to CB175 to a CB450. Two strokes were the inferior design in my mind. A friend worked at the local cycle shop and spoke of the speed of the Kawasaki Triples. We did some drag racing, Him on a CB750 and me on a CB450. The CB450 was a joke drag racing in retrospect
. In 1972 going to some drag races, I could not help but notice the H2 Kawasakis. April of 1974, purchased a H2B Kawasaki. In May started going to local drag strip and by end of summer had it running 12.40s. Purchased near perfect 1972 H2 Dec. of 1974, that I actually liked more than the 74 H2. Kept modifing the 74 H2 to go faster in the 1/4 mile. Cylinders went to Denco for 130 hp porting, added Denco stingers and 34 carbs. 10.60s 1/4. Lightened bike with Bob Carpenter 149 hp spec porting and 38 mm carbs was good for 0.30s et and 135 mph. Fast by Gast porting 40mm Lectron and a 5.5 in rim was good for 9.53 at 139.75 in 1984. Raced regualarly till the late 2000s. I have an original Honda S90 just for nostalgia, a 72 H2 tagged inspected and insured I ride for fun, a stock gold 73 H2 I put on the road from time ti time. My daily rider is a 06 Kawasaki Concours. Great to hear the variety of backgrounds of triple riders here.

Cool story, HWM.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.