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Oddalloy
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 02:58 pm: | 
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A pic of my Brother and I on my 1975 Kawasaki H2 750 Triple, taken sometime in the warm months of 1977 or 1978. Although I’ve had (and have) a few bikes, the H2 was the only one I ever bought brand new. A good friend was a mechanic at what was then known as Linden Kawasaki… he said they had 3 leftover H2’s (2 Candy Super Red; 1 Candy Purple), wanted to “move them”, and I could just barely afford one. I bought a Candy Red; some mutual friends bought the other 2 bikes.
I’ll never forget the day I went to take delivery of the bike. Linden Kawasaki was in a sort of industrial and warehouse section on the Linden-Rahway, NJ border. Marion Avenue is about 1000 feet long and it being a Saturday, there really was no traffic except for the denizens frequenting the dealership. The dealership had a mechanic / road-racer on staff named Kerry. Kerry also did most of the pre-delivery road tests.
As my friends and I arrived that morning to pickup the bike, there was some maniac ripping up and down the street on an H2… doing smoky blue burnouts, wheelies, and taching-it-out… a glorious display of sight and sound!
We watched for a few minutes and then went inside, I went up to the desk, told them who I was, and they said “your bike isn’t ready yet”. When I asked when it would be ready, they said “Kerry’s road testing it now but he should be done in a few minutes.” Just as that H2 sailed past the front window with the front wheel about 3 feet in the air, they said… “There goes Kerry on your bike now”.
At that point, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take the bike… I mean, there’s a warning sticker on the tach about maximum rev limits during break in and from the scream of that triple, I was sure he went far beyond the limit! What if he had damaged the motor and it blew in a month or so? Would I be out-of-luck warranty-wise?
Kerry’s answer was: “If it doesn’t blow up during my road test, it’s not likely that YOU are going to do anything during the warranty period that’ll blow it up either.” As it turned out, it was fine.
It was the first bike that ever really scared the crap out of me. It had a powerband like a light switch… On or Off… and when it was “on”, you had better be both holding on AND pointed in the right direction. It was also the first bike that started me down the path of mods: I added the factory accessory second front disk (I drilled ‘em though) and bigger master, clubman bars, K & N filters, and Denco chambers. Although they weren’t as loud as chambers with only a stinger tip, they could still be heard a long way off. One hot Summer night when I was trying to sneak-in at 3am, Dad was waiting for me at the door… they had the windows open and he said he heard me coming from about a mile away! Busted!
I eventually sold that bike in when my wife and I got married… one needs furniture after all to set-up an apartment and begin a life together.
Those other H2’s ? The purple one got wadded-up within a month or so; I wound-up buying the other candy red one from that other friend and I am slowly restoring it cosmetically… it only has about 3000 original miles on the clock. I’ll finish it one of these days. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 03:41 pm: |
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Such an insane bike.... Awesome story. |
86129squids
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 04:04 pm: |
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"one needs furniture after all to set-up an apartment and begin a life together."
Kawasaki H2 750, or dinette set?
SO glad to hear you've got a resto H2 underway. I SO miss me some 2smoke action!
The YPVS on my RZ was very impressive in the way it at least tripled the powerband... one day I got curious and disconnected the cable. It behaved very much like what you described!
Gotta set aside a 2smoke piggybank, in case I get a long-odds chance at one again. |
Oddalloy
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 04:28 pm: |
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Squids... you were oh-so-close.
"Kawasaki H2 750, or dinette set?"
Not a dinette set... a Dining Room Set.
At one time, I donned my Bell helmet and sat at the head of table making making engine noises. Ah to be young again! |
Airbozo
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 06:40 pm: |
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BullTaco Pursang 125.
Did my very best to trash that bike and in the end sold it for more than I bought it. I left several butt pucker spots on that seat... |
Njloco
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 08:54 pm: |
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Well, in 1968 I bought a brand new Yamaha 250, it was a nice two stroke and very dependable. I rode that around for a little less than two years. I then decided I wanted a little more power and bought a 1970 Bonneville 650, what can it was my first big cc bike and it was a great bike. |
Etennuly
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 09:46 pm: |
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A racing buddy of mine had that 750 triple when we were just out of high school. He would not let me ride it, at the time my experience was on my XL250 so he knew better. Shortly there after he let one of our more experienced buddies on it who immediately crashed it on his way into fourth gear. Didn't get hurt but totaled the bike.
He built the wildest go-cart with that 750 motor and trans. Got it welded up, motor in, chain set, a guy came along and bought it before we fired it for the first time. Not that that was a bad thing to have happen. |
86129squids
| | Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 12:57 pm: |
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An H2 750 kart?!?!  |
Etennuly
| | Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 05:14 pm: |
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Yeah! It would have been awesome! It was nearly done when racing season came up and funds were needed for the race car.
It was lighter than the bike. We figured it would have been somewhere near damn fast! |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 08:44 pm: |
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The answer to the OP is:
A Schwinn |
89rs1200
| | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2017 - 08:24 pm: |
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Me?
Honda CB350. Ended up with 2-into-1 up-swept megaphone exhaust.
Knew I was destined to be a sport bike rider because I kept breaking front brake cable and dragged the pegs on on-ramps. Was a good small bike to learn on. Even traveled quite a lot on it from Bangor, Maine to Groton, CT while in the shipyard. Even made it to Virgina Beach, VA.
After that the 1981 Kawasaki GPZ550. Fastest middleweight of its time. Bike was fast through the mountains! Knew I was too fast to be safe on roads, such as skyline in the Santa Cruz mountains, when I was riding faster than the locals. Decided the track was a better place, so club raced it for a time with AFM in No-Cal.
. . . Then I saw the 1989 Buell RS1200 in Motorcyclist magazine. Fell in love, but at $11,000 could not afford it.
Saved my money and in 1997 purchase a new, S3 in White Gold, with matching saddlebags. Put 50K miles on it and am now rebuilding it for my daughter.
Few years ago, finally found me a 1989 RS1200. Love it and would be riding it regularly except alcohol in the fuel has destroyed the inside of the fuel tank!
So here I am today. Wife and I tour on our S3s up and down the entire West coast. Her, on her S3 trike, which she loves, and I on my 1998 S3T. About 40K miles on both so far.
Life is good on a Buell. Thank you Eric.
PS. The S3 trike can still do 130MPH, stable and straight. I believe only possible because of the engineering work put into the S3 by Eric and his elves. |
Tombo
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2017 - 07:23 am: |
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!978 was a good year, I was riding a Suzuki RM370. |
Zac4mac
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2017 - 09:36 am: |
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I picked up a 91 RS1200 and it is pristine, except for the aforementioned tank rot.
Right now it has an S2 inner tank attached to the frame with a Buell-logo'd ratchet strap.
Not real pretty but it works.
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Ducxl
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2017 - 11:15 am: |
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1978,at almost 13yo my Dad bought me a brand new Yamaha GT80.My Dad had,at the time,a '73 850 Commando and a '75 R90/6.My eldest brother had a new Kawi 650 which I was able to mount tippie toes so I got to do laps up and down the street occasionally |
Tootal
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2017 - 12:02 pm: |
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Ducxl, you brought back some older memories. My father had an old Indian Chief that had been in a fire. He bought it for $75.00 and raked the front end and was half way to a chopper when it disappeared. Years later I asked dad why would he ever sell that old Indian and he told me he sold it so he could buy me my Yamaha mini enduro 60! Dooooooh!
I truly loved my dad! |
86129squids
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2017 - 12:14 pm: |
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Wow... yes, you had an awesome dad Greg! It'd be a long-shot, but I wonder if there'd be any way to trace back to whom he sold that Indian to?
Fun stories! |
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