The first "Big Bike from Japan", when the company was still Kawasaki Aircraft Co. This four page ad at the front of the magazine showed their commitment to this project but the 1969 H1 triple was far more successful.
I guess they didn't sell many of these in North America? I have only seen one, about 10 years ago in Vancouver. I thought it was a BSA until I got a close-up look at it. Before seeing that bike, my earliest memories of Kawasaki motorcycles were the 500cc Mach III 2 stroke triples (there were a lot of them around, back in the day). It's always interesting what you learn when you start digging into the history of these companies.
They didn't have a very large dealer network at the time and though they were before my time, I never saw one either back in the day. I saw the occasional 250 and 350 rotary valve Avenger twin but the H1 really put them on the map. You're right, they were popular. Thanks for the comment!
I guess they didn't sell many of these in North America? I have only seen one, about 10 years ago in Vancouver. I thought it was a BSA until I got a close-up look at it. Before seeing that bike, my earliest memories of Kawasaki motorcycles were the 500cc Mach III 2 stroke triples (there were a lot of them around, back in the day). It's always interesting what you learn when you start digging into the history of these companies.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't have a very large dealer network at the time and though they were before my time, I never saw one either back in the day. I saw the occasional 250 and 350 rotary valve Avenger twin but the H1 really put them on the map. You're right, they were popular. Thanks for the comment!
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