1975 Kawasaki Triple

[Phenix_Rider]

My 650R is about to get a dinosaur for a stable mate. Pops is getting an old triple. It's either a 500 or 550cc. He went to look at it yesterday, and it sounds like it's in decent shape. Little rust, small tank dent, but it turns over and all the parts are on it. Probably needs tires, spark plugs, carb rebuild/synch- so guess what he's getting for christmas LOL Neither of these is his, but I like the old cafe racer look on these things. He'll probably keep the mini sissy bar and tall handlebars it has though. He's paying $100 for it- can't beat that, even if it needed completely rebuilt. Anyone know anything about them? I remember seeing a few sig lines of members that had them. What tires does it take? Tubes? Bias-Ply?

[BobTheBiker]

his is likely going to be an H1 500 triple. they use a bias ply tube tire. fun bikes with performance pipes and the proper tuning. I've heard the front brakes were teh suck. if you get discs, I'd imagine its not terrible.

a 2 stroke bike will CERTAINLY make you relearn motorcycle riding. you gotta stay in the powerband, or you're not gonna get movin very fast.

[Dave]

i hear the suspensions are somewhat scary and the powerband is ridiculous when it hits. try pm'ing 71h1triple (i think thats it) on here, he is currently restoring one and has past experience

[BobTheBiker]

I've heard the same stuff about the suspension and brakes. They're a BLAST to ride though.

I tried an RD250 yesterday, and I'm not gonna lie, that was probably the most fun I've EVER had on a bike. hella big learning curve to ride though.

[Smittie61984]

I fucking love those things. I swear I saw one the other day except it had dirtbike tires.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zuXSsDEzCk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buga91RLVHg

I do remember someone saying that Kawasaki H1/h2 almost has the frame technology of a walmart bicycle, braking power of the flinstone mobile but it's all good once you hit the throttle.

[was92v]

I've ridden and worked on many of them. They are not bad bikes for the day. Steering head bearing and swingarm bushings need to be checked, but by 75' they handled and stopped as well as most bikes that size. Just have it pointed in the direction you intend to go by the time the clock hits 6000 RPM and you will be fine. Mucho fun. A 500 Kaw was the first bike I ever rode that would, just by dropping a gear to pass a car at 50 or so, pass said car on the rear wheel without really meaning to. The 500 and 750's made enough torque to ride fine under the power band, it just gets much more interesting when you ride the pipe.

['73 H1 Triple]

Originally Posted by Dave

i hear the suspensions are somewhat scary and the powerband is ridiculous when it hits. try pm'ing 71h1triple (i think thats it) on here, he is currently restoring one and has past experience

Someone called ?

The top picture is the "newer" style ( '73 to '76 ) which has a disk brake up front and CDI ignition. The bottom picture is a '71 H1A which is a points style ignition and has drum brakes. That style was '69 to '72.

Here's a link to the Kawasaki Triple Resource page which has tons of info on pretty much everything he'll need to know.
http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/

Make he reads this section as it's directed to new owners.
http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/newbies.htm

Have your Dad register on http://kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/phpBB2/index.php . It will take a few days to be approved ( had a bad spam problem in the past which implemented this, sorry ) but if you PM your dad's user name, I'll send an email to the Mod that handles this and it *may* make it quicker.

There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on the Triple board who are more than willing to help out. A good search function too.

So exactly what year did your Dad get? Any pics of it? At $100 for any decent looking, complete triple, he did quite well.

He should resist the temptation to fire it up until it's been gone over to make sure he doesn't have a catastrophic failure. It would be better to purchase a few parts than have to replace major components.

I'm JRD on the triple forum.

Jeff

[No Worries]

From 1975 to 1979, I rode two-stroke triples. Suzuki's GT 550 and 750. I hopped them up, but they were no match in a straight line with the Kawasaki's. Back then, you could buy two-stroke oil in any drug store. Now I do a double-take even if I see the oil in a motorcycle shop.

keep the high handlebars? I had my 79 Suzuki for one day before I changed the buckhorn bars to superbike bars. Steel brake lines, GG pads, fork brace, and Metzeler Lasertec tire will vastly improve the front.

Works Performance shocks (longest ones possible) and Lasertec tire will bring up the rear, literally.

['73 H1 Triple]

Some more ideas

For much better stopping, a very easy upgrade is a swap to a EX front caliper ( and MC if you want). You can pick up both a caliper and a master cylinder for around $50. A very simple adapter is all that is required to bolt that one. The drawing for the adapter is on the resource page.

There are quite a few good people offering services on the triple website. Damon Kirkland is know as "the crank god" for rebuilding triple crankshafts.

A couple people offer cylinder boring and "Ja-Moo" makes reed kits for them.

The fine folks on the forum really don't care if he builds a "rat rod" or a concours correct restoration. They're just genuinely happy to see another triple get back on the road ( or the race track ).

The parts for sale section and the parts wanted section are a good place to get what he needs. Ebay is another spot but some sellers are better than others. He should ask if he's going that way since there are a few who are know to "misrepresent" the condition of the parts. One of the members there is Jessh1 who comes highly recommended by almost the entire forum. His ebay store is "Jessbikes". I personally deal with him and he stands behind his parts. No junk from Jess.

Feel free to ask any questions and I'm help as much as I can.

Jeff

['73 H1 Triple]

Originally Posted by No Worries

keep the high handlebars? I had my 79 Suzuki for one day before I changed the buckhorn bars to superbike bars. Steel brake lines, GG pads, fork brace, and Metzeler Lasertec tire will vastly improve the front.

He speaks the truth. Highbars are for show but not for safe riding