Difference between revisions of "Kawasaki H1"

The '''[[Kawasaki]] H1''' (known in cycling circles as "The Mach III") was the bike that changed the course of high performance motorcycling.   

The Kawasaki H1 Mach III was the result of the successes of the [[Honda CB450]] and [[Suzuki T500]]. The United States was the largest market and the public had the desire for larger bore, higher horsepower and higher top speeds from bikes. Kawasaki came up with the '''N100 Plan''' in July 1967. The target was to create a motorcycle with a displacement of 500cc, a 1/4 mile standing start of 13 seconds, and 60 horsepower. Kawasaki planned to do this by (1) increasing the bore of air-cooled two-stroke parallel twin cylinder [[rotary disc valve]] engine on the [[Kawasaki A7|Kawasaki A7 Samurai]], or (2) develop a revolutionary new engine layout. Both twin cylinder and a three cylinder engines were developed alongside each other with the assistance of Osaka University. Kawasaki finally went with the three cylinder.