Jay Leno at it again

I watched him ride probably the most unstable bike in history being the '72 Kawasaki H@ aka. the Widowmaker.

He took it easy on those California sea-side neighbourhoods... (y)
 
Merkid said:
I watched him ride probably the most unstable bike in history being the '72 Kawasaki H@ aka. the Widowmaker.

He took it easy on those California sea-side neighbourhoods... (y)
Click to expand...
I rode an H2 (72 750 triple) for years, the legend is bigger than reality.

My dl660 does the 1/4 mile in .4 slower than a widowmaker, my Fjr would humiliate a vintage H2.

In the hands of a novice they were menacing. Light, short wheelbase, and torque + hp appearing together in a punch at 6500rpm made power wheelies easy if you sat up and back. An experienced rider had no trouble.

The worst thing about owning one was they used 10l/100km plus 1/4l of 2 stroke oil.
 
Mad Mike said:
I rode an H2 (72 750 triple) for years, the legend is bigger than reality.

My dl660 does the 1/4 mile in .4 slower than a widowmaker, my Fjr would humiliate a vintage H2.

In the hands of a novice they were menacing. Light, short wheelbase, and torque + hp appearing together in a punch at 6500rpm made power wheelies easy if you sat up and back. An experienced rider had no trouble.

The worst thing about owning one was they used 10l/100km plus 1/4l of 2 stroke oil.
Click to expand...
I’ve ridden a few H2s back in the day and the ’72 was definitely the best year. Each year they got noticeably slower due to carburation and exhaust changes to meet emisions. My brother had a real nice ‘72 with chambers and K+N pod filters that had the carbs set up by someone that really knew what they were doing, it was a real beast.You’re right about a modern FJR running circles around it. My brothers H2 would throttle wheelie in first and second like a big old two stroke motocross bike would. No other road bike would do that at the time as easily, not even the Kawasaki 900.I would even say that on a good day a well set up H2 would beat a 900 in the quarter mile but I don’t remember ever seeing a race between them. Those two bikes are what solidified Kawasaki’s reputation for performance.
 
Last edited:
A numbers matching Kawasaki 900 just sold for $50k US this week at the Meckum bike auction in Las Vegas this week. A record
 
I was watching the auction , some serious money changing hands , it used to be bikes most could see in museums and at shows , now it’s stuff we flogged and sold off way to cheap 50ys ago .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom