One of the best parts of this 55-year-old Triple is that it’s a sleeper - a vintage machine capable of surprising the latest two-wheeled weaponry. What’s more, the bike has been lowered four centimeters front and rear, outfitted with modern rubber, and it’s sporting Dunstall rear sets for a more aggressive riding position. The bike is now running an 800cc H2 engine with Jim Lomas pipes and 34mm Mikuni carbs that makes a reported 120 horsepower. “If Kawasaki had built a 750 Kawasaki in 1977, what would a KH750 have looked like?” The original KH500. In fact, this is the actual bike that Ralf owned! More than 30 years after he first purchased the bike, Ralf wondered what, in an alternative universe, the 750cc version would have been like: What’s more, there was no 750cc H2 model that year - only the KH250, KH400, and KH500.Įnter our friend Ralf Kraemer of Triples Klinik GL who had one of these bikes when he was 22.

The bike was actually down on power slightly, making just 52 bhp, but it was still a formidable machine. “It was still the same wicked-hearted machine, just with styling changed slightly to reflect Kawasaki’s Z1, a model that was currently the company’s biggest seller.” - Mecum

In 1976, the world would get its final H1 triple, renamed the KH500 to conform with the company’s model-naming conventions. By the mid-1970s, however, the oil crisis and new anti-pollution standards - the same forces that sounded the death knell of the American muscle car - were knocking on the Widowmaker’s door. for the standing start quarter mile.” –Kawasaki factory claimĪ mystique would quickly develop around the Kawasaki triple, known as the “Widowmaker” for its flexible chassis, questionable brakes, and eagerness to wheelie - blow on the throttle and the front wheel would lift. “The fastest and best accelerating road machine ever produced, being capable of 124 mph and 12.4 sec. It was one of the most uncompromising sporting machines ever devised, disregarding noise, pollution, and handling concerns in favor of blazing down the drag strip in the fastest time possible. The result would be one of the most notorious motorcycles of all time, the Kawasaki H1 triple.

In the late 1960s, Kawasaki wanted to create a 500cc two-stroke motorcycle that could boast 60 horsepower and a 1/4-mile time below the 13-second mark. An 800cc, 120+ hp Triple from Ralf Kraemer…

Kawasaki beastrun motorcycle