Classic motorcycles of the 1970s don’t come more intimidating to the uninitiated than Kawasaki’s 750cc two-stroke triple, the H2.
No matter that the first time I’d ridden one half-a-century ago in 1972 was to find out just how quick this missile could be at MIRA’s testing ground, the prospect of riding one now was more dominated by the reputation that Kawasaki had created, a reputation that has been fuelled over the years by owners happy to bask in the thought that others view them with awe, just for riding what had been called the ‘coffin on wheels’.
Clearly I’d survived my first encounter with the bike, but still, coming to terms with the purple H2C in front of me as owner Neil Haworth reminded me about its idiosyncrasies was more than just mind over matter.
Back in the 1960s two-strokes powered small bikes, but the Japanese factories applied their racing experience and 350cc twins from Yamaha and Suzuki became the machines of choice if you wanted to blow off the duffers on their 650cc British bikes. At the time, Kawasaki was more obscure but keen to join the fun with potent but rare disc-valve twins, the 350cc version of which pumped out a heady 40bhp.
When Suzuki launched its 500cc Cobra twin for 1968, more was expected, but it turned out to be mild-mannered and much more gentlemanly than the factory’s smaller and racy 250cc Super Six. Could this cautious approach suggest that bigger two-strokes were pushing the boundaries of reliability?
In 1969 – when man first stepped on the Moon – Kawasaki blew that idea into the weeds with its 500cc Mach III triple. Launched around the same time as Honda’s 750 Four, which established the superbike era by combining high performance with refinement and modern features such as a selfstarter and a disc brake, the Kawasaki unashamedly tempted speed freaks with
