Chronicles of Alan; Motorcycle Days 7 Kawasaki
I have mentioned in my last motorcycle Post that I owned a 350cc Kawasaki Avenger:-
When Kawa first hit the Market they made a 250cc Samurai , Twin Cylinder, Rotary inlet valve 2 stroke, went like the Clappers and handled well with good brakes.
The 350cc was basically the same bike with Bigger barrells and pistons , so you could actually upgrade the 250 to a 350!
Saying this , with the extra power , you could already feel that the handling and braking was taking a little strain.
Then they announced the Triple Cylinder 500cc , I read devastating things about it,
so powerful, Dunlop had to develop a new type of Rear tyre to handle it!
I knew a Guy in Florida( lets call him Peter) he had a 50cc Moped , and on an average fell off it once a Week.
One day he rolls up on a New 500 Triple , so, A guy who could not stay on a Moped buys the quickest accelerating Motorcycle on the Road , I had 3 Sisters so he was more than happy to visit while I went on a Joyride.
Went charging up the Main Road took the Bend by the cemetry and
it felt like an unlocked Garden Gate under me , whipped around a bit , frame not stiff enough!.
Took it up to Ontdekkers Road, pretty much the main road from Johannesburg to Krugersdorp at the time, opened it up Flat out hit 200KPh in virtually no time , and on the straight Road , suddenly find it getting very skittish ( no Bends) , slow down , take it to a filling station , 1Bar pressure in the back Tyre, pump it to 2.8, feels much better, go back to Sage street,
"Have you ever checked the Tyres" answer " Nope".
Have a good look at the Machine , the Frame is just about identical to my 350 , which is already showing signs of strain , here they put a Motor with just about double the power in a frame that is frankly not stiff enough.
Not long after Peter had a huge prang charging down the Main street in Florida on a bet at 170kph , hitting a car that pulled out of a parking.
Must be wonderful to think you are Bulletproof! ( till someone shoots at you?)
A While later out comes the 750cc Triple , absolutely devastating , luckily a Frame redesign and better brakes.
I finally got to ride one as a machine with a Broken Gearbox was dropped off at my place , took the motor out repaired it , put it all back together and kept it for a few days. Again it set new performance Standards but handled much better , so did not feel as wild to ride .
Very successful Racing History
Hope you enjoy my Motorcycle Days Series!
Haha, that is one way to win over the brother in the family.
Watched the video for the 500 triple - that thing has some get up!
Sure Did, I was considered a real cool Dude , so my Sisters had plenty of Friends whose only desire was to meet their Brother(s) .
A real cool Dude you say?
And old enough to remember this Photo , 70 in less than a Month.
They say 70 is the new 50!! I remember the Fonz. I was in elementary school. probably near 10 years old or so.
I live in Michigan and I always wonder if the bikers ever worry about hitting a deer. I have hit close to ten and it tears up a car/truck.
I once , as a kid saw a VW Beetle ride into the back of a horse , on De Waal, Drive, in Cape Town. The horse slid on his Butt, got up , ( luckily the driver and passenger got out ) and I would say , just about wrote that car off with his hooves!
That is CRAZY! Animal-auto accidents are all too common here in Michigan. A while after I graduated from high school, I learned that my 10th grade math teacher was driving his Corvette on the highway when he hit a deer. Apparently the deer went through the windshield and killed my teacher. Sad because he was a good guy. That's why I drive a pickup. I think there is less of a chance for a deer to get thrown up that high!
I remember reading something where an American Lady was requesting that they move the Deer Crossing Sign Elsewhere as the Deer were causing too many accidents where their crossing currently was!
Well, an early happy birthday to you my friend.
Thank you , since 66 it has been pointless turning the figures around, can't wait to be 7 again!
That sounds great!
I don't know how you lived so long, my friend -- your mother must have gone prematurely grey. I used to be handy with cars but stopped when they began putting in computer chips. Actually, I extended my tinkering a bit - I bought two Suzukis - one a four cylinder and one a three - drove them into the ground. Don't know how I managed to shoe horn Deb into those cars along with three teenagers LOL!!
I remember the first Suzuki Car that came out here was like a Mini Jeep.Chris never got excited about me bringing home a (new) Car , it always came on a Trailer or towed it home . I would then rebuild them. Even more annoying to her was being regaled with what a Clever Dad he has by Wayne!
ha ha, well you certainly have skills in mechanics - in women, uh, we'll let Chris decide LOL!
What a beautiful country ride with the trees and sunset. I want a bike now
I still love my Bikes , had to go to physiotherapist a while ago , asked me if I had ever broken bones, was much shorter to tell her which I had not broken! Was absolutely shocked.
No matter the skill level, accidents happen.
Very True, Usually the Bike is going a lot faster than the other motorists expect it to be, resulting in this magnetic attraction , often hinted at in Love Stories!
Great pictures! I have a 750 Vulcan myself and it's a great bike. Took it on plenty of road trips and had a lot of fun. Keep up the updates :)
I am familiar with the Kawasaki Vulcan, a comfortable cruiser, Thank you for the visit and comment, Appreciated.
I used to do the occasional breakfast run on a '79 Kawasaki Z900 and found that very skittish too (once it got up to speed). Was that a common issue with bikes around that time?
The Z900 was originally designed as a 750 four , Honda beat them to Market , so they hastily made it a 900 , frame was not stiff enough , steering angle was too steep , made it really twitchy. The British Bikes mostly handled well ( especially Norton ) The 650 Kawasaki handled a lot better. The first really great handling bigger Jap Bike was the Suzuki GS750
Seems like great fun but nothing I would do. haha
Stay safe!
Now that's a beauty! I wonder why Peter bought such a fast machine, did he ever fall off it as well?
Hi , My Friend, you must of missed this line:-Not long after Peter had a huge prang charging down the Main street in Florida on a bet at 170kph , hitting a car that pulled out of a parking. Thanks for the visit.
I was hoping he had good luck with the new bike, so maybe I missed that part :D although it's a sad incident, I can't stop smiling.
The connection to place, to the land, the wind, the sun, stars, the moon... it sounds romantic, but it's true - the visceral experience of motion, of moving through time on some amazing machine - a few cars touch on it, but not too many compared to motorcycles. I always felt that any motorcycle journey was special.
thanks for sharing your moment with us
great
Wow, that is a nice motorcycle. :)
It's stories like this that make me miss my motorcycling days! );
😄😇😄
Just bought a non running TL 1000 ( electrical Fault.)