“The old
kings were
fragile, and
easily felled.
Kawis ruled!”
required performance. After con-
sidering Sportster, Bonneville, BSA
Super Rocket, and even Honda’s
middle-of-the-road CB450 twin, the
basic spec was pegged at 500cc dis-
placement, 60 hp and a 13-second
quarter-mile time.
The British bike industry faced
the same problem, but was para-
lyzed by its end-of-days business
model: “Fix the problem. Don’t
change anything. Don’t spend any
money.”
Kawasaki engineers knew that
their W-Series four-stroke twins,
based on BSA’s A-7, couldn’t make
the numbers.
The answer was the lightness
and torque of two-strokes. Now the
decision fell between enlarging the
already-once-enlarged A7 Avenger’s
ABOVE: As the 1970s were about to begin
emissions legislation was taming the great
muscle cars but motorcycles were just
getting started. Kawasaki lit the fuse with
this 1969 ‘Mach III’ 500cc H1 Triple.
30 / CYCLE WORLD