Leading up to the first National Two-stroke Day on June 25 In the coming weeks we will take you on a blue cloud to a few nice moments/motorbikes from the history of the two-stroke. Today: the Kawasaki 500 Mach III.
When it comes to performance, few motorcycles in the past 50 years have made such an impact as Kawasaki’s 500 Mach III two-stroke three-cylinder. Launched in 1969, the Mach III (also known as the H1 model) was the first heavy-duty two-stroke motorcycle on the market.
The power of 60 hp for 498cc was impressive for a street motorcycle at the time, especially given the low dry weight of barely 174 kilograms. Add to that subpar handling and an astonishingly low price of $999 and you have all the ingredients for the first hooligan bike. The nickname ‘The Widowmaker’ didn’t just come out of nowhere…
The H1 model has been around for eight years, from the first H1 and H1A versions with drum brakes in 1969-71 to the swan song of the KH500 with disc brakes in 1976. The Mach III also made its way onto the racetracks, achieving under another in 1970 a second place in the World Cup with Ginger Molloy.
Ultimately, the triple fell victim to emissions legislation and the Mach III was replaced by the four-stroke KZ650. In 1999 you could also find the Kawasaki 500 Mach III in ‘The Art of Motorcycles’, an exhibition of the Guggenheim museum that toured the world. Know your classics…
