1972 Kawasaki H2 750 — Gasoline Motor Co.

Year: 1972

Make: Kawasaki

Model: H2 750

Engine Capacity: 750ccOdometer: 23,149 KMsRego Until: no regoI wasn’t born when the H2 came out but I have read enough about it to get the picture. Wild, unpredictable, uncontrollable, insane! Let’s take it back to 1971, a time when every motorcycle manufacturer had or were working towards a 750 Superbike in their line-up. There are many debates about which bike was actually the ‘World’s First Superbike’ but it usually ends up with all others conceding to the Honda CB750 in 1969. So, you have the Honda CB750, the Triumph Trident, Norton Commando and the MV Agusta 750S among others. The Japanese giants weren’t going to be left behind so they entered the game with the Kawasaki H2 750 Mach IV.

This bike by the way is a 1971 but bike sales doesn't have that for an option so I am putting as 1971. It was a basic set-up but it was fit for the job and exceeded what was already on the market. The original Triumph Trident triple was the closest comparison and that made 58 horsepower, the new H2 750 pumped out 74 horsepower. Kawasaki had built a virtually bullet-proof engine, with over-engineered crank components to look after the bottom end and beefy crankcases holding everything together nice and solid. The size of the engine is also something to marvel at as it is completely in proportion to the bike itself and is very modern looking even all these years later.

If you manage to keep the revs down below 5000 rpm the bike can potter around all day long, it will inevitably cough and make it known how disgusted it is, but it will do it. However, rising just to 6,000 rpm the bike feels completely different.

Peak torque and power meet within 300 rpm of each other and when they collide the hit is huge and terrifying. There was no other production motorcycle at the time that could match the Kawasaki H2 750 performance.

The Mach IV was notoriously anti-social in terms of both the noise they made and the pollution sent out of the exhaust. To be deemed anti-social in the 1970’s was saying something, by today’s standards you would likely feel the entire wrath of Greenpeace after a blip down the road.

The triple cylinder engine would scream to 120 mph, pumping out oily blue smoke as it went. Engine vibration was immense and would have you holding on for dear life. It was arm-wrenchingly fast and therefore not for everyone.