H2 for sale H1 for sale S3 For Sale S2 for sale S1 for sale 1969 H1 for sale KH250 For Sale KH400 For Sale H2 for sale H1 for sale S3 For Sale S2 for sale S1 for sale 1969 H1 for sale KH250 For Sale KH400 For Sale H2 for sale H1 for sale S3 For Sale S2 for sale S1 for sale 1969 H1 for sale KH250 For Sale KH400 For Sale H2 for sale H1 for sale S3 For Sale S2 for sale S1 for sale 1969 H1 for sale KH250 For Sale KH400 For Sale
|
Drop of a Hat 2006 So it’s 2006 and my first U.S. trip of the year - I leave the rain at 9am in Britain and after my connection in “Newark” I land in the evening sunshine in Florida just 14 hours later (11pm U.K. time but 6pm east coast time), 75 degrees in early February and it’s wonderful to sit outside a bar in a short sleeved shirt with a cold beer! Problem was that it was very short lived as early next morning I am back at the airport to head up to a very cold Michigan – and cold it was! With around Eight inches of snow on the ground. I flew into Flint and collected a Dodge Ram pick up truck as I was also collecting an Old Husquavarna near to the airport that would eventually find it’s way back to England, I was collecting the old bike for a guy in England that was struggling to get it shipped, the bike was VERY rough but even old trail & dirt bikes have a large following. The bike is unloaded at my pal Gary’s in Traverse City and I swap the New Dodge for my old faithful Sonoma truck and after only a few miles I pull over to the side of the road to check the map and manage to slide off the road and into a snow drift L Even my four wheel drive wouldn’t get me out of the snow and rather than risk sliding further in I sit back and wait.
Luckily, in Michigan this is all par for the course and just Two minutes later a car pulled up and offered me a tow out, I was a little reluctant but just 20 seconds later a truck pulled up and offered me the same – within a minute I was out and back on the road and heading South on my 800 mile journey to Springfield, Missouri.
I made it as far as Springfield Illinois and called it a day. Next day I stop by Brian Hilvety’s and drop some parts off and check out some of the many H2 projects he has stored for renovation, at this time he has a couple of 1969 H1’s that were almost finished.
After leaving Springfield Illinois it’s over to St Louis and on down to Springfield, Missouri. I have travelled through St Louis a couple of times and always stared in awe at the HUGE Arc that stands out in the skyline at 650 feet tall it is as tall as all the skyscrapers around it!
I make good time and arrive late morning to collect a H2c bought off Ebay, the bike has some issues (not least the 16 inch back wheel and ape hangers) but in general the condition is good with nice chrome bolts under the crud. It will make a VERY restorable project.
The seller also has a little Yamaha 175 for sale so whilst I am there and have the space on the truck I load that up as well and head on back towards Michigan.
Once back at St Louis I take a detour to get a better look at the Arc and am fascinated to see it is made of stainless steel, a closer inspection is needed and after watching the amazing film of it’s construction back in the 1960’s I decide to try and conquer my fear of heights by taking a trip up to the top. I am astounded that the arch is wide enough to have a small cable lift system inside where 5 “not too large” people can cram in and ride to the top
Once at the top, the view was stunning and worth overcoming my fear for !
I stop off along the way and meet up with “board member” Kelly Wright. Kelly is restoring a ’73 H2a and doing a superb job of it, he is one of a growing band of guys in the U.S. that is starting to do exceptional quality work on restoring old Triples. I know I have said this before but I still feel that the average H2 restorer in the U.S. is a few years behind the quality of bike that is restored in Europe. People such as Kelly are the turning point and all they need over there now is a few more annual Japanese bike shows and a few hundred less Harley biased judges at other shows.
So, 550 miles later and I am back up with Gary in Traverse City and we are unloading the bikes in yet more Snow! The winter Months are long and cold up in North Michigan, you can figure on REAL cold and snow being around from mid November to late April – which is great if you enjoy snowmobiling! But don’t let anyone in the U.K. tell me it is cold during our winters – the Brits REALLY havn’t seen Cold until you’ve visited North Michigan or Minnesota!
So, I collect the H2c and am a little concerned that the bike has obviously spent several months if not years in the open air during one period of it’s life. As the kicker doesn’t return on it’s own I figure I will run it and see how things go and bank on having to strip the motor anyway.
Next day it is across the state to pay a visit to the legendary Tony Nicosia. To anyone in the U.S. that was involved in Kawasaki in the early 1970’s – Tony was a legend, he broke more records on triples than anyone else in the World, Here in the U.K. he was better known more for his work and performance parts from the famous DENCO company. I have to hold my hands up and say that even I had no in depth knowledge on Tonys achievements other than he was the guy that shook the motorcycling world with his strip times on a ’69 H1. After being in the military
in the early 1960’s and based in Japan, Tony had considerable success as a
motocross rider. He returned to the U.S. in 1965 and from there got involved
with Kawasaki and also with motorcycle drag racing. Tony commented to me that he
tested the first pre runner to the Z1’s back in the late 1960’s! He also showed
me pictures of one of the very first 1969 H1’s that he was given to test in
early 1968, the pictures show a very raw H1 with the “Kawasaki” logo masked out
and many items that would not have been on the actual production released model,
not least the fact that the front drum brake was on the opposite side. Tony went on to tell me of the
motorcycling press’s disbelief of the claimed drag strip runs he had made with
the newly launched H1. The motorcycling press challenged the times and Kawasaki
suggested that they pulled a H1 out of the distribution centre and tested that,
sure enough a top journalist picked a bike from the middle of the stack of H1’s
in the warehouse and they took it to the strip where Tony ran a blistering 12.96
seconds at 100.7 mph on a bike that had just 7 miles on the speedo (and 2 of
those miles would have been put on at the factory!)
Tony also told me of the time that a top motorcycle magazine was testing the superbikes of the day to coincide with the release of the new Z1, tests of the biggest Ducati, Harley, Honda, Triumph, Z1 & H2 would tell the world just which was the best performing bike of the day, Tony prepared a H2 and in trials before the journalists tested the bikes the H2 utterly ate the Z1! To such an extent that word came from Kawasaki HQ that they hadn’t poured all this money into developing the Z1 for an old stroker to walk away as the premier performer, and if Tony let the H2 take the accolade it was likely that he would never work for them again! Further on through Tonys photo album and we come across his development of the KZ (Z) 650, In August 1976 he took a bike to Bonneville and ran the bike flat out at 141mph to achieve yet another world record, Tony seemed a little concerned when I pointed out that the tyres that he broke this “speed” record on were the standard road production items!
Tony is a fascinating guy, he has lived and breathed motorcycles all his life and has folders full of testimonies to his lifes work – he has broken countless records (200?+) and would surely be worth writing a book about.
So, it’s Saturday and the
temperature is in the mid 80’s – As I don’t have a jacket with me and decided to
buy a light mesh riding jacket with body armour in it, I take the H2c for a spin
and all seems O.K. it’s a little down on power and a little bit dry sounding but
most importantly it seems to go O.K. Sunday morning dawns and I head off out to
meet the boys, it’s down to the high 50’s and bloody freezing aboard the H2, the
guys are late and a call reveals that Allen has troubles with his GT380 some 10
miles away I head on over there and meet up with a good handful of triples
consisting of a couple of H2’s, a kettle, and S2, a GT380 a couple of RD yams
and a couple of modern bikes (sincere apologies for not naming all the owners
but I got confused as to who was on which bike). So, am glad of a break to try
and warm up a little, it’s unreal that one day it is 80 degrees and the next it
is less than 60 L.
A quick photo shot and we all decide to head for home as some guys have a 150 mile ride ahead of them.
Final day in Florida and I take a trip to check out some short circuit racing, interesting stuff, BIG V8 motors that sound good and get out of shape often - I suppose that this is the basis for NASCAR rookies? Once over with and the track is used for a demolition derby utilising “Yellow school” Busses in a figure of eight demolition derby! Funny stuff but not quite as funny as the demolition derby of the cars . . . . towing the trailer . . . . loaded with a boat! It was all a case of what came off first – the trailer or the boat that was on it!
Another trip comes to an end and I head off back to the cold U.K. winter . . . . L
Keep One Wheel down . . .. .. . . .
Rick Brett
|