OT: early superbikes

[Larry" <rocco16v@netzero.com (Larry)]

> On Sat, 13 Jul 2002, Larry wrote:
>
> > Sorry, Shadow, the original crotch rocket preceeded your bikes(which
were
> > far too slow to be considered rockets anyway) by about eight
years....the
> > king and original superbike: the Kawasaki H-1.
>
> H-1?  Never heard of it, specs?  The old GT 350 and the CB400F SS were
> never called "crotch rockets" nor were they all that fast.  They were the
> most popular street racing machines, and started the whole "cafe racer"
> era, which lead into the crotch rockets of today.  I lovingly call my
> oversized moped "the grandfather" of crotch rockets.
>
> CB400Fs are a collector bike to this day in the UK (bout the only place
> you can get OEM parts anymore also...www.davidsilverspares.com) because
> they never got the CB360F...the 400F was the first (relatively) light,
> high revving "pocket rocket" the UK got...
>
> I had a non-running GT 350 a long time ago...that was a neat motor..never
> seen a 2 stroke triple since then..
>
> Eric

Eric-
The  H-1 was original Kawasaki 500cc two-stroke triple.  Surely you've heard
of that?  It was followed by the H-2, a 750cc model and the S-1, a 350cc
version.  The 500 and the 750 were street terrors, unargueably the quickest
production machines of their time.  However, their time soon passed with the
arrival of the Kawasaki Z-1.
Yes, CB400F's are collector's items, not because they were fast (they
weren't), but because they were the first of the factory "cafe racer"
genre', bikes that spawned the progression of bikes culminating in the
GSX/YZ/ZX/CBR time-warpers of today.
Now, back to Sciroccos....

Larry

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