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#1
04-02-2006, 10:15 AM
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Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
I am looking for a Kawasaki 400 cc or larger triple. Are there still any of these left on the road? I had a 400 when I was a kid and built the hell out of it (from velocity stacks to expansion chambers and everything in-between)and at the time, the only thing that could beat it was Kawasaki's own KZ1000. Yeah, I know this is going back a long ways, but I think it would be fun to "do it again".
Just curious... Have a good one, whatever it is... eti engineer
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SAVE TIME AND TAX DOLLARS -- EXECUTE THE PERP, NOT THE WARRANT... 10 pm. my yard. your cat. my gun sights. (keep 'em home!!!) 
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#2
04-02-2006, 10:38 AM
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Re: Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
You might get lucky, but I'm guessing you are going to have a ROUGH time finding one.
Good Luck!
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Like a boy - but BETTER! 2005 Subaru Forester 2.5X 1997 Honda Civic EX Coupe Inform yourself: AF User Guidelines
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#4
04-02-2006, 12:51 PM
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Re: Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
Knox,
Yeah, I just hadn't made the connection. I will check it out. I guess that is what these forums are for, passing along good ideas, huh?? Later.... eti engineer
__________________
SAVE TIME AND TAX DOLLARS -- EXECUTE THE PERP, NOT THE WARRANT... 10 pm. my yard. your cat. my gun sights. (keep 'em home!!!)
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#5
04-02-2006, 03:29 PM
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Re: Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
I guess that was a two-stroke eh? I remember the 750 triples, they were known for stretching and breaking chains they were so explosive on acceleration...
__________________
You made three mistakes. First, you took the job. Second, you came light. A four man crew for me? F**king insulting. But the worst mistake you made... ...empty gun rack.
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#6
04-02-2006, 04:19 PM
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Re: Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
Yeah, they were two strokers and very powerful, but on a very narrow power band.
My 400 was built to the hilt. I had sent the crank, pistons, etc., out to Calif. to my sis who worked for Simpson Safety Equip. and knew a lot of people out here. They staked the crank, balanced the whole assembly and sent it back to me, the idea being to max out rpm's. I had gone to the max overbore which I believe was 5 over (spec. kits were available from Calif.) and since we did not have electronic ignitions available at the time for the S3, I had put marine coils in it with special points and condensers and a ballast resistor with a shorting switch so I could put 12 volts to the coils when I was racing. Otherwise, the ballast resistor dropped the voltage on the coils to 9 volts to keep the points from burning up. They were a unitized version with a special rubbing block that would track the shaft better than the stock points and allow for higher rpm's From 6-8 grand, you couldn't touch this bike for power in those years. The intakes were special velocity stacks and the mikuni carbs had to be jetted 4 over to make it run right. Timing had to be done with a timing light to prevent stutter at high rpm's. I pinned the oil injection system to the wide open position and used Bel-Ray oil so it would not smoke. Didn't want the engine to freeze up from lack of oil. I had expansion chambers on the exhaust. Of course all this meant the stock S3 chain and clutch were inadequate, so a Barnett racing clutch went into the machine and since I was not interested in top end as much as I was acceleration, a larger chain and special sprockets were made to put the power to the rear wheel. I had them add a tooth or two to the rear sprocket to give me more low end. The last thing was that I had to stuff a much larger tire under the rear end, but was limited to a 4.50 X 18 because of the expansion chambers. Otherwise it would have been rubbing them. I found a soft composition Dunlop that would hook up and allow the power to be put to the ground. That bike would launch out of the hole. The last thing I did was have a friend of mine paint it so no one could tell what it was and what size it was unless they knew that the 400 was the only Kaw engine with the square fins on the heads. People just could not believe the 400 could be that fast. But two strokers are where it was at. Too bad the tree huggers put the screws to them. Anyhow, just would like to build up another "small block" I have always enjoyed taking a small engine and pushing it to the limits. Later.. eti engineer
__________________
SAVE TIME AND TAX DOLLARS -- EXECUTE THE PERP, NOT THE WARRANT... 10 pm. my yard. your cat. my gun sights. (keep 'em home!!!)
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#7
04-02-2006, 05:24 PM
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Re: Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
I have a friend who has a '75 Yam GT750 Water Buffalo...you two could talk about that stuff all day...
__________________
You made three mistakes. First, you took the job. Second, you came light. A four man crew for me? F**king insulting. But the worst mistake you made... ...empty gun rack.
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#8
04-08-2006, 09:21 PM
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Re: Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
Quote:
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#9
04-09-2006, 06:48 AM
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Re: Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
Quote:
 I blame pain meds 
__________________
You made three mistakes. First, you took the job. Second, you came light. A four man crew for me? F**king insulting. But the worst mistake you made... ...empty gun rack.
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#10
04-20-2006, 10:34 PM
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Re: Are There Still Any of These on the Road??
I don't remember the 400cc triple but the 500cc H1 and 750cc H2 were legendary.
Go to Google and type in " kawasaki H1". You should find lots of sites devoted to the 'triples'. On Ebay, type in 'kawasaki H1' and you'll find all kinds of parts and complete bikes for sale. roger
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