I had a KH500, which was ported to the extreme, perhaps too much, as it had nothing whatsoever below 3,000 RPM when pulling away from a standstill. However, I do recall the alternative method of regaining the lost performance from the earlier models was to fit pistons with shorter skirts. My own bike was very powerful when in the upper rev ranges but it was an absolute pain to ride in town. Better to go with the shorter pistons, snorkel removal and upjetting. I had a pair of Koni shocks at the back and preloaded the front springs with a couple of bits of old cut up handlebar. Ohlins it certainly was not ! I'm not sure whether the gearbox internal ratios were changed from those of the first models. I do recall my bike, fitted with an OE fitment 16 tooth front sprocket was showing 110 MPH bang on the red line in top gear, wheras I've seen several tests of earlier bikes, even down to the H1E and H1F which showed nigh on 120 MPH at the red line. I do recall being pretty gutted at the lost top speed, albeit my tuned bike got there very rapidly. Best regards from Wales.
Those Higgspeed exhaust are made in the uk I have a Kawasaki s3 400 I was talking to the man that makes them and he said you don’t need to change the jets just lift the needle up one notch his bike runs spot on
Those motors were good but that horrible frame and brakes lol, really I rode many bikes and those 500 and 750 were flimsy feeling and no way I could have confidence riding one and tires back then were thin and hard as a rock in those sizes, the 500 was a 13 second bike or maybe high twelve and at the time that was extremely fast for any car or motorbike, sounds very nasty with a personality.
@@paulscountry456 thankfully for the KH model Kawasaki stiffened the frame and it didn’t need the gusseting the earlier bikes did. My first ride down a twisty bumpy backroad I was braced for some evil handling. But it was a nice surprise how the modern Bridgestone BT45’s handle. The Dunlops on my 1983 GPz 750 were actually worse than these BT45’s. It’s definitely an experience riding one of these even if they are nowhere as fast as a modern bike. Puts a smile on my face.
Runs an sounds crisp!, I had a 1974 H1 500 with Dencos, was factory Root beer brown w/the yellow stripe, great wheelie bike, I later bought a '72 Kawi H2 750 with Dencos, that bike was fast AF!
@@porcupinebob7907 if I wasn’t retiring in five years and leaving the bike behind when I move back to Asia, I’d love to stick the 750 engine in this chassis.
@@charliestoybox2099 Oh ok, I had a friend , Chris Johnson, here in Oakland, ca that did that swap back in 1982...BTW, how much are you asking for the bike?
I had a KH500, which was ported to the extreme, perhaps too much, as it had nothing whatsoever below 3,000 RPM when pulling away from a standstill. However, I do recall the alternative method of regaining the lost performance from the earlier models was to fit pistons with shorter skirts. My own bike was very powerful when in the upper rev ranges but it was an absolute pain to ride in town. Better to go with the shorter pistons, snorkel removal and upjetting. I had a pair of Koni shocks at the back and preloaded the front springs with a couple of bits of old cut up handlebar. Ohlins it certainly was not ! I'm not sure whether the gearbox internal ratios were changed from those of the first models. I do recall my bike, fitted with an OE fitment 16 tooth front sprocket was showing 110 MPH bang on the red line in top gear, wheras I've seen several tests of earlier bikes, even down to the H1E and H1F which showed nigh on 120 MPH at the red line. I do recall being pretty gutted at the lost top speed, albeit my tuned bike got there very rapidly.
Best regards from Wales.
@@michaelarchangel1163 sounds like it was a fun ride for sure!
Those Higgspeed exhaust are made in the uk I have a Kawasaki s3 400 I was talking to the man that makes them and he said you don’t need to change the jets just lift the needle up one notch his bike runs spot on
@@stevehopkinson4871 his faq page mentioned dropping the needle one or two spots for mine. Also he was running 112 mains to my 105’s.
Those motors were good but that horrible frame and brakes lol, really I rode many bikes and those 500 and 750 were flimsy feeling and no way I could have confidence riding one and tires back then were thin and hard as a rock in those sizes, the 500 was a 13 second bike or maybe high twelve and at the time that was extremely fast for any car or motorbike, sounds very nasty with a personality.
@@paulscountry456 thankfully for the KH model Kawasaki stiffened the frame and it didn’t need the gusseting the earlier bikes did. My first ride down a twisty bumpy backroad I was braced for some evil handling. But it was a nice surprise how the modern Bridgestone BT45’s handle. The Dunlops on my 1983 GPz 750 were actually worse than these BT45’s. It’s definitely an experience riding one of these even if they are nowhere as fast as a modern bike. Puts a smile on my face.
Wobblesaki was our name for them, I had a 500 & a H2 lol
Runs an sounds crisp!, I had a 1974 H1 500 with Dencos, was factory Root beer brown w/the yellow stripe, great wheelie bike, I later bought a '72 Kawi H2 750 with Dencos, that bike was fast AF!
@@porcupinebob7907 if I wasn’t retiring in five years and leaving the bike behind when I move back to Asia, I’d love to stick the 750 engine in this chassis.
@@charliestoybox2099 Oh ok, I had a friend , Chris Johnson, here in Oakland, ca that did that swap back in 1982...BTW, how much are you asking for the bike?
@@porcupinebob7907 I’ve got a friend that’s been asking about it. I’ll probably let him have it for 6k when I leave.
@@charliestoybox2099 Oh dang, thats a good deal!
@@porcupinebob7907 this bike belonged to a friend that passed away. We’re trying to keep the bike within our friend family, so profit isn’t a concern.
What year is it? From the 80s ??
@@Durbintwist-wu4oc it’s a 1976. The last year the triple 500 was made.