The Kawasaki Machs III & IV

By Bill Andrews

In the late 1960's, superbikes were popping up faster than dandelions on a spring lawn. Almost every manufacturer had one, or was developing one, or just got one-upped by one made by the competition. Kawasaki entered that superbike arena with a monstrously potent 500cc three-banger, the two-stroke Mach III. And the rest of the competition just got one-upped.

This 1969 Mach III is part of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum's permanent collection. It's a donation from John Dimond in Columbus, Ohio, and it's currently part of the Superbike display running now though July in the museum, at AMA headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio.

The Mach was a good marketing name. The fly boys were setting new speed records, and it was quick on the lips of the general public, that "mach" meant fast.

The styling on the early Machs was a bit utilitarian. A pinstripe on the gas tank just about peaked out any flash found on these new superbikes. The logic from Japan seemed to be: Let's see if it sells before we dump a lot of cash into styling. But once you've put aside its plain-Jane looks, technologically, the machine was blazing ahead of its competitors.

One of the innovations found on the Mach was the Capacitive Discharge Ignition. Turn the key, and the new electronic ignition system made a whine like the sound on your camera's flash. The advantage of this system was immediate -- hotter, reliable sparks, and low maintenance.

But the big selling point was the power-to-weight ratio. The machine weighed 382 pounds and could produce 60 horsepower. Putting the weight of the rider aside, each horsepower produced only needed to move roughly 6 pounds of machine.

Compare that to the same vintage 485-pound Honda CB 750's 7 pounds per pony, and it's easy to see why, at only 500cc, the Kawasaki H-1 Mach III could outrun just about any mass-produced bike made, at any displacement size.

The May, 1969, issue of Motorcyclist called the Mach's power-to-weight ratio the best "ever produced in a motorcycle meant to sell to anyone who has the money to purchase it."

Cycle World said the "new 500 has got to be the kinkiest street bike ever!" Regarding the slight weight of the machine to its power output, "One would never know that the 500 is a racer in disguise, were it not for the fact that the front wheel readily lifts into the air if the throttle is jerked on in the first three gears."

If there was a complaint, it was in the Mach's handling. Riders either hated or tolerated it, enhancing the machines beast-like reputation.

Then three years later, Kawasaki upped the ante by producing the Mach IV, a 750cc two-stroke of the same engine configuration. Though the Kawasaki H-2 Mach IV was another three-cylinder two-stroke, it wasn't merely a bored-out Mach III. The Mach IV was new from the ground up.

The 1972 Kawasaki H2 Mach IV on display as part of the Superbike exhibit belongs to Scott Lansford from Crossville, Tennessee. The Machs had proven they would sell, and this H2 shows that Kawasaki was finally willing to give them some flair. Better paint, graphics and body work help to make the bike look as fast as it ran.

The Mach IV was also capable of producing awesome power. But, like the III, it was also quite a handful. The bike utilized a similar double cradle frame as the Mach III, and its handling was just as bad.

Improvements in handling were attempted over the years, but as Cycle World stated in October of 1974, "they might as well have been giving Tyrannosaurus rex a shot of underarm deodorant and a flea collar."

The end for these powerful triples came when stringent American emission laws forced two-strokes off the highway. Also, in a time when fueling meant waiting in block-long lines, the Mach's 26 mpg didn't help its survival either.

No one would deny that the Mach was the fastest thing on the road.  All the bad press about its ill-handling, though, only heightened the Mach's appeal. It was the hairiest monster in the asphalt jungle, and you were either brave or crazy to take it to its limits.