1971 Kawasaki Mach III: Debunking the “Widowmaker” Myth
When folks laughingly refer to Kawasaki’s audacious two-stroke triple as the “Widowmaker,” they may not understand the subject fully. It’s true that upon its launch in 1969, the 500-cc Mach III (a.k.a. H1) was a mindbender: For just $999, it covered the quarter-mile in 12.96 seconds at 100.7 mph en route to a 125-mph top end. Its three cylinders inhaled through separate carbs, the air/gas/oil mixture was ignited by a lightning-hot CDI system, and exhaust flowed through three sultry chrome pipes, with two on the right for dramatic curb appeal.
Empirically, the wheelie-happy H1 was the godfather of stoplight drags, but its performance wasn’t too different from the Honda CB750 Four, the three-cylinder Triumph Trident, or those snortin’ Norton Commandos. And these bikes weren’t called Widowmaker, were they? No, they were not. Instead, the term likely came from the Kawasaki’s performance plus its howling induction noise, whooping exhaust note, mosquito-fogging two-stroke smoke cloud under full throttle, and the euphoria the entire combination induced. Considered wholistically, the Mach III was like a hit of amphetamine with handlebars, and some riders didn’t know when and where to turn it on or, more importantly, off.
Let’s demystify things further, which I humbly feel qualified to do having owned both Mach III and later 750-cc Mach IV (H2) models, raced and serviced others as a factory-trained tech, and owned and tested their competitors for magazines in period. Both models used a typical double-cradle steel frame supported by a telescopic fork and coil-over shocks and swingarm. With average suspension, the triples handled fine under normal conditions, but when ridden hard, they ran out of ground clearance under the pipes while cornering. In the early, 1969–71 Mach III models, under duress the rear suspension pogoed, and the twin-leading-shoe drum front brake was only merely adequate. (A disc arrived for ’72.) But again, such dynamics weren’t atypical for big bikes in the day.
The 1971 example shown here surfaced in the Detroit want ads in the 1980s. Its young owner had ridden it to high school, babied it fervently, and never got in trouble, crashed it, or even tipped it over. For $750, it was garage-kept perfect, and remained so during my stewardship, proving that the “Widowmaker” moniker shouldn’t describe the Mach III after all, only its rider. As with any machine, the throttle works both ways.
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I had an original H1. Mine came with the optional hinge on the middle for exciting cornering. 😀
In the early 80s, I was married and out on my own. My younger brother was single and still living at home. He had a 500 triple slid off it doing a wheelie and had road rash on his behind . He .stopped by my house to clean up,gave him a pair of undies and jeans and he gingerly went home. I don’t think mom and dad (bless their souls) ever did find out.😁
I remember reading about the Kawasaki Test Track, at the Proving grounds. It was an old airport runway, which explains a little.
My first bike was a used black 69 Mach 3. On my first ride I was kinda perplexed about the all the hype I had heard. Turns out the center cylinder was cold due to a bad CDI…long story short, replaced the CDI and learned how to wheelie in the same afternoon. I will never forget the feeling of that bike hitting the power band
$999.00 in 1971 would be $7,700.00 in today’s dollars.
Bought one NEW in ‘74 when I was in the Military, road it from Rhode Island to Florida, terrible handling bike , center cylinder cooling issues, wacky shift pattern, speed wobbles, top heavy , with skinny crappy Dunlap tires that had no sidewall grip which provided no feedback when you were reaching the limits, but man was it fun to ride , when your hit the power band starting at 5k to 10k. And that sweet smell of 2 stroke oil, memories I shall never forget
Back in the college days, Boise Idaho, my main transportation was a pumped up Cafe Yamaha RD350. It could kick the crap out of anything. But then my buddy got a Kawasaki 750 triple. I couldn’t believe it. He kicked my butt then made me ride it. Yep, I can see how dangerous it could be. Wicked! Downright wicked!
I don’t know where your getting your info about the mach 3. First and foremost it would chew up and spit out any 750 honda triumph or Norton commando. I’m in the Chicago area and these bikes were my Era. I owned them all. Nothing even came close to the 500 mach3 kawasaki. A local dealership out here was offering a brand new mach3 to anyone who could hold it enough to break 10 seconds in the quarter mile. Believe me when I say it from experience…no one could holeshot this bike out of the gate.period. once the Power band came on forget about it. Please don’t even try to compare a rocket on wheels with any other bike from that Era. There was no comparison.
The h2 deserved the name Widowmaker. I was a Kawasaki dealer in the 1970s. Several customers crashed, at least one died. The bikes were too fast and handled like crap. Curing the high speed wobble required replacing the front tire and removing the steel damper. Riders got in high speed wobbles an̈d ejected from the bike.
Steering damper not steel
I had the same bike as in the picture in ‘71. It was known as the Flexible flyer. The bike had reasonable acceleration until 5500 rpm, when it would suddenly wheelie
I temember 1 particularly terrifying tank slapper at about 70 mph
Great fun bike and very reliable is you cleaned the carbon out of the exhaust baffles. I solved that problem with Denco expansion chambers.
My first bike was a 71 h1 somehow I survived.
The mechanic at the Leesburg FL dealer cleaned up the ports, switched it to synthetic oil, improved the jetting, changed the gearing .
The torque came on at 3500 and peaked at 11,000 and blew everything in Lake County off by a long shot.
I’m now 74 riding a BMW k1600 with a bren tune and still burning up the highway 100 bikes later.
i had Suzuki’s version, a GT750cc water-cooled 2-stroke known as the “Water Buffalo”. It was a later model with duel front disc brakes and Mikuni CV carbs. i modded it with custom expansion chamber exhaust, a café seat and bars, cross-drilled discs and 1/4 fairing.
to this day i consider it a true and undisputable miracle that i am still alive.