Late in 1960, Kawasaki built a motorcycle assembly plant in Kobe, Japan; one of the first out of the gate was a 125cc two-stroke machine. It made 8 hp at 6,500 rpm.

In 1969, Kawasaki went through a reorganization, which, among other things, yielded a motorcycle built around a 500cc, 60-hp three-cylinder two-stroke. In less than a decade, Kawasaki had created a bike which boasted a 650-percent increase in power over their early efforts.

This groundbreaking machine was the Kawasaki Mach III H1, and for a time, it was the most powerful production motorcycle in the world.

It soon came to be known as The Widowmaker, and not just because of its output: It was cheap, too, listing at just $999—about $6,500 in 2015 dollars. The combination of affordability and surprising horsepower put the Kawasaki Mach III into the fun-because-it’s-inherently-dangerous category. With a well-sorted launch, the Mach II ran the quarter mile in the low-13-second range, with a trap speed just over 100 mph.

Besides the winning combination of big horsepower and low price, the Mach III pulled off something unheard of in high-performance motorcycles: reliability. The CDI ignition made for easy kick-starts, and surface-gap spark plugs meant minimal fouling. Build quality was impressive compared to its American, British and Italian competition. Plus, the Mach III was almost polite if ridden in a reserved manner and kept under 4,000 rpm.

Once the tachometer needle edged up above 5,000 rpm, however, the engine snarled and wailed into something utterly unreserved, and things could rapidly get entirely out of hand—especially when compared to its contemporaries. The 1969 twin-cylinder 500cc Triumph Tiger made just over 40 hp. A 1970 Ducati 450 Desmo made just over 30 hp. A 20- to 30-hp increase is something easily discernable by the butt dyno in a 4,000-pound car. On top of a motorcycle that weighed in at just over 400 pounds and sported a rearward weight bias, that boost in horsepower on a throttle roll, combined with the peaky nature of two-stroke power delivery, made for unexpected front-wheel flight and hairy handling surprises.

The motorcycling press nonetheless had a fantastic party with the Kawasaki, with volumes of similes and analogies describing the Mach III as everything from “appallingly sudden” to “the fastest camel in the world” (which perhaps referred to the potential of the Mach III to unhinge the rider at speed). The Honda CB750 eclipsed the Mach III on paper a few short months later, but the Kawasaki stood fast and earned nicknames such as the “triple with a ripple,” “flexible flier,” “grenade launcher” and, notoriously, “The Widowmaker.”

The year 1971 brought even more displacement to the table, solidifying Kawasaki triples as cornerstones in the pantheon of superbikes with the 750cc Mach IV H2. By 1972, the Mach IV was packing 74 hp at 6,500 rpm and had an impressive 125-mph top speed.

Meanwhile, the 500cc H1 continued to evolve, gaining frame reinforcement, a front disc brake, improved steering damping and better rear suspension components. By the time the two-stroke triple was scuppered by Kawasaki in 1975-1976, the so-called Widowmaker was a well-behaved machine, but one which still encouraged the rider to engage in high-rpm hooliganism.

Despite its reputation (or perhaps because of it) the Kawasaki two-stroke triple has earned its place as a classic that commands respect from those already in the know and gains instant appreciation and awe of those discovering the power and mystique behind these quick and fast machines.

You might ask what the big deal is in a time when a new Kawasaki wearing the “H” nomenclature—the 2015 Ninja H2—packs 200 hp (with a 300-hp race version available). Despite over four decades of advancements in motorcycle technology, however, the H1 frame, suspension and brakes still mark the Mach III as the progenitor of the superbike—a true two-wheeled counterpart to the muscle car.

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