Post Sale Update: This Mach III sold for $10,000 after 25 bids on eBay.
The Kawi H1’s were a range of triples famous for being incredibly fast in a straight line, but dangerous when you had to turn. This reputation only helped to make the bike more popular amongst riders who fancied themselves tough, as the bike became “affectionately” known as the Widowmaker. The Kawasaki H1 500 Mach III is easily Kawi’s most infamous motorcycle.
The Kawasaki H1 500 Mach III was easily the fastest 500cc bike around. Kawasaki was able to market the H1 to young riders who wanted the fastest bike around, by keeping MSRP under a grand. This led to a proliferation of riders bombing around on a bike with serious power and terrible frame flex. Modern advancements in aftermarket parts mean you can now take care of the handling and braking issues.
This specific Kawasaki H1 500 (VIN: KAF21381)is a relative standout compared to its peers. To know why, you need to know a little bit about Dan Hanebrink, who is well-known for building incredibly interesting bikes – we can’t sum them all up, but here’s an example from the Kneeslider. One of his premier contributions was a company called Monotrack Engineering, which seems to have done some work on this H1. Being offered by the second seller, who found this bike in an estate sale, the seller makes a lot of claims about previous work, despite having just said it was hard to get information because of the estate sale. With that said, we’re inclined to believe the claims that the front fender is a Dunstall unit, while the rest of the bodywork was handled by Monotrack. No matter how you slice it, this is one deliciously 70s motorcycle. Also pretty nifty is the automatic chain oiling system, the reservoir for which is store in the rear fender – note the oil cap on the back of the bike.
Find this Kawasaki H1 500 Mach III for sale here on eBay with bidding up to $8,375 and the reserve not yet met in Boca Raton, Florida.
