Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

What Can You Say About the 350 Kaw That U~sn't Been Said? ALot there is a "prime" position which is the same as "on" in. the nannal type of l'etcock - fuel just responds to the call of gravity. With this petcock, the "on" position causes gas to be pumped by a diaphragm that responds to manifold vacuum. When the engine is off no fuel can flow and your· crankcases are safe from flooding. One word of warning: don't cross the lines. If you should hook up . the vacuum line to the fuel tap and visa-versa, it will run about a block before the float bowl is empty. When you put it on "prime" you will flood your crankcases so fast that it will make your rrrind seize - instant hydraulic lock. The spark comes from a magneto CDI system. This will do good things to keep your spark plug alive and aid starting. It uses a normal type spark plug. The surface gap plugs are not usable. (See "The Home Workshop" in the last issue.) The engine will run without the six volt battery as will the lights. It also doesn't require any timing, ever. Interestingly, the headlight would come on only when the engine was running. The taillight, however, worked at any time. The headlight set·up, as' we understand it, is contrary to the vehicle codes of certain states, although it wiU presen t no problem to the owner. The Iigh ts are turned on by the key. There is no kill button,)>Ut the ignition C1. N ron Photos by john j. Huetter jr., Larry j. "Shady" Groves, Arthur "Clip·ons" Friedman, & probably someone else, too. The problem that we faced in evaluating the Kawasaki F-9 Bighorn was deciding what it was to be used for. The 350cc single is called an Henduro", and while it 'is usable for this purpose, it is also too as street oriented to be a purist's enduro bike and has its limits in the dirt. What the F -9 is, then, is a dual purpose machine. The problem arises in deciding what those two purposes are. The· rotary valve engine is both a complement and a detraction to an "enduro" machine. It is often easier to get a good power spread with the disc valve, because the designers aren't stuck with symmetrical intake timing. The F-9 does have a good low end, although it isn't as strong as a trials bike. Yau. couldn't idle along on our machine with the supplied gearing. On the other hand you could whiz along the. freeway at a road racer-like 80 mph and there was more available if you requested it. The 33 claimed horsepower seems to be at least as accurate as anyone else's claims. The trail or enduro rider would come out ahead jf they dropped a tooth or two on the rear sprocket or added a passle on the rear one. The big disadvantage to a rotary valve dirty-type machine is that the carburetor sticks ou t on the side increasing engine width and the chance of some portion of it getting bopped by an antagonistic rock or stump. It also has the effect of decreasing the ground clearance leaned over and lessening the number of narrow spots that it can fit through. In addition to the broad power band, the 346cc single had a lot of other nice aspects. It responded to throttle qwte well and had no momen ts of sudden upheaval in the power band. In low gears, lhe good throttle response prompted lots of wheelies when desired - just snap it open. The lack of peakiness will be appreciated by most everyone. It never once nastied a spark plug in the 800 miles that it traveled in our possession. The Bighorn is a very clean, trouble free bike. Starting was usually prompt if you used the littk thumb lever on the throttle drum, bu t occasionally it took several stabs before it would decide to keep turning by itself. The thumb lever is awkward if you have smallish hands. The engine is very sirrrilar to the 250 F-8 rotary valve unit. They feature the same stoke. The weird thing is that the claimed weigh t for the F-8 is five pounds heavier. The carb is, of course, a Mikuni 32mm across. It uses the usual plungers for enrichening the starting mixture. The neat thing is that you can change jetting without pulling off the cover. A holi in the case allows access. The petrol comes down the pipe from one of those trick petcocks. The only time that you have to touch it is when you put it on reserve or if it has been sitting for a long time. In the latter case, . '", '" '" '" ~ « (/J ;: w Z W ...J U >- U /',,4The big Kaw was comfortable at moderate speeds on pavement. switch is mounted between the speedo and tach making quick-kill possible. The dimmer switch and horn button are on the left handlebar switch. There are no turn signals which is just as well. Turn signals break when you faU down, and if you can't fall down reasonably, a bike is no fun in the dirt. The five speed· transmission has neu tral between ttrst and second and an up-for-up shift pattern. Ratios are well . spaced. Scattered about the bike is abundant testimony to Kawasaki's attention to detail. The air cleaner can be removed without tools. It is a foam type. Cleari it in solvent, and soak it with oil. The footpeg rubbers are held on with screws. The hinged portion of the levers have rubber boots to keep the crud out. The pipe is spring mounted to prolong its life under vibration. The pipe stays out of the way. It is quieter this year making it at least as quiet as anyone else's and quieter than many street-dirt machines. Commendable. However, everybody needs to get qweter still. When you can hear the tires on the pavemen t it will be quiet enough. Strangely, for a machine that will see a lot of street use, there is no an ti-theft fork lock. The chains on the brake pedal and shifter are there to keep brush out - not to save them if they fall off. The tires are Trials Universals. They will handle both the dirt and pa"ement adequately. Our staff road racer was able to ground a foot peg on the machine so they wiU work on pavement. Those who see a lot of sand washes in their future will want big fer-real knobs, and those who are going to live on the pavement by and large will want K-70's, which wiU cause less tire-originated vibration. The trials tires make as good a compromise as there is, though. The brakes are really not adequate for street riding in the 55-70 mph range. They are clearly dirt-oriented. The most in teresting feature of the F-9 is the Hatta front forks. These were introduced originally on the original 350 Kawasaki single, the F-5 Bighorn. They can be adjusted four ways. The spring tension can be changed, the dampening can be changed with various weight oils in the forks, fork length can be changed by sliding the forks up and down in the triple clamps, and axle position can be moved forward or back. Unfortunately, most F·9 owners just It was just at home at moderate speeds in the dirt. scem to leave the forks at a medium setting and not adjust them to what they are doing. This is unfortunate, since this is one of the most usable features of the machine. The trail rider who isn't rushing along and may want to do some quick maneuvering wants quick, more responsive steering. He sets the axle in the forward position and shortens the forks. The faster trail rider will lengthen the forks and maybe move the axle back. For motocross type riding a medium adjustment works fairly well. Higher speeds, that is road riding or high speed dirt work like desert racing, calls for the axle to be moved back and the forks lengthened. The rear shocks have five spring settings. Of course, none of this assures that the machine will handle weU under every sort of condition. There are other factors to be considered including wheelbase, rear suspension, frame strength, weight distribution, control positioning, and overall machine weight. 280 pounds isn't that considerable, but it does lower the machine's limits in the dirt. The frame is strong, and the SPECIFICATIONS Engine type ..............•... Two-timer, mono-cylin~ric,rotary valve. Displacement , 346cc Bore x Stroke .....•...... ; 80.5 x 68mm C.R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . 6.8:1 Claimed bhp @ rpm 33 @ 6500 Claimed torque 0 rpm 28 ft.-lb . • 5500 Carburetor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32mm Mikuni Ignition system Magneto COl Length 82 in. Width 33.5 in. Height 44.5 in. Wheelbase 55 in. Tire size, front , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . 3.00 x 21 Tire size, rear 4.00 x 18 Fuel capacity 2.9 gal. Weight '" .approx. 280 Ibs. Suggest Base Pr,ice . . . . . . . . . . .I . . • . . . . . . ••. . . . . . . . . .' . . $968.00 . . • .•... l ~ I T . 1 Y r,'" I ' I r • . suspension held up off jumps. Over a tignt series of whoops the rear end would bounce around somewhat. Sliding on a smooth surface (including asphalt) was easy and controllable. The seat tended to make your knees stick out a little more than was comfortable. You can get them in if you think about it, but you kind of naturally stick them out. Standing up solves the whole problem, of course. The 350 single is full of torque and puts out adequate power throughout the rev range. But it also vibrates a lot and makes longer rides less than pleas'l"t. The tingling treatment varied among test riders. Vibration is increased by the pitter-patter of little knobs, when on the asphalt. The hands receive a goodly buzz, the feet get massaged and at some rpm settings, the seat seems to hum. In the dirt, you get bounced enough that the vibes aren't that noticeable. All which brings us back to the question of what the machine is for. It will do a little bit of everything and that, basicaUy, is its purpose. The bike will appeal to the buyer who wants a machine to ride in the dirt but who has no other source of transport and will use it to get to work amt to go touring during his summer vacation. The other sort of person that it will appeal to is the kind of rider who needs something for both pavement and dirt travel. Someone touring in Baja will like it, for example. Someone who wants to ride to where the trail starts will tmd a mount here. The serious enduro rider will want to make a few changes before he arrives at th.e start, but he is not the man to whom this machine is directed. I t is much more usable than a Sunday-only machine. We found, too, that you can get it for less than the $968 suggested P.ri~C~·1 ((. I

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