Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141027
M ~ '" '" c, N ,.. en 0" M > '" :;; (J) s: w Z W .J U > U ROAD TEST: KAWASAKI 750 MACH IV H-2 The brakes are grea t. The on ly lim it that co u ld be found in st o p p in g w as the tire s w hi ch are ove rlv hard - in the in teres t o f long life . 'O n a very lo n g. s tee p downhill section gua ran teed to fry your brakes. th e brakes ne ver los t their strength. T he feel of the rear brake changed sligh tly , b ut I was still ab le to lo c k u p both wheels a t ove r eighty when I n eared the h o t t o rn. Afte r it was b ed ded in , th e fron t disc w ould sq ueal when i t w as cold. T h e re w as no pu lli ng to one side , an d fe el was su pe rb . T he di sc is se t up so tha t yo u ca n bol t a no ther one on th e o ther fo rk leg. Perhaps if you went to a super-soft road racing tire and road raced it th is wo uld come in handy . I t was possible to brake the front wheel to th e poin t where the fron t tire would h owl without locking. Th is co u ld be done a t will a t any sp ee d . Perh aps par t o f the reas on tha t the Kawasnk i has ac q u ire d a mon sterbikc image is its st yling. That seat-back is a n ex ample . S ome pe ople lik e it an d some pe ople thin k it's ugl y. 1t is very fu nctio n al, though . The to ol kit fits b ack th ere a nd so will a lo c k and c hain. Th at so lves the problem of whe re to carry a chai n wi thou t scratchin g every thi ng up . You can also stash y our lun ch an d o ther od d s an d ends b ac k th ere . That co nvenien t liulc co m par tm e n t is al so very easy to get at. The top o f that box will also act much th e same as a luggage rack. All ve r)" convenient an d practi cal even if it looks like a ch eap -th ri lls styling gim mick . Another misinterpreted item is the instruments . You k n ow, the big, tilt ed -b ac k, easy to read, racy -looking speedo and tach . Jus t the thing for ge l ting a qu ick read-ou t b etwe en turns six an d seve n , right? Well sure, they're easy t o read , even a t night. Bu t I di scovered some thing even n eater abou t th e m. T hose sty le d- lookin g ins trume n Is will a lso go a lon g w ay t oward re placing a win ds hi eld. The angle th at th ey sit a t com bine d with thei r size creates an ai r-foi l effec t. A t touring speeds n o w ind h its yo ur ch es t or b ody b el ow th e nec k. T ha t reduces fa tigue , an d you don 't have the vision in terfe ren ce, however slig h t, th a t a w in d sh iel d c reates. T he speedo was a tad o p tim istic like most bi ke ins tr u m e n Is. T h e ins trume n ts also h eld th e ne u tral ligh t and the tu rn in di ca t or in dica tor. A ligh t th at m o n itors the chargin g system wo u ld b e handy. r w as su re that th e b ars were go ing to '. but they worked out ~ , with th e in strument ai r-fo il trick. T he grips ar e fine with glov es bu t too hard barehanded. The seat is so me kin d o f ul timate. L ong h ours produ ced n o saddl e sores. It's wide, positioned righ t . has no gr ab st rap . and is just the correct consisten cy for a posterior pad. Sol o it is at least as go od as an y other bik e's seat, But it's too short. Any long ride with a passenger will produce discomfort. If yo u li ke to do long distance n umbers with y ou r sweetie you a re biking up the w rong sea t. Fo r o ne, thoug h, it is just th e th ing . The pegs a re we ll p laced and ad j ustable. Passen ge r pegs are too h igh . T he pipes , t o o , look li ke a c~ltch -your-eye sty ling gizmo, but, they give mo re ground cleara~e than would b u t th at wide p ower b and an d fine handling and b rakes m ade an e xcellent mount fo r the coffee racer ( th a t ' s midwestern fo r ca fe race r). Th e on ly drawback is th at if you are go ing th e limit y ou wi ll be d an glin g w ay o u t there if some thing doesn't work ou t. I t 's very exhilarating for th e e xperien ced rider. T he sporting-minded tou ring rider the o ne w ho likes a mac hine th a t han d les and stops and w ho doesn' t lik e a win d sh iel d - should find h is cu p of tea in th e Mach IV . It's te r rific comfort for one m a kes it id eal fo r lon g d istances. Th rottle te n sio n is ligh t a nd won't fatigue you . The engine tu rns at 4600 rpm at 75 mp h and won't in tru d e in to . tu rn signal an d it was lo ad in g up the signal an d caus ing it to cu t o u t. It to o k abou t three min ute s to fix. The trip meter reset knob desert ed i ts post after abo u t 200 miles never to be seen again. All t h o se turke y s wo u ld have been sp otted o n Kawask i' s warr anty . A few things co u ld b e im p roved . T he tool comp artmen t co u ld b e made lo c kab le like t he l lori d a 5 0 0. The h om only emi ts a mil d "Squawk!" More sou n d, more grou nd. The axle w renc h in the t o ol kit was n' t up to the t o rque tha t the factory h ad applied to th e ax le an d be nt like a coat hanger. T he sw itch o n the le ft handlebar is too crowded . The bu mmer here was that it was possible to occasionally douse th e lights wh ile groping fo r the dim sw itch . A kill sw itc h would be neat, too. On th e o the r h and , th ere a re a lot of spiffy little details o n the Kawasaki, On the und ers ide of the sea t th er e is a little pocket for registration ca rd or inspec tion ce rti fica te . T hey k ey w ill go in either way a la Fo rd in bo th igni ti on and steering stem locks. T he gas tan k is he ld on by one rubber strap. No tools arc ne ce ssary to remove it. The ceruerstand is in the m id d le of th e bike we igh tw isc . If y ou art: w orking on either wheel it will re s t o n the other one . Clever. The ligh ts are b oth very big- an d br ig-h t and the headlight has excellent b ea m spread . I t is also ' ru b be r moun ted. T h e chain o ile r is one o f the be st, Y ou ca n get a k it o r something to shi ft o n th e right. Both the stee ring an d throttle hav e fric ti o n dampeners. The rea r of the tank is nice an d narro w fo r com for t. Kawasaki is using its usual decals again but this year they h ave a coat o f clea r lacquer over them. The Kawasaki 750 , then, is a very pl easan t, man ageable machine that because of its . incredible performance has been burdene d with the wro n g image . It is lim ited as an ab o u t- to w n b ike by th at occasional plug f o uling an d its It hand les su rp r isi nqlv well considering all tha t powe r. We ran with the headl ight on for the entire test and it never blinked . otherwise be available . They a re the first thing to h it on the righ t and d o so about the same time that the tires begin to lo se in te rest. The cen ter stand is the lim i t on the le ft. Either way you can lea n p len ty far . T he tires, desp ite the ir h ard compound, held quite well. I noticed th a t the ti res o n another H-2 were the same tread p attern b u t a softer com poun d which should h ol d even better. Mountain ro ads were a gas on ce I got used t o it. I e xpected more of a h andfu l pleasures of touring. You wi ll have to stop abou t every h u n dred miles o r so for gas . It got 3 0 to 35 a gallon of regular (su rp rise!) . Vibration level s a re very low , low enough that they will never bother y ou while touring. Our particular mach ine h ad several small things amiss. The worst was the kick starter which was set ab o u t an inch too far out an d w ould h it your shin . Invest igation sh owed th a t th is w as n ot the w ay it shou ld b e. S omeb ody goofed on o urs. A w ire was lo o se in the left tende ncy to surge. I t is st ill very desirable for this kind o f us e be cause of its ease of performan ce, tr actability , e xcellent brakes, co m fo r t , an d p rec ise, eas y handli ng at all speeds. Its pe rformance on twisty b ack roads w ill endear it to the experienced ro ad rider and cafe race r. However, it also reall y shines in long h aul riding. I t is t e r r i f icallv comfortable without co n ced in g 'an y of its sporting c harac te r or performance. The touring ri der w ith a sporting ve in will find it t o b e an ulti mate . Its need for very little p er iod ic ma in ten an ce will e ndear it to an ybody. If I had to ride across the country and b ac k I w ould choose the Ka wasaki 750 without hesita tio n. .