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/141048
Th e 450 was de veloped by Kawas aki Research and Develpm en t in late 1971 , raced in 72, and this year will be in the ands of ove r 200 team and dep endent Kawasaki riders. Th e MX v er s io n d isp lac es 441cc and develop s 38 ho rsepower at a silenced 5,500 rpm . The straight 450 F1 2 will appear in a prod uction version later this yea r. The 250 F11 M displaces 247cc and develops 30 horsepower at 7,500 rpm. The bike is available in a produc tio n versio n of the racing machine tested last year. Top American Team Top motorcycle writ ers say Kawasaki 's MX line-up is the best in America . The rid ers will be aboard raceproven Kawasakis. Their heaviest competitio n will come from international riders like Roger DeCoster (Belgium); Ake Johnsson (Sweden); and Mir oslav Halm (Czechoslovakia). Plus Kawasaki riders Peter Lamppu and Ollie Pell erson - riding the same basic bikes as Team Kawasaki. Team Kawasaki Road Racing Motocross isn't the only place Kawasaki has captured top talent. TEAM KAWASAKI ROAD RACING. Riding for Kawasaki in '73 will be Yvon DuHamel, Cliff Carr , and Art Baumann. All three are exper ienced Kawasaki riders and racing mechanics (Bauman n helped develop the early Kawasaki racing bike) . Their racing machine is the Kawasak i 750cc H2R road Veteran road racing manager Bob Hansen has Yvon DuHamel, Art Baumann , and Cliff Carr rid ing the fast H2R motorcycles. Those machin es are und er the wrenches of racing de vel opm ent tech nic ian Rand y Hall and mec ha nics Chris Young (fo r Baumann); Steve Whitelock (DuHamel); and Kevin Cameron (Carr). Yvon Returns Ba c k wit h Kawasaki wi ll b e Yvo n Du Hamel , th e speedy French -Canadian who led Kawasaki's sweep of Talledega in the 1972 compe tition. Yvon began racing twin-cylin der bikes in the early sixties, but switched to the Kawasaki tripl es when they became available. The power of the 750 H2, its easy handlin g, and Yvon's extraord inary abilities in the curves make rider # 17 and his machin e a hard com binatio n to beat. Art "The Dart" Back On Kawasaki Art Baumann - no newcomer to Kawasaki ridin g is back on Kawasaki road mach ines after a frustrating season for Suzuki in 1972. Art almos t became a professional baseball player (fo r th e Pitt sburg h Pirates) instead of a motorcycl e racer. Instead, he discovered motorcycles and became a major threat on the track, ga ining early fame as an AMA junior riding Hondas and Kawasaki's early 250cc road bik e. Art will be wearing #3 0 in open class this year. His performance - in spite of mach ine troub les for Suzuki made him a great catc h for Team Kawasaki. And Art is happy to be back aboard the big three Kawasaki he helped develop. racer - a two-stroke , three-cylinder bike. The H2R is a modified version of Kawasak i's production H2 750 - rated by Cycle Magazine as the top performer among all comparable superbikes .