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
year . That's a new reco rd amoun t in the motorcycle ind ustry (and guess who set the previous record'). Kawasaki puts up that money to enco urage Kawasaki rid ers and to hel p build American motorcycle racing. The money ranges from $27,000 for major races like Daytona to thousands of doll ars for events even a goo d amateur can win . Th e requ ir ements .. . win or place, and wea r th e Kawasaki colo rs. All Kawasaki riders compe ti ng for con ting ency awards are required to adopt the " Kawasaki look " illustrated in this book. This year , thousands of riders wi ll look like Team Kawasaki. Think about that. Thousands 01 riders wearing big , black Kawasaki leIters against a background of Kawasaki green . That' s called putting our reputa tion on the line. Win or lose , everybo dy will know how Kawasaki does. We'd never require a "Kawasaki look " if we didn 't believe we 've got the best motorcycles around. Kawasaki~ Racing History Kawasaki started improving its motor cycles by racing them in 1968. That year Kawasaki 's fi rst import - the twin 250cc dua l rotary valve " Samurai" - became the A1-R racer in the hands of Ralph White and Walt Fulton , Jr . That first year of racing was no fairy tale of the new manufacturer sweeping to success . But it did prove that the 250cc Kawasaki was fast and reliable. And wh at the Kawasak i engi neers learned helped improve the next year's producti on 250 and its big brother, the 350cc " Avenger" . Success Came The Second Year Oul Fulton, Art Baumann, and Cal Rayborn ca me back the next year with an improved 250cc - des ignated the A1R-A. And Dick Hammer raced his 350cc Am machin e against the might of other factories' 750's. The bikes all fin ished in the top ten at Daytona. Not bad, the second year out. Results Led To Superbikes Back in Japan, Kawasaki enginee rs were tak ing their new racing know -how and putting it togethe r with new ideas in 3 cyli nder , 2 stroke moto rcycle design. The result . . . the 500cc H1 .. . a triple that firmly establ ished Kawasaki's name in motorcycling . The motorcycle - beautifully designed, handsomely packaged in blue racing stripes, and with a price tag of less than $1,OO O- helped usher in the superbike era. Naturally , Kawasaki made it into a racer. A motorc ycl e buil t around the H1 's engine was successfully raced by Dave Smith on the West Coast. And Inlo The 70's Repli cas of that bike - designated the H1 -R - were snapped up as racers went after whoppi ng $250,000 in cont ingency money put up by Kawasaki in 1970. A big chunk of it went to a young Texan named Rusty Bradley who swept the junior class . Yvon DuHamel, Ralph White, Walt Fult on, Bobb y Winters, and other indepe nden ts carried the racing success story into 1971. Yvon DuHamel won his - and Kawasak i's - first AMA National Cham pionship on the Kawasaki H1R (Yvon also recor ded the fastest ever 250 mile rac e at an average speed of 108 mph!) That was also the year Kawasak i introduced the logical extension of its work with superb ikes-the 750cc H2 Mach IV. It became the H2R road racer which - in the capable hands of Yvon DuHamel, Paul Smart, and Gary Nixonswept to victory after victory in 1972 (Yvon set another " fastest ever" mark in his win at Talladeg a 200 - 110 mph average ). Firsl Molocrosser Scores The success of Kawasaki 's tour ing bikes led the compa ny into produc ing three ott-road machines in 1970 - the 175cc , 250cc , and 350cc endur os. The 250 F11, in its rac ing version , turned in an impress ive performance in the hands of peop le like Peter Lamppu and Brad Lackey in the '72 racing season . The bike will be back this year, having helped impr ove all of Kawasak i's off- road line. In late 1971 Kawasaki decided to bui ld a big bike strictly for motocross . The result is the 450cc F1 2 that Brad Lackey tested on the national circuit and in international gra nd prixs during 1972. Just one year al ter Kawasaki introduced this 500cc class bike, Brad had ca ptured the AMA United States Motocross Championship. (In keeping with Kawasaki's policy of building bikes fo r the public , not the race track, the machi ne will soon make its appearance on deale r showr oom floo rs.) (Meanwh ile, all three Team Kawasaki riders and over 200ยท indepe ndent riders will be aboard the 450 in the com ing season.) A fas t five yea rs of racing - proving tha t a new motorcycle company really can make good. Kawasaki's racing-development prog ram is a success . And most important, you can see the results at your Kawasaki dealer.