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/1528224
I n the late 1800s, Estes Park in Colorado was the playground of one Windham Thomas Wyndham-Quin, a stately fellow who was honorably titled as The Earl of Dunraven. Despite the haughty moniker, Quin seemed to be a regular fellow, one who loved the outdoors and helped establish Estes as a hunting/ fishing Valhalla. He would later sell a portion of his property to entrepreneur Freelan Oscar Stan - ley, he of the Stanley Steamer automobile. It would be Stanley who constructed and managed the magnificent Stanley Hotel, a grand old lodge built in 1909 and still standing today. Both Quin and F.O. Stanley loved Estes Park, so much so that locals say both men can still be seen wandering about the ho - tel campus—100 years after their deaths! Even Stanley's dear wife Flora, who died in 1939, has been spotted in the hotel's concert hall, playing her beloved grand piano well into the evening hours. Ghosts, say the people who fancy themselves knowledgeable about such things, seek out high energy. Rather than hang out in dreary cemeteries, they return to the places of their passions. Which, for motorcyclists, begs a question. If the Earl of Dunraven walks again among his cherished hunting grounds of Colorado, does the spirit of Phillip Irving breathe in and out with the intake and exhaust of the Vincent Black Shadow? Do you hear Flora Stanley playing a sonata for her beloved Frelan? Listen carefully to the distinct note of the Ducati Pantah engine. Is it possible that Ing. Fabio Taglioni is still speak - ing to us through the throaty bari- tone of the desmodromic twin? If so, then the next time you are so fortunate as to take in the unique two-stroke pitch of the Kawasaki 400 S-3, a snappy three-cylinder street bike from 1973, listen carefully for the heartbeat of Dr. Gordon Blair, an Irish engineer who helped the company transform a lug - ging 350cc dud into a funky and spunky 400cc play bike! When the topic is speed, even the unwashed, non-riding public will mention Kawasaki motor - cycles, and the company comes about their reputation honestly. In 1969, their 500 H-1 laid down rear rubber (the front was usually spin- ning freely above the asphalt) in sizzling style, knocking off 12-sec- ond quarter-mile runs with ease. The H-1 was legendary, even earning the ominous nickname of "Widowmaker" among riders. However, Kawaski's efforts to build and expand on the success of that two-stroke triple formula brought about mixed results, one of which was the S-2 350. Cycle News had tested the model in 1972 and found it, at best, under - whelming. How bad? The S-2 suffered from "a peaky power curve, some engine vibration, rotten gas mile - CNII ARCHIVES P132 KAWASAKI'S 400cc TRIPLE BY KENT TAYLOR The 1973 Kawasaki 400 S-3 was the company's answer to the underwhelming 350 S-2. A FUNKY AND SPUNKY PLAY BIKE