WORLD’S FASTEST OFF THE MARK

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32321, 12 June 1970, Page 14

WORLD’S FASTEST OFF THE MARK

'THE remarkable 500c.c. A three - cylinder Japanese two-stroke Kawasaki Mach 11l could hardly have made a more impressive debut in this country. It scored an outright win in the Canterbury Auto Cycle Club’s twohour production race at Ruapuna Park before it was even run in properly and followed it up with an equally convincing victory at an Auckland meeting a fortnight later. The Kawasaki importers, Laurie Summers Ltd., took a calculated risk allowing the machine to be raced. But they had complete confidence- in the machine and were obviously fully aware of the great publicity value of success in competition. This attitude will no doubt pay handsome dividends when importing control is lifted, probably at the end of this month.

A batch of 18 are coming to New Zealand next month but they are not expected to be available in large numbers for some time yet. However, the demand for them seems likely to be very strong. The price in New Zealand of $1470 is high for a motor-cycle but very competitive when compared with some large English makes.

When the machine was in Christchurch I had the. opportunity of riding it. Unfortunately, it was raining at. the time and I was unable to take any liberties. Familiar with the maker's claim of 60 brake horsepower, I was reluctant to ride the machine at all, having

visions of uncontrollable wheelspin and a rather dented motor-cycle. When 1 went to inspect it I deliberately left my motor-cycle gear behind, but the offer of a ride on the pillion seat behind the former national light-weight road racing champion, K. J. McCleary, seemed even less attractive than the prospect of a solo ride. So it was with ill-fitting borrowed helmet and gloves that I sallied forth on this bright red projectile into the pouring rain. It took but a few moments to become accustomed to the machine, which surprised' me considerably. It was not long before I was stepping up and down the very positive five-speed gearbox as though I had been riding it fori years. In the wet there wasi never any suggestion of' wheelspin, although I have: no doubt I could have induced this had I desired.

It handled like a lightweight, cornering almost > like it was on rails. But its performance was not that of a light-weight. From a standing start this machine is capable of covering a quar-ter-mile in 12.4 sec. I i restricted myself to 5000 r.p.m. (peak power is at 7500 r.p.m.) but even so the acceleration was tremendous.

I had to. make sure 1 had a good grip of the handlebars before opening up and there were times when my safety helmet seemed likely to be torn from my head. A superbly machined motor-cycle, the Kawasaki has. all the latest* refinements—double leading shoe front brake, racing rear brake with air scoop, adjustable 'suspension, Cerianltype front forks, transistorised capacitor discharge ignition -{eliminating the need for a distributor), automatic lubrication and separate speedometer and rev. counter.

It is a magnificent road machine but one which can' double as a track bike. “The thing that impressed mej most was the way I could sit bold upright while going I

down the straight faster than I have ever gone before,” McCleary said after his winning ride at Ruapuna Park. “The way it accelerated was fantastic.”

Handling under race conditions was excellent. “I had no worries. Without really trying I could get round Ruapuna in 56sec. If I had wanted to I could have gone round a lot faster but I did not want to risk damaging the bike,” McCleary said.

McCleary found that it was possible to scrape a silencer on the ground, as well as a footrest and brake pedal. For extensive racing these would all be lifted slightly. But even when these items grounded, the

machine did not tend to step out or slide. At the end of the two hours, the brakes were beginning to fade. This was, nevertheless, not unexpected. The machine had covered 120 miles and had to pull up from 112 m.p.h. for the hairpin bend 119 times.

The Kawasaki came through this sterling test with colours flying. McCleary never took the engine to peak revolutions in any gear and is convinced that it would make an ideal racing unit in stock form for New Zealand conditions.

The test ride was provided by the Christchurch Kawasaki retailers, McCleary Motors Ltd.—R. O. Dew,