1976 Kawasaki KH-500

Yes, that's a '75 KH-400, but the styling of the '76 KH-500 is nearly identical, so the photo is closer than any other file photo I've got. I suppose I should go down to the barn and drag it out for a photo.. but it's behind several other bikes and a lawn tractor, and it's hot out today, sooo.. :-)

The bike does run- and it's a rocket!- though I don't ride it very much. For one thing, it's not a particularly practical bike, being prone to plug-fouling and having a voracious appetite for gasoline. And for another, it's getting very hard to keep a Kaw Triple on the road. Parts are hard to come by; I've had the local dealer laugh in my face when I tried to order parts. :-/ Kawasaki could really learn something from Honda in that regard. Honda dealers will cheerfully order a part for any Honda, going all the way back to 1959. And everything is pretty much available! Oh, some cosmetic parts are impossible to find, but anything you really need to keep your 1959 Honda running, you can get it.

But perhaps most of all, I bought this bike from a dear friend, Kenny Lecuyer, now departed. A mere month after I bought the bike, he was electrocuted in a freak accident while buffing the paint on a car. I guess I'll always keep this bike, sort of as a memorial to Kenny. R.I.P., brother.

Best thing about the bike; wheelies! That, and the sound it makes when it comes on the pipe.