1968 Kawasaki 498cc Mach III
Frame no. KAF 51354
Engine no. KAE 45079

'A 500 that's so fast it has to be judged alongside 750s, then it beats most of them, can't help but addle the brains.'- Bike magazine. From the Z1 to the ZX10R, Kawasaki has long enjoyed a reputation for building uncompromising - often outrageous - high performance motorcycles. However, the machine that started it all was not a four-cylinder four-stroke like the forgoing, but a two-stroke triple: the awesome, legendary Mach III. Light weight combined with a peaky 60bhp and indifferent handling made the two-stroke triple an exciting machine to ride, but one which nevertheless had the legs of just about everything under 750cc when launched in 1968. The Mach III (H1) triple was regularly revised and updated, gaining a front disc brake, revised steering geometry and rubber engine mounts among other changes before production ceased in 1976, by which time the model had become the KH500. This H1C example is offered fresh from restoration having covered only some 50 'shakedown' miles since the work's completion in April 2014 (the current odometer reading is 8,537 miles). The machine is offered with Federazione Motociclistica Italiano Registro Storico Nazionale certificate.