Ten days with a 1975 Kawasaki S3 Mach II
(Page 5 of 7)
January/February 2008
Staff
Simply put, it was a different bike. Suddenly, it would pull strongly and cleanly almost from idle, and top-end performance, which had been the bike’s only redeeming feature, jumped by leaps and bounds, with a strong surge in power at 5,000rpm. First and second gear wheelies were suddenly easy, and a quick run saw an indicated 100mph without really trying hard. Fuel mileage, which had been coming in at a dismal 22mpg, jumped to 33mpg. Definitely still poor mileage, but a 33 percent improvement, nonetheless.
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Not surprisingly, we found ourselves wanting to keep the bike a little longer: "Sorry to see it go," we wrote in our last notes. "It’s been a blast to ride. It’s light, agile, and now that it’s running correctly, very easy to ride, tractable even in town and with plenty of power out on the road." No, it’s not a touring bike, and while it’s amply fast, it’s hardly the fastest thing on two wheels. It’s a little too small for highway duty, and a little too peaky for slow-speed crawling. But it’s perfect out on a two-lane blacktop, and it’ll make you smile every time you twist your right wrist and roll on the power. Just don’t forget to check the gas. Oh, and the oil.
Owner's View
1975 Kawasaki S3 Mach II
Owner: Kurt Limesand
Occupation: Environmental scientist for the EPA
Age: 42
Is it just us, or is there something ironic about an environmental scientist owning a two-stroke motorcycle?
Then again, Kurt’s clearly not your average EPA employee or motorcycle owner. Although he’s been riding since he was in high school, getting those first rides didn’t come easy. He got his first bike when he was 16, a Honda CB350 passed along by his shop teacher. He didn’t have it for long: His parents, fostering a strong a dislike of bikes, responded by changing the locks on the house — and wouldn’t change them back ‘till Kurt returned the bike.
That didn’t stop Kurt from riding, however, and he’d sneak rides on pals’ bikes whenever he could. And yet, ownership eluded him as school, work, marriage and family all kept him from finding the time to buy his own bike. He came close a few years back when he tried to buy a trio of bikes abandoned in a garage; among them, he thinks, was a little S3 like the one he has now. That deal fell through, but then he lucked into the S3 featured here. Finally, he has his own bike. "I’d ridden my whole life," Kurt laughs, "but never had a bike of my own."
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