Kawasaki H2, Now and Then - Jay Leno's Garage

Jay drives the 1972 H2 Mach IV and the amazing supercharged supersport Ninja it inspired!

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Kawasaki H2, Now and Then - Jay Leno's Garage

Jay Leno's Garage

[wannafly]

Jay thanks so much for sharing this video. My dad had a blue 72 H2, and I was able to show him a couple of videos of one while he was in the hospital. He passed away the next day. We didn't get to talk about a lot at the end, but to see the smile on his face from watching that bike again was with its weight in gold. Thanks again :)

[davidkeller]

"I'm not good enough to make this bike do what it can do but it might be fun to die trying!" What a classic line to close-out the video.

[minimaccamc]

'every motorcyclist should ride a 2 stroke at least once.'

so true

[fly-over]

I am so glad Jay is familiar with 2 -strokes, blue smoke and mixing fuel & Oil, most kids i talk to nowadays have no idea what a 2 -stroke is. These old H2's are beasts, and these two examples he has here are absolutely beautiful.

[RamblinAround]

I had an H2 that looked identical to that 1972.  It was my favorite bike that I've ever owned.  You're right, the myth was worse than the reality.  I loved how it rode.  I had it bored out a bit, added some K&N's, and put on some expansion chambers with stingers. It was a real screamer. I just found my actual bike the other day.  Hoping to get it back someday.

[mikeholland]

These are beasts. I rode RD and RZ's mostly. Love 2 strokers.

[cleemccarthy]

I fell old watching this... My Kawasaki and I were young and we were going to live forever.

[larryrucker]

I owned a 1973 H2 750, and it was sometimes a dangerous ride. You could be running 60 mph and crack the throttle, it would stand on the back wheel and you had better be ready for it. You learned to be gentle with the throttle. Lengthening the swing arms helped to calm it down a little. I never found top speed, I didn't have the (ahem) fortitude to go there. It was the quickest /fastest bike I ever owned.

[martinaxman]

NEVER stop doing these videos! I'm not much of a Kawi guy, but I was bowing during this video. How quickly we dismissed the two strokes in comparison to the off time straight pipes of a harley. What fools we are. lol. Or I are.

[timothyperry]

Jay...You are My HERO, I'm 65 years old running the Suzuki B-KIng which was 185 stock HP out the door, the naked version of the BUSA, I put on another 12 HP, and has smoked every HD out there, They don't know the raw power and endless powerband it has.But to the kawasaki, I rode the 750 triple back in the day, also I had a 73 Snortin Norton 750 Commando, which chopped after the Movie Easy Rider, that changed everthing about the riding culture.I have also owned 10 other Kawasaki's so I'm a true Team Green Fan!! As i knew what Kawasaki, design, build, power, They blew everyone out with true passion. Jay I watched You every night after 20 plus years of Johhny an dYour show Jay Leno's garage is top dog, with all motor heads. The H2R...WOW nuff said...Thanks for all the excitement You still give all of US!!! Tim Perry AZ.

[stillcreepytruepatriot]

I had an Orange 1972 H1 and it often had the front wheel off the ground. I really had no idea what I was getting into when I bought the bike from a semi family member in 1980. Hard to describe just how radical the three cylinders where, but it was kind of like having a box of Broncos crossed with angry bees. You knew this monster just wanted to break bad and bad it was. The power band was like some kind of Magic trick. Now days I really do regret selling her, but she eventually needed a lot of work and I am now still alive to tell the story of all the wild things I did on this bike.

[brucelarue]

I had a 69 500, 72 and 73 H2 and 73 and 74 Z1. I loved them all. I think the 72 H2 was my favorite. My first introduction to Real speed. I road the 73 H2 from Detroit to Phoenix in 1973 And had a great ride.

[tomquinn]

I owned 72 H2 and sold it after 20000+ miles and I still have dreams about going into the basement of my home and finding it there. Wish I could buy another but when I looked at the prices now!!

[paulhirano]

I met Jay Leno in the Harrah's (Reno, NV) coffee shop way back in the early 80's. He was just starting to get big. I didn't recognize him but my friend said "hey, there's Jay Leno!!"). We were just 3 guys up in Tahoe to do some gambling and eat good food. First thing out of his mouth when we shook his hand was "where are the girls??). classic Jay Leno.

I had the 500 cc triple Kawi back in the day, before they came out with the 750. If a cop lit you up from behind, why you just opened the throttle and laid down a smoke screen and made your escape.

[vanekert]

Always loved 2-strokes... I modified my '61 Auto Union 1000SP car ( 1000 cc 3-cyl), rebuilt the crankshaft with new improved ball bearings, tuned the ports, added a triple carburator set up from a Saab Monte Carlo and had three separate expansion chambers custom built for this engine. It happily spun up to 10000 RPM and it easily ran ahead of multiple Porsches on the 605 freeway.... Although when pushed hard it would sometimes seize the pistons. It would take a few minutes of cool down and take off again.

[heffoandjuff]

I had a friend who had a 1972 Kawasaki 750 triple. I just was astonished at the brute horsepower when you spun the engine up to its power band. I had to be a little careful with managing the RPM's because when you revved the engine up high the front end would loft about every time. I thought it was a beast of a motorcycle back then. Kawasaki motorcycles were not built very well back then, but they dominated  ANYTHING on the street!

[rustybarn]

Nice knowing Jay! the 1970's H series was probably the most deadly bikes ever made, because of that berserk power band.

In the mid 80's, I had a friend that wan't to buy a Kawasaki H1, the 500 version of the H2. The problem was he did not have his motorcycle endorsement at the time so he asked if I would do a test ride for him.

At the time I had the Suzuki version of the same type in a 550. It was very fun and had a very smooth power band, so I thought I should be well able to control and judge the performance of the bike. I could not have been more wrong, as it nearly killed me.

I started out of the lot and headed toward the on ramp to the freeway a few blocks away. Everything good so far. I turned onto the on ramp and pulled all the way back on the throttle. Enormously moronic mistake. It started out just like my bike, then boom it hit this crazy power band that exploded with power and it launched like a rocket. It slung me back on the bike and I lost grip with my left hand with only a couple fingers of my right on the handle throttle still wide open. I was just barely able to slowly get back to grip with both hands just as I got to the end of the ramp to ease off the throttle and not smash into a car or the median barrier.

I never understood why you would design something so insane and why they did not get sued into oblivion, but that was one of the most hair raising experiences I ever had. I don't plan to ever get on one again.

[ib]

Jay and I have similar expressions after riding the H2. He said 'Jesus' and I said 'Oh my God'...LOL! The H2 is the type of bike that brings that feeling of OMG out of you at 1st ride! I love the bike and Jay does too :-)

[greggstankowski]

Thanks Jay! I had a blue 72 H2 ..it was nuts! So, I put a 850 kit in it, bigger carbs, with denco chambers---stock I never lost a race, , but with this setup, no one would even race me!! I gotta say, going that fast, I wish I had some brakes! My next bike was a Z1 900, woo-hoo