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Text from MCN Sport magazine.
Kawasaki had been developing their air-cooled 500 cc two stroke triples since the late sixties.
The evil 750 first appeared in racing form in 1972 as the H2R, still with air-cooling.
The only way to keep it cool was to jet it rich and pour petrol into the cylinders.
On fast tracks you had the option of quick laps followed by inevitable, and possibly painful engine failure.
Or run it slow and hope that everyone else broke down.
Kawasaki H2R
Kawasaki H2R
Water-cooling and improved handling came along with the revised KR750 in 1975 which also qualifies as one of the best looking race bikes ever made.
The right handside of the KR750 ridden by Gary Nixon
The left handside of the KR750 ridden by Gary Nixon
Mick Grant on Brands Hatch
Greg Hansford on the KR750 at Wanneroo 1975
That year Mick Grant won the British Superbike Championship and the F750 TT, finally beating Hailwood's eight year old lap record.
But the KR's best year was probably 1976 when Gary Nixon, riding an Erv Kanemoto tuned bike, was narrowly beaten at the Daytona 200 and only lost the FIM F750 Championship by two points to Spaniard Victor Palermo on a TZ750.
It was the last real opposition Yamaha got.
Kawasaki had been developing their air-cooled 500 cc two stroke triples since the late sixties.
The evil 750 first appeared in racing form in 1972 as the H2R, still with air-cooling.
The only way to keep it cool was to jet it rich and pour petrol into the cylinders.
On fast tracks you had the option of quick laps followed by inevitable, and possibly painful engine failure.
Or run it slow and hope that everyone else broke down.
Kawasaki H2R
Kawasaki H2R
Water-cooling and improved handling came along with the revised KR750 in 1975 which also qualifies as one of the best looking race bikes ever made.
The right handside of the KR750 ridden by Gary Nixon
The left handside of the KR750 ridden by Gary Nixon
Mick Grant on Brands Hatch
Greg Hansford on the KR750 at Wanneroo 1975
That year Mick Grant won the British Superbike Championship and the F750 TT, finally beating Hailwood's eight year old lap record.
But the KR's best year was probably 1976 when Gary Nixon, riding an Erv Kanemoto tuned bike, was narrowly beaten at the Daytona 200 and only lost the FIM F750 Championship by two points to Spaniard Victor Palermo on a TZ750.
It was the last real opposition Yamaha got.
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