The company that built some of the Japanese fighter planes of World War II entered the motorcycle market a few years later than the rest of the Big Four brands. Everything about their machines can be traced back to this fact. Since Kawasaki entered the U.S. market more than five years later than Honda, the company arrived on these shores long after the 50cc tiddler boom had begun to mature. Their first motorcycle was sold in the U.S. as an Omega, not a Kawasaki, and it was a 125. Kawasaki has never imported a step-through or any model less than 90cc.
Most Kaws have tube frames and all have telescopic forks. They rolled right past the era of leading link front suspension, and only a few of the smaller models brought to the U. S. in 1966 had pressed-steel frames. After the Omega 125, the company sent over a 120cc as their smallest model, but the 250cc Samurai was the one the company really promoted. It's big brother, the 350cc Avenger, was the fastest street 350 in motorcycle history at that time. Certainly most of you know that Kawasaki built a Japanese copy of the 650 BSA and imported it almost from the very beginning into the U.S. The company did participate in the trail riding boom, producing most of their models appropriate within the official Tiddlerosis parameters of less than the 500cc middleweight class. The company produced many models and displacements of enduro and motocross persuasion, with the 350 Big Horn being the largest. Their street lineup, as it pertains to Tiddlerosis, included the 90's at the bottom and the 400 Triple at the top. Although the current Ninja 250 is probably the closest thing to a Bultaco Metralla or Ducati Diana being manufactured today, it cannot be included in Tiddlerosis due to its youth. I personally loved the Mach III from the first time I saw one in a magazine. I owned a 1971 model (the blue one) for 17 years, so I must have liked it. It was the last model before the company prescribed a muscle relaxer. In case you didn't know, the 1972 versions (the orange ones that came with either a disc front brake or CDI) were slightly detuned from the highly strung level of the '69-71's.
Some years prior to my purchase of the Kawasaki legend, I had a 1969 G3-TR Bushmaster for a trail bike. For the abominably horrific out-the-door price of $340, it included a cradle tube frame, aluminum alloy fenders, telescopic forks, a speedometer separate from the headlamp, chrome rear shocks, and many other little details that made it the bargain of the day. Yes, the front shocks should have been dampened in both directions and the rear springs were too stiff, but what do you expect for $340? That was one sweet little tiddler! The one pictured above is a blue 1970 model. I owned the Bushmaster only nine months before I sold it and bought a blue 1970 Honda CL-350. My little '69 G3 was red, and I've never been a red kind of guy. The only reason the tiddler I've owned for thirty-five years is red is because that specific model of that particular year came only in red. Sometime soon I'll get around to writing a story about my Yamaha AT-1CMX.
List of Kawasaki Models with b&w photos and specifications
See also: 1964 Omega Sports Special 125
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