by ambike » Sun Apr 30, 2017 1:23 pm
The 1972 H2 750 Mach IV was indeed the Widowmaker. Although most guys weren't married, the rep didn't stick without reason and tons of 750 's were sold in HouTex.
The 1969 H1 500 Mach III was pretty quick & super pipey in its own right, but the 750 was " badder ".
Haven't seen one of my old buds in over 25 years but we keep up. He was a new H2 buyer when the damned things first arrived. After sending a pic of the latest with a " here you go ", he replied. Heard the usual stories and he added : Dave, that motorcycle was incredible. ( I laughed to myself : Yeah, it WAS until.....! )
There's no doubt, the H2 was " mighty " for the times.
From my experience, the problem most guys had was how smooth the motors ran and the power kept on a' comin'. By that time, the speed was winding-up the frame and trouble in Bayou City followed. ( Absorbed energy does release. ) After an inevitable shunt or two, the cheap-ass jap crap forks were bent / tweaked and under hard acceleration the handling became dangerous at lower velocities. Personally, I've never crashed one. I do collect, but more often than not I've always preferred the solid feel of a Harley.
Another factor contributing to those Oh Crap moments was a STOCK machine's relative quietness at speed. When guys had been riding / racing 250 Bultaco dirt bikes & dirt trackers with open chambers, bumps & noise amplified the action and provided good warning to ease up. But hop on a fresh Widowmaker and it was smooth sailing past anything on the road...until ! The OEM front forks never had enough spring for hard stopping / serious evasive maneuvers, and all rear shocks were junk.
It's easy to be stuck on ALL things ' 60 's, so here's another " foreign " photo :
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