Green Meanie
Crankcases were from a street bike, with the cylinder
base areas welded to accept special early H2R cylinders with altered stud
patterns.
Those cylinders were also very special, cast in their standard positions, with
the outer cyls having inside aimed exhaust ports, directly opposite the stock
street bike cyls. They were also fully bridged on inlet and exhaust ports. Why
the studs moved? Well. moving the studs both side to side and front to back
farther apart, allowed for a larger transfer port, front to back.
Those cylinders also had the nice Husqvarna dropped style exhaust ports, the
ones that worked the best, and with the altered stud pattern, wider inlet and
exhaust ports as well as the bridging.
The heads also were special cast, both to match the shorter cylinder fins on the
sides and for the altered stud pattern.
Carbs were H1R 35mm Mikunis, H1R and special H2R ignitions were used, along with
three new transmission ratio packs over the original 3 H1R sets the factory had
available for race team tuners/riders.
The story on how we were made to run street cylinders with no bridged ports. Our
race team boss, Bob Hansen, also vice -president of the AMA back then, noticed
the Suzuki TR750's had just two head studs that were moved form the stockers,
and got a protest of Jody Nicholas's bike at one fo the races, but keeping
typical Bob, quiet about the Kawasaki altered everything. The AMA came out with
a stock cylinders and heads rule, and the Suzukis just used radically ported and
worked street bike cylinders and heads, we did as well, having to switch the
cylinders R to L, and obliterate the cooling fins off the outer sides so they'd
change over.
If the cylinders on that bike were done by the U.S. race team person I think
they were, and not revised by Randy Hall later, both they, and the heads are
simply priceless, and possibly the fastest set still in existence.