When I first picked up my 1967 Kawasaki A7 it was already on old style bike for 1974. I already owned a brand new TX500 Yamaha which was cutting edge and very modern, both technically and mechanically in 1974. I picked up the Kawasaki from one of the Chemists at Dunlop Aviation where I worked back then. The engine had come from a Swinburne Technical College Engineering Project, they had built a race bike and crashed it. The engine had been fitted into an original A7 Kawaski and that's what I purchased from him. The Engine had been 'blue printed' and bored out to 400cc. It had German bearings throughout and a carefully re- built and modified gearbox and clutch. The rotary disk valves had been hand made to modified specifications.

I rode the bike home after work, but it had been sitting for a while and was running like a dog. I drove it to a mates place that night and his Dad was an engineer. The problem was mainly in the carbies which needed a lot of cleaning and re-setting. When I rode it home it was dark and raining but she was running OK.

The next day was a Saturday and the sun was shining so I rushed through breakfast, put on my bike gear and headed for the Kawasaki. I lived on top of a mountain which meant every ride began with twisty roads. The bike started first kick, she was a noisy and smoky old girl so I chuffed up the drive and onto the road. What followed is one of the most exhilerating experiences I have ever had before of after. This thing went like an absolute rocket. It had masses of sheer grunt and pulled as soon as you hit the throttle. It was a pretty rigid bike and someone had had the forsight to place a fatter front and back tyre so it handled very well.

When I got off the mountain an hit straight patches of road I simply could not believe it. You just aimed it and hung on with all your strength leaning forward to keep the front end down. As for take off, well !!! It would stick the front wheel up with consumate ease and was the best bike I have ever had for doing Monos. When I got home I could not shut up and I nearly drove my Mom and Dad nuts. Next day was even better because I was going for a bike ride with my mates.

What a glorious day that was. My mates looked at the old Kwaka and laughed. They could not understand why I wasn't going to ride my Yamaha on the long ride planned for the day and were musing at towing me home at some stage. The bikes they rode were a 850 Norton Commando, a 750 Suzuki Waterbottle, a 360 Honda, a 380 Suzuki and a 650 Yamaha. Several of us had girlfriends on the back including me.

Off we went winding through the hills on a beautiful sunny day. We stopped a few times for a rest and some food and the boys were beginning to become more impressed with the bikes performance but less impressed with the smoke. Finally we came to a long stretch of straight road. I was riding near the front when the 850 Commando and the 750 Suzuki roared past. I could tell the drag was on and they were both on the limit. I turned around and yelled to my girlfriend to hang on. All I heard in reply was "Shit"!

I opened the throttle wide and blasted off. The two bikes in front soon got closer and closer until I flew past them both. I looked down at the wobbly old Speedo and the needle was bouncing between 100 and 120 mph and rising. After That none of the guys ever hung it on the Kawasaki again and used to regularly ask to swap bikes for a blast. I loved that bike and had many years of absolute fun but eventually I passed it on to my younger brother and it eventually got sold off.......boy I wish I kept it.

I have since ridden standard A7 350 Kawasakis and even though they werent as fast as my baby they are still an awsome fun and very powerful bike. The quality of the finish was very high. It had stainless steel Guards, Mufflers and other fittings. The motor was solid, well built and very reliable. Discussions with owners show that many did big miles on them. Even in its modified state my bike did huge miles with no problems what so ever

The 350 Kawasaki triple that followed was one of the nicest most looking modern bikes for its day. But looks can be skin deep. They were no faster than the A7, used far more petrol and were no where near as reliable. The A7 was comparable to the RD 350 of which I also have owned and in my opinion both were a far superior bike to the Kawaski S3 350 Triple.

I am still looking for a good A7 350 and hope to restore one. They are hard to come by because those that know hang on to them. In my opinion the 1967 A7 Avenger is a true Classic Motorcycle and one of the outstanding bikes of its day. No 350 bike could match it back then and even today its performance and horse power still make it a fun prospect on a sunny day.

Back then they were considered ugly but not to me. Today they represent the best that Japanese engineering had to offer and amount of fun I had on that bike......sigh.....

ReStoring an A7:

Unfortunately parts are hard to come by but are still available. They come up on Ebay and there are Web Sites with discussion groups like here. I have also written a Hub on Restoring Vintage Japanese Motorcycles which you should read if you are considering restoring an old bike. Your best bet is to always try and buy a bike that is still running. I have not purchased a bike yet that is not running.

Be very wary of sellers on Ebay who sell bikes and claim that although the bike doesn't run all it needs is a carby clean, or a battery, or a kick start. All of these things are easy fixes so why haven't they done these things and got the bike running? A running bike is always worth far more than one that isn't. The bike could have any number of serious problems which will probably mean an entire rebuild. Bikes that haven't been started for 15 years will have many, many, many problems. Just because it ran when they parked it in the shed years ago doesn't mean a thing. Bikes need to be carefully prepared for storage. There is a whole chapter in the late model Ducati manuals on how to do this. Also remember that modern unleaded petrol goes off and can eat its way through fuel tanks, injectors and carbies.

If you have an A7 or have owned one in the past please share your stories with me.

Cheers - Rang Rang Rang a Dang......Zoom...Ahhh