Around November of 1971, I saw a row of brand-new Kawasaki motorcycles parked at the tiny Navy Exchange (retail store) at the Naval Communications Station San Miguel, Philippines, where I was stationed. I don't remember having the specific thought before that about *needing* a motorcycle, and -- truth be told -- I would probably have preferred a more sane mid-displacement Honda or other 4-stroke. But it was Kawasaki or nothing.
These bikes had price tags on them. The '72 Kawasaki H-1B 500 Mach III was priced at $864 out the door. I forget the price of the H-2 750 but suspect it was a bit over $1,000. Fortunately, I had the prudence to avoid the white-hot fire-breathing 750 and concentrated on the fire-breathing 500. Most of my funds were back in the States and so I did not have $864 cash. I borrowed a few hundred from one of my buddies (to be paid back within a couple of weeks) and I was on the road!
The Kawasaki triples were crazy fast -- the 750 crazier still, no doubt -- so I drove fast.
My memory is that they weren't much good for anything other than rapid acceleration, which is what I suspected going in and why I would've preferred another brand. But so be it.
I drove the 500 drama-free (no tickets, no accidents) and about a year later shipped it to my new duty station in Okinawa, Japan. I *almost* amassed a perfect drama-free record with the bike, but one day after a light sprinkle, I was turning into the base right in front of the MP at slow speed when the slick pavement got me and I slid to a painful (road rash) stop right in front of the MP. The bike was not damaged, but I took a trip to the medical clinic. Ouch!
Then in early 1974 I got out of the Navy after four years and shipped the 500 back to the USA where my brother ended up buying it.
All my other motorcycles were for sane people; that Kawasaki was the only "bad boy" of the bunch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_triple