Kawasaki/baja 450
kawasaki/Baja 450
All The Mods A Privateer Would Do Times Two. But Sometimes Even That Isn't Enough!
Jody Nicholas
a LOT OF shops build specialized, one-off, competition machinery, but few do it with either the consistency or success of Kawasaki’s Research and Development facility in Santa Ana, Calif.
Brad Lackey’s motocross bikes come out of this shop. The winning twowheeler in Mickey Thompson’s RV spectacular was built there, too. And, so was a very special ISDT type machine that Gene Cannady and A1 Baker rode in the Baja 1000.
The Baja bike is really something else and as usual it is a product of Hank Hosoi, Jerry Marcell and Walt Axthelm. The trio started with the same frame used on the latest motocross bikes. Fabricated from 4130 chrome moly steel in Kawasaki’s R&D facility, it is of conventional single toptube, single downtube design with the downtube splitting into two smaller diameter tubes under the front of the engine, forming a cradle which extends rearward and up to points under the seat.
What makes the frame really unusual, however, is that the toptube is used as a “tuned” inlet into the airbox, which is otherwise sealed. This means that water has to be at least as high as the fuel tank to get into the airbox and then into the engine. (The toptube air intake was developed for the ISDT machines and worked very well on them.)
The other advanced design feature relating to the frame is the forward slanting rear shock absorbers and Curnutt long travel shocks. Using a forward tilt of approximately 35 degrees, rear axle travel is a whopping 6.7 in., the same as the Betor front forks! The front forks, incidentally, have 1-in. longer tubes than standard and these, combined with the Curnutt shocks and their method of mounting, helps give ground clearance of 10.5 in.!
One might think by looking at the photos of the 450 that it might handle oddly because of the apparently high center of gravity. However, AÍ Baker reported the handling qualities to be very good and praised the machine’s generous ground clearance and superior shock absorber action and travel.
Other items that aren’t generally seen on off-road machines are disc brakes. Both front and rear units are standard Kawasaki items, manufactured by Tokiko, which give progressive, predictable braking action, time after time.
Basically a standard FI2 engine is used, the major difference being a 36mm carburetor instead of the motocross version’s 34mm unit. Slightly more power was the result, but so was increased fuel consumption.
Some of the 1973 Baja 1000 was run on pavement, so a relatively “tall” overall gear ratio was necessary. Using the ISDT gearbox, which has wider ratios than the F12, the Baja 1000/450 was capable of 106 mph at maximum power rpm.
Complete weight of the machine, with ½-gal, of gas, is close to 280 lb., Continued from page 74 which seems a little heavy until you take a look at the extra gear the machine had to carry. One such item is a spare CDI ignition system. In the event that one system gave trouble, the flip of a toggle switch would bring the other system into action.
(Continued on page 111)
Other weight adding units included a Lucas 7-in. diameter headlamp with a quartz-iodine bulb for broad illumination and a pencil-beam Cibie rectangular driving light for distant illumination.
The generating station is interesting in that there are two complete lighting systems. Under the flywheel are four coils. One is the trigger coil for the CDI ignition. One lighting coil is a standard Kawasaki F9 lighting coil which produces 6 V and 38 watts. And two smaller, specially wound coils, wired in parallel, produce 6V and 30 watts. Current produced by the single lighting coil (for one system) and the two, smaller lighting coils (for the other system) is fed into two Lucas full-wave rectifiers to change it from AC to DC. A Lucas Zener diode in each system limits the generator’s output to 12V, and 54 watts, required by each lamp, is produced.
In addition, there are two spare Zener diodes mounted beside the two in use in case of failure. There is also a four-way connector in the output wiring from the generator which allows the lamps to be switched in the event of failure in one generating system. For example, if the main Lucas light were to go out, and switching the Zener diodes didn’t correct the situation, the fourprong connector can be unplugged, rotated 180-degrees and reconnected, having the remaining generating coil(s) light the Lucas lamp.
Because of the 450’s voracious appetite for fuel, many extra pit stops were planned, and at each pit stop there was oil for the transmission. However, in the heat of battle everybody forgot about checking the oil in the gearbox and as the result of an oil leak, the gearbox ran dry of lubricant before the Bay of Los Angeles, (or approximately the halfway point). As a result, Cannady had only 1st and 5th gears when he pulled into the checkpoint. AÍ Baker, who was to take over there shortly before dark, didn’t get to continue, which is a shame because he had pre-run the second portion of the course several times, at night, and was intimately familiar with it.
A disappointed Kawasaki crew loaded up and went back to California. But a lot was learned about the benefits of increased travel! Next year, with a little more oil in the tranny, Baja may be theirs. 0
