kawasaki KR 500

Kork Ballington won the 250 and 350 world championships in 1978. He did the same in 1979. During 1980, 1981 and 1982, he rode in 500, developing a new Kawasaki prototype, the KR500, with a liquid cooled “square four” 2 strokes engine. The bike didn’t win any race, but it is one of those bikes with a special charm, with several interesting technical solutions. Some days ago I watched this Youtube video, in which Kork Ballington shows the bike and explains some things about it. 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojeq3iu4HrY[/youtube]

The chassis is an aluminium central spine, that worked also as fueltank. Curiously, the bike had another “conventional” external fueltank. As Kork explains in the video, it doesn’t seem a very brilliant idea, because using two different fueltanks is not the best way to save weight.

The bike had also a mechanical antidive system in the front end. The steering geometry was adjustable, and the front wheel axle was mounted on a excentric. The swingarm axle was housed in 4 aluminum plates clamped to the engine.

Here you can see several photos, these are not from the real bike, they are from a scale model, but are very interesting in order to have a good idea about the bike. (Photos via “The Huesan Page“)

[tags]kawasaki kr 500, kork ballington, chassis, 2 strokes[/tags]