- Rich Hobbs’ collection comprises 22 Kawasakis, with a particular focus on the iconic models produced between 1969 and 1977.
- The collection includes legendary Kawasaki two-strokes such as the H1 Mach III and H2 750, alongside landmark four-strokes including the Z1 and his original Z650.
- Most of the bikes aren’t simply display pieces – Rich believes motorcycles are there to be ridden and regularly takes his classics out on the road.
From wild H1 and H2 two-stroke triples to the legendary Z1, British enthusiast Rich Hobbs has assembled an extraordinary collection spanning one of the most exciting periods in Kawasaki history – and, unlike many collectors, he actually rides most of them.
Words: Alan Cathcart Photography: Oli Tennent
Few manufacturers have produced two motorcycles as significant – or as dramatically different – as Kawasaki’s Z1 and H2 Mach IV. The 903cc four-cylinder Z1 four-stroke was arguably the world’s first superbike for the street, while the H2 Mach IV 750cc two-stroke triple was Kawasaki’s ultimate straight-line weapon. Going around corners, however, was quite a different matter…
One man fortunate enough to be able to simply open his garage doors and choose from 22 different Kawasakis for a ride through the Hampshire countryside is British Kawasaki collector Rich Hobbs.
Guildford, Surrey-born Rich, who runs a property maintenance business, has been a Kawasaki owner since 1984, after passing his test a couple of years earlier on a borrowed Honda SS50.
“I’ve always felt Kawasakis were a cut above the rest,” he says. “The way they look and their engineering has always been spot on, and I’ve always felt they’re one step above everything else.
“After leaving school I went to work in a petrol station on the A3 at Wisley that I needed a cheap car to get to, which then died on me. So by dint of no drinking and no going out I managed to save up £600 to buy a green Kawasaki Z650, then my dream bike. My mum drove me up to Watford to pick it up – and I’ve still got it!”
That first Kawasaki lasted just a month before the big ends blew.
“I went to my local Kawasaki shop, and the mechanic there diagnosed it immediately, and offered to fix the engine for me after hours in his home workshop. That was nearly four decades ago, and he’s been my mechanic and best friend ever since.
“His name’s Mark Hutton, he’s very knowledgeable on all Kawasakis, and today he lives just down the road from my home, which is very convenient!”
Various other Kawasakis followed, including a shaft-drive GT550 which Rich used while working as a motorcycle courier for five years.
“I had five bikes by then, but it was too many, and anyway I’d lost my love of motorcycling because now it was just a job. The last thing you want when you’ve been out riding a bike all day every day delivering stuff is to come home and work on something else with two wheels and a motor as a hobby.
“I just fell out of it, got married to Kay, had children, and sold all my bikes except for the Z650. I lost contact with Mark for around 20 years, but then in about 2010, when my children had grown up and I started to have a bit more money left over, I came back to bikes again – and it all took off from there.”
Rich Hobbs’ extensive collection, focused predominantly on Kawasakis from 1969 to 1977 with one later exception, has therefore been assembled in little more than a decade and a half. Many were basket cases Rich bought and personally restored, while others were machines Mark Hutton had previously rebuilt.
THE KAWASAKI THAT STARTED A COLLECTION
Ironically, the later bike in the Hobbs collection was the machine that kickstarted what Rich initially thought might become a small collection of half a dozen Kawasakis.
He had always fancied the KZ1000 LTD, Kawasaki’s US-market high-barred boulevard cruiser produced in the early 1980s, and eventually sourced one with the intention of restoring it.
“It was a nail, with so many major parts missing – there was no sump, no clutch, no carbs, no exhausts and no seat, and it had obviously been left outside for a long time, because we had to cut the swingarm out!
“But I found all the parts either on the internet or through DK Spares, and rebuilt it – so that taught me what it was feasible to do. It very much lived up to expectations. It’s so nice to ride, with lots of torque and a chilled-out riding position. And I must admit I get a kick out of turning up at a rally or a social, and nobody quite knows what it is!”
The satisfaction of completing the KZ1000 left Rich wanting more.
CHASING KAWASAKI’S TWO-STROKE LEGENDS
“I’d definitely got the bug for finding older Kawasakis and restoring them,” he says. “I’d obviously been out of it for a long time, but I really fancied the early two-strokes, which I’d always admired but never thought I could afford to get my sticky hands on.
“I’d always loved the H2 750C, which is the prettier version with the longer tank and shorter seat, so that was the one I wanted.”
Rich found an American example which he believes had been crashed around 40 years earlier and then left outside. Fortunately it had spent its time in a dry state, although it was still in poor condition.
“It cost me £6,000, even in the state it was, and another £10K to restore, so I’ve put a lot of money into it, but I really enjoyed rebuilding it. Mark Hutton was very helpful as usual, and he did the engine for me while I restored the cycle parts.
“And again, I managed to track down all the original parts I needed to complete the bike either via the web or DK Spares.”
With Kawasaki’s mighty 750 two-stroke triple in the garage, Rich turned his attention to the earlier 500cc H1 Mach III.
“The trouble was which one to go for,” he says. “The holy grail is the 1969 first-series model with the white-and-blue colour scheme which they launched at the 1968 Tokyo Show across the hall from the Honda CB750 four.
“Mark had one he’d restored that had won Best in Show at the 2009 Stafford Classic Show, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the model. So I bought that from him with a view to it just being a work of art on display in my dining room, which is where it lives today.”
It’s one of only two bikes Rich owns which don’t get ridden, because it’s completely original even down to the decals. The other is his first-series Z1 four, which has covered zero miles since restoration.
“However, I want to ride all my bikes,” he says, “so then I started looking for other H1s that I could throw a leg over. Again, Mark had a later D-model that he’d just finished building from new old stock parts, and I bought that from him, too.
“I ran it in carefully, and it’s just wonderful to ride. It has slightly less power than the earlier ones, because Kawasaki restricted it for emissions purposes – but paradoxically that makes it a lovely bike to ride in normal use. It’s quite fast enough for me!”
WHERE DOES A COLLECTION END?
The collecting snowball continued to gather pace, and over the following years Rich assembled an enviable array of early Kawasakis spanning the 1969 to 1977 period.
Why 1977 as the cut-off?
“Well, after that date represented by the Z650 B1 four-stroke, they changed the Z650s quite a bit to make the B2s and B3s, and they never did it for me. I always thought the original was the best.
“The two-strokes were getting weaker and weaker by then, and the E version of the H1 is the same as the D, but with the rubber-mounted engine, and the F was done in horrible colours and had even less power because of emissions, so that’s not very desirable, either.
“The two-strokes just got very weak compared to before in terms of performance and desirability, because of legislation.”
Is there any Kawasaki model from that era Rich is still hunting?
“I never wanted a US/UK-market H1B, because it’s visually exactly the same as the C, so what would be the point of having both? But they did make a Japan-only home-market version in a lovely shade of red, and there’s one out there that’s been offered to me, but it’s hard to pin the seller down.
“That might possibly be a future addition, but I’ve got two unrestored 350 Big Horn singles, and I think I’ve run out of oomph for restoring those.”
So, the inevitable final question: which Kawasaki is Rich’s favourite?
“That’s impossible to answer. If I look at the whole collection, I’m really glad to own all of them, but to actually pin one down as my favourite one – I can’t!
“So let’s just say my favourite bike is the one I’m riding today!”
Kawasaki Collection Gallery
