![]() While out on the back roads those two pistons would create a real screamer at 7,000 or more rpm. The rider could drop the revs down to 2,000 rpm and have a pleasant, quiet ride through town. The nicest aspect of the Avenger was that with a flexible engine, the rotary design gave a much wider usable range of power as compared to a piston-port engine. A nice, flat saddle could easily hold two people. The public loved those upswept exhausts, with perforated heat shields offering protection to the rider and passenger, chromed fenders (the rear one slightly bobbed to enhance the sporty look), chromed panels on the gas tank, chromed exhaust and well-done paint on the tank, side covers and headlight nacelle. The look of the SS was one to catch the eye. And the curb weight, with five pints of oil and 3.5 gallons of gas, was a respectable 340 pounds. A double-leading shoe brake did a good job on the front wheel, with a single-cammer at the back.īetween the axles was a rather short 51 inches, all the better to flick through those tight curves. Eighteen-inch wheels were fore and aft, with a 3.25 tire at the front, 3.50 at the back. ![]() At the back, chromed shock springs were left uncovered, always an eye-catcher, with three-way adjustability. The SS had both a friction damper and a little hydraulic rod to control any untoward movement. Up front, the telescopic fork provided adequate spring rates and damping, with rubber boots covering the chromed sliders. Kawasaki seemed to have found a reasonable balance between around-town and racer-road when it came to handling, with the motor being firmly gripped. The steel frame, a weighty but justifiably strong piece, was tubular, the cradle running wide as it went under the engine and reinforced by cross braces where needed. Two-strokes had a lot of emissions, which is why the EPA later banned them. And don’t forget to take the baffles out of the exhaust pipes and clean those, too. Another bit of two-stroke maintenance was to take the heads off at that same mileage and scrape off the built-up carbon with a wire brush. The gearbox had its own separate oil supply, and a change was recommended every 1,800 miles. Power went through a wet clutch and five gears-with neutral at the very bottom. All this from a stock 350 costing a reasonable $850…buyers had no complaints. Max power came out at 7,500 rpm, but since there were no valves to bend, misguided enthusiasts would easily run it to 9,000. Maybe a 90-pound rider with a strong tailwind had achieved it. In best advertising fashion, the ads exaggerated a bit, claiming a quarter-mile time of 13.8 seconds and a top speed of 115 mph-though no magazine tester could equal those numbers. ![]() This was good for a quarter-mile time of less than 15 seconds and a top speed of more than 100 mph. The new oiling system had a direct correlation to the factory-advertised power, which went up some 30 percent, from 31 horses on the 250 to 40.5 on the 350. ![]() ![]() The “control cable,” as it was called, ran from the throttle to the two carbs, and a third line went to the oil pump. Lubrication was improved, the 250 merely mixing oil with the gas at the intake ports, while the 350’s new Injectolube system metered oil going directly to the intake ports and added direct oiling, under pressure, to all the bearings and rod connections along the crankshaft. ![]()
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