AVENGER ASSEMBLED! BLED!

Is it really coincidence that two Japanese motorcycle companies launched disc-valve, 350 stroker twins in 1967? Did a disgruntled employee swap sides early on in the development of either the Bridgestone 350 or Kawasaki’s A7?

In all honesty, the reason is probably more down to serendipity than industrial espionage. Discvalve strokers were the in-thing back in early to mid 1960s. The set up offers substantial benefits of conventional piston-ported engines with significantly better control of the incoming fuel/air mixture, and back then Japan was selling performance-orientated machinery by the boat-load around the world.

The A7 350 (it’s really only a 338cc motor) was launched with a quoted power output of 42bhp and immediately began to embarrass owners of British ‘big’ twins. For the period the A7’s power delivery was searing, making the bike hugely potent on standing quarter-mile times; 13.8 seconds was the quoted figure, and the bike could even touch 110mph!

The A7 (known as the Avenger globally) is something of a Cinderella bike in the UK, probably because so few were sold here during its 1967-1971 production life. Kawasaki wasn’t well established, spares support was parlous and the bike was considered overpriced.

But, that said, an A7 will consistently impress its rider. The amount of instant drive off the throttle has to be experienced to be believed and the way the bike makes progress totally and utterly belies its age.