[pinkpork]

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i loved all of theses,,,only because of what my grandad told me,,,iam much to young to remember them

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIAL/bike_page_content/51936.html

 

[bbach]

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I thought there was like this Kawasaki 500 in the early 70's that was blowing everything off the road. Maybe I'm mistaken.

 

[pinkpork]

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bbach wrote:

I thought there was like this Kawasaki 500 in the early 70's that was blowing everything off the road. Maybe I'm mistaken.

your not mistaken,,,,,there was the 500,,and the 750,both two stroke triples,,,they went like STINK!! in a straight line,,but would not go round bends:shock:,,they had the Nick name of the Widow makers,,in the UK for obvious reasons

 

[Dusty Boots]

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pinkpork wrote:

bbach wrote:

I thought there was like this Kawasaki 500 in the early 70's that was blowing everything off the road. Maybe I'm mistaken.

your not mistaken,,,,,there was the 500,,and the 750,both two stroke triples,,,they went like STINK!!

Don't forget that they also made a 250 2 stroke triple.

The 75 Gl1000 was also quite the 'sporting bike' for it's day. :coollep:



Dusty

 

[SpiderBob]

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I had one of them CB750s it was hot.

 

[Bikefix]

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Ditto on the CB750, my first was purchased during late 1969 and was considered a 1970 model and my second one was a 1974 model. Both were road hard and put to bed wet but took the punishment. The bike that could give me a good run was a Triumph (triple) Trident.

 

[ob1quixote]

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Gonna have to unstick that '75 one of these days...

 

[Gofastandfalldown]

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The Kawasaki Mach 3 was a 3 cylinder, 500 cc, 2 stroke that was untouchable. Very lightweight, acceleration beyond belief, it could outrun anything over a short haul, if you could hang on. I recall it came out in 1969, about the same time as the Honda CB750.

I bought a brand new CB750 in 1978. Had it for 3 weeks and then my friend let me sit on his Gold Wing. The next morning I was at the Honda dealer talking trade-in.

 

[derekhendry]

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Z1 900 was my dream bike, alas thats where it stayed

 

[clarkjh]

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I'm on my second little sister to the CB750. The CB550 will run like snot up to a ton and then peters out with the big fairing on the front. Can't compare to a modern sport bike, but for a 1974 it will surprise people. Damn near bullet proof if it can survive the way I run it.

James

 

[DougW]

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I had one of the Kawi 500 Triples when I was stationed in the PI, I also had one of the 250's for a while. Fun bikes for sure.

One of the guys I work with still has his 1979 CB750. He rides it now and then just for fun.

 

[AZgl1800]

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Gofastandfalldown wrote:

The Kawasaki Mach 3 was a 3 cylinder, 500 cc, 2 stroke that was untouchable. Very lightweight, acceleration beyond belief, it could outrun anything over a short haul, if you could hang on. I recall it came out in 1969, about the same time as the Honda CB750.

In 1971 I owned a Yamaha XS650. My wife's brother had a new Kawi Mach 3 500cc triple that he thought would kill anything. He had a huge ego and had to have the fastest of anything.

He looked at my XS650 and snorted "that thing couldn't get out of its' own way."

I chuckled and bet him $10.00 that I could beat his hot bike to the next mile intersection. Well, he was on that in a flash.

1st heat, he was out in front "right now". 1/4 mile, and I am catching him, 1/2 mile and I pass him, at the mile intersection I am stopped waiting for him. :cooldevil:

He grunted something about he forgot to turn on the fuel valve and it was still on the reserve tank. Okay, so we race back to his house. Same results, he is very distressed. "It's got to be out of tune, let's go up to the Kawi dealer and have it checked out."

Okay, we do. A few hours there, and it does run a lot better, but, I still pass him before we make it the next mile intersection.

That Kawi was the fastest thing I had ever seen then between a dead stop and the quarter mile, but after that, it did not have enough top end, and a decent XS650 tops out way over a 100 mph and leaves it in the dust... :action:

 

[Silicon Sam]

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I rode a '75 or so 900Z1 for the entire Summer back in '77. Fell in love. I was still in high school, and didn't even have a license for a bike yet. Managed to lay it down once, hardly any damage done, thank god for that...

 

[bbach]

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Gofastandfalldown wrote:

I bought a brand new CB750 in 1978. Had it for 3 weeks and then my friend let me sit on his Gold Wing. The next morning I was at the Honda dealer talking trade-in.

And that as they say was that. :waving:

 

[Bikefix]

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This topic gets the juices flowing in me… Hands down the two stroke boys kicked everyone’s butt, however (and correct me if I am wrong) during this era four strokes were hands-down the “in” bike and especially the “overhead cams” were the most desired due to two stroke’s being considered “mosquito foggers” and leaving a cloud of blue fog behind them adding to pollution issues. This stigma continued and “oil injection” was introduced but was too late for two stroke machines to recover for future production outside of marine and other limited two stroke machines.

 

[Sprdtyf350]

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I owned a 74 Kawasaki H2, and a 78 Suzuki GS750 at the same time in the 70's. The Kawasaki was like a musclecar. Real fast, loud and obnoxious in the stop light to stop light world. My Suzuki was like a Ferrari. It was smooth, really fast, handled well, and it would stop. My Suzuki would outrun the Kawasaki almost anywhere but the Kawasaki was more intimidating. It had a sound of it's own, and really kept you on your toes. I really liked them both and it just depended on your mood as to which one you rode.

I remember seeing my neighbors 69 Kawasaki 500 piled up into the telephone pole back in 1969.. I was 10 at the time. He was one of the "Big" kids.. Well, his bike was a lot smaller after that..

 

[oldishwinger]

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yep there was a fair bit of innovation, in bikes then, I remember the 500 triple kawi two stroke was the quickest thing around and lethal in the wrong hands.

they raced them on roads here, pretty much standard, and I seem to remember a law being changed here, when a youngster got his hands one, and died.

all the two strokes where wonderfully quick off the start, (lousy power in a head wind lol ) but the 4 strokes always took over in the top end.

the norton commando had a great rep here too, but Honda would have been one of the leaders in change, not sure about years here, maybe 60s and 70s with the 350 twin, then in-line 4 350, then in-line 4 500 and in- line 4 750 and of course our boxer 1000cc goldwing.

have some great riding memory's of that era.

 

[johnnymac]

imported post

In 1977 I had a brand new 76 GL1000 with a windjammer on it. We were all hangin out one Friday night, and me and a guy with a bored out Triumph 650 (loud pipesand a Zig-Zag man painted on the yellow tank)went out to pick up some beer from a local store. He thought his bike was fast, and it was a pretty cool bike. He got on it off a light, and I just stayed with him and let him wind up the Triumph. He went through all the gears, and I just stayed next to him in second. We he was done with his show, I opened up the wing and just smoked him. We got back to the group and and he was speechless. He said all he saw was a tailight and a woosh go past him. They thought I was kinda different, and quiet, and thought the wing was just a big oldlumbering road bike. It changed their minds pretty good that night.





Same bike, I was going up I-75 from Detroit toRoscommon and I stopped for gas at an exit on the side of the freeway. A couple of guys were on a Mach III, and was in the store looking at the magazines when I went in to pay for the gas, and they said nice bike and all that and were acting kind of weird. I got back on the freeway, and after a couple of miles they showed up next to me, kind of weaving towards me and hollering and acting stupid. I opened it up from about 65 mph and held it there about 5 minutes. I didn't see them again ever, and when I looked down at the speedo, I was moving along at a brisk 110 MPH. I was surprised, on the one hand it was smooth and did not have a sensation of going 110, on the other hand, I thought it would have gone faster. I wonder now if I had it all the way open?

 

[Bikefix]

imported post

oldishwinger wrote:

yep there was a fair bit of innovation, in bikes then, I remember the 500 triple kawi two stroke was the quickest thing around and lethal in the wrong hands.

they raced them on roads here, pretty much standard, and I seem to remember a law being changed here, when a youngster got his hands one, and died.

all the two strokes where wonderfully quick off the start, (lousy power in a head wind lol ) but the 4 strokes always took over in the top end.

the norton commando had a great rep here too, but Honda would have been one of the leaders in change, not sure about years here, maybe 60s and 70s with the 350 twin, then in-line 4 350, then in-line 4 500 and in- line 4 750 and of course our boxer 1000cc goldwing.

have some great riding memory's of that era.

You are correct oldishwinger Norton was king and even then Ducati was leading the pack in their class. Ducati had a 250cc single that was well respected.

 

[Bikefix]

imported post

johnnymac wrote:

In 1977 I had a brand new 76 GL1000 with a windjammer on it. We were all hangin out one Friday night, and me and a guy with a bored out Triumph 650 (loud pipesand a Zig-Zag man painted on the yellow tank)went out to pick up some beer from a local store. He thought his bike was fast, and it was a pretty cool bike. He got on it off a light, and I just stayed with him and let him wind up the Triumph. He went through all the gears, and I just stayed next to him in second. We he was done with his show, I opened up the wing and just smoked him. We got back to the group and and he was speechless. He said all he saw was a tailight and a woosh go past him. They thought I was kinda different, and quiet, and thought the wing was just a big oldlumbering road bike. It changed their minds pretty good that night.





Same bike, I was going up I-75 from Detroit toRoscommon and I stopped for gas at an exit on the side of the freeway. A couple of guys were on a Mach III, and was in the store looking at the magazines when I went in to pay for the gas, and they said nice bike and all that and were acting kind of weird. I got back on the freeway, and after a couple of miles they showed up next to me, kind of weaving towards me and hollering and acting stupid. I opened it up from about 65 mph and held it there about 5 minutes. I didn't see them again ever, and when I looked down at the speedo, I was moving along at a brisk 110 MPH. I was surprised, on the one hand it was smooth and did not have a sensation of going 110, on the other hand, I thought it would have gone faster. I wonder now if I had it all the way open?

Some things never change...