70's Super Bikes

[DIGGER]

How many of you guys ever had a 70's Super Bike?

I personally had a 1971 Kawasaki Mach 3 H1 2 stroke 3 cylinder 500cc.   It was an awesome bike in it's day.  Even rode it from Houston to the Grand Canyon in 1971.  Fast little bugger in it's day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HESIjHvOjtw

[RDKLL]

My first road bike:

[DIGGER]

My first road bike:

really great bike it was.    My high school friend bought one of the first Gold Wings to hit Houston Tex.  It was a blue color.    First time he had seen disk breaks.    First time he did maintenance on the bike he thought the disk brake cylinder bleeder fitting was a grease fitting.   filled it with grease.....ha.....made a mess.  ha

[..]

Laverda Jota.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laverda_Jota

[DIGGER]

I had forgotten about the Laverda.     I used to read all the motorcycle magazines and read about the Laverda  but don't remember ever seeing one

[Rams]

Never really considered it a Super Bike but, my 78 KZ1000 was no slouch.   

Rams

[..]

I had forgotten about the Laverda.     I used to read all the motorcycle magazines and read about the Laverda  but don't remember ever seeing one

Nearly 60 in first when I was feeling 

Sloow from a standing start.

[Kidd]

I had 2  Kawasaki Mach 3 750cc  in the 70's  , open up the throttle and nothin happened till 5500 rpm , then it takes off , that was a blast  , and I survived it

How many of you guys ever had a 70's Super Bike?

I personally had a 1971 Kawasaki Mach 3 H1 2 stroke 3 cylinder 500cc.   It was an awesome bike in it's day.  Even rode it from Houston to the Grand Canyon in 1971.  Fast little bugger in it's day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HESIjHvOjtw

[hubcapsc]

I had 2  Kawasaki Mach 3 750cc  in the 70's  , open up the throttle and nothin happened till 5500 rpm , then it takes off , that was a blast  , and I survived it

How many of you guys ever had a 70's Super Bike?

I personally had a 1971 Kawasaki Mach 3 H1 2 stroke 3 cylinder 500cc.   It was an awesome bike in it's day.  Even rode it from Houston to the Grand Canyon in 1971.  Fast little bugger in it's day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HESIjHvOjtw

"The Kawasaki 750 is a screaming purple-eyed monster whose only god is performance.
Lay at its feet the fastest production vehicles you can find and the 750 will chuckle, snort
and eat them alive"...

I guess that's still pretty close to a quote. I read it in a magazine 45 years ago 

-Mike

[DIGGER]

I had 2  Kawasaki Mach 3 750cc  in the 70's  , open up the throttle and nothin happened till 5500 rpm , then it takes off , that was a blast  , and I survived it

How many of you guys ever had a 70's Super Bike?

I personally had a 1971 Kawasaki Mach 3 H1 2 stroke 3 cylinder 500cc.   It was an awesome bike in it's day.  Even rode it from Houston to the Grand Canyon in 1971.  Fast little bugger in it's day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HESIjHvOjtw

e

My 500cc was same way.   It had a high rpm power band.    I Remember when I first bought it I drove it off the showroom floor early on a Saturday morning.   Monday morning I was at the dealership service door waiting for them to open for my scheduled 500 mile break in oil change .  They couldn't believe I had already been 500 miles.  Ha

[Cleaver]

Not sure if it was a superbike but a lot of fun, a 1978 XS 1100 Yamaha.  Kept until 1984 when I traded for a V-65 Sabre, also a lot of fun!

[MAD6Gun]

 Just out of the 70s. My first bike was a 81 Honda CB900F.

[phideux]

I had an H-1 and an H-2, loved them things. I also had one of the old Triumph 3 cylinders with the 1 piece Cafe body.

[Wizzard]

I had a 78 KZ 750 Purple with high back padded bar. Loved that bike. Just sold it 6 months ago to someone who is restoring it.

[old2soon]

I've ridden-Not owned-both of the Kaw triples 2 Stroke screamers. The 750 tended to git and keep my tenshun. It were what I deemed at the time scary fast!  I did Own a Honda C B 500-4 that weren't a slouch at all. When I bought it-Dads line here-color was brindle crap brown and black.  The stock paint job was gone the first winter after I bought it. I've ridden 2 K Z 1000-1 naturally aspirated and one with a turbo. While the un turboed bike wuz fast the turbo bike changed dimensions. Couple of those early Gold Wings were offered to me for a testo testo. I remember I'd had just gotten off the turbo K Z and somebody had just bought an iron 883 h/d sportster. Take it out he sez. I came back and asked him wuz the battery charged up? THAT went right over his head. He found out-883-that even though I had less CCs my 500-4 embarrassed him more than once. The video you posted stirred up some old recollections. I look back now at drum brakes and at best Questionable tires and weak shocks and frame flex and wonder HOW zackly I survived.  RIDE SAFE.

[F6Dave]

My first 3 motorcycles fit into that category:

1970 Kawasaki Mach III (H1) (500cc 2 stroke engine) - When introduced, it ran the fastest 1/4 mile of any motorcycle available.  Mine was an earlier version with a front drum brake.  With a very short 55" wheelbase and light weight (382 pounds!) it would easily pull the front wheel off the ground in the first 3 gears.  While extremely fast in a straight line, the handling and braking were terrible.

1976 Kawasaki KZ900 - In '76 Kawasaki refined and detuned the original Z-1 a bit.  This was a vastly better bike than the Mach III, with more power, better handling, and far better brakes.  It became my first touring bike when I installed a Vetter-clone fairing and hard bags.  I rode it from Colorado to the east coast and back through Canada twice.

1978 Suzuki GS1000 - This was very much similar to the KZ-900.  The power felt about the same but overall the bike was somewhat more refined.  It was one of the very first Japanese bikes to make handling a priority, with air adjustable forks and shocks.  It too became a tourer, travelling from Colorado to California to Vancouver, then through the Canadian Rockies to Calgary.  Riding California Highway 1 on that bike was one of the best rides of my life.

[scooperhsd]

My "Superbikes" were a pair of CB750F's - one a 1976  SOHC model, the other a 1981 DOHC one. They had all the umph I needed at the time  .

[DIGGER]

My "Superbikes" were a pair of CB750F's - one a 1976  SOHC model, the other a 1981 DOHC one. They had all the umph I needed at the time  .

I never had a Honda 750 back in the70's but knew lots of guys that did and they were great bikes.  After my 71 Kawasaki H3 I started riding longer distances and turned to a  BMW R 750/5  and then a R100 1000cc BMW.   The Beemers were great bikes and very dependable with minor maintenance.   They were easy to work on.    I traveled all over the west on the Beemers.    My last BMW was a 1985  K100.   It was a great bike too.   

[Roadog]

  Like a lot of us I too had some of those Kawasaki triples.   1972 H2 750, 1973 H2 750 had two of those (bought new, purple color $1430.) , 1970 red H1 500 , 1971 H1 , 1973 H1 500 (bought this one new $1180.) , 1976 KH 500 (bought new also $1295.) I Still have the '71 H1 500 and the '73 purple H2 750 . Really wish I would have hung onto the red '70 H1 500 it was almost perfect condition and the green '73 H1 500 was a good rider with power , the KH500 was as reliable a bike as anything I have owned pretty much turn key always ready.  I miss those old two strokes NOTHING sounded like them you could hear them a mile away.  I am glad we survived it all.

Roadog
Ride safe

[smclarke65]

I just picked up a new project.  1979 Honda CB750 Special Edition.

Got it running last weekend and just need to pretty her up a bit and off she goes to some lucky someone.

[Mr Whiskey]

Not sure if it was a superbike but a lot of fun, a 1978 XS 1100 Yamaha.  Kept until 1984 when I traded for a V-65 Sabre, also a lot of fun!

Now you're talkin'!
Might go look at this 2mro...
('80 model)



This is local to me as well...
(both pretty cheap)



Bring back some memories?

Here's my first "real" street bike...
My kids have always told everyone "my Dad's a biker"



and of course, my all time fav...
(the uncontested coolest bada$$ power cruiser ever made )
Damn I miss this ride!

[F6Dave]

 Like a lot of us I too had some of those Kawasaki triples.   1972 H2 750, 1973 H2 750 had two of those (bought new, purple color $1430.) , 1970 red H1 500 , 1971 H1 , 1973 H1 500 (bought this one new $1180.) , 1976 KH 500 (bought new also $1295.) I Still have the '71 H1 500 and the '73 purple H2 750 . Really wish I would have hung onto the red '70 H1 500 it was almost perfect condition and the green '73 H1 500 was a good rider with power , the KH500 was as reliable a bike as anything I have owned pretty much turn key always ready.  I miss those old two strokes NOTHING sounded like them you could hear them a mile away.  I am glad we survived it all.

Roadog
Ride safe

I remember that red 1970 Mach III.  Mine was the other color, which was about as understated as any super bike I've ever seem.  It was dark grey with black lettering.  You could barely make out the Kawasaki logo on the tank.

It was a real sleeper, until I painted it metallic orange and installed a set of chromed expansion chambers.  I had no idea how loud those would be.  Keep in mind that a 2 stroke fires twice as often as a 4 stroke, so a 2 stroke triple has the same pitch as a 4 stroke 6 at a given RPM.  At speed that thing shrieked like nothing I've ever owned.

[hubcapsc]

chromed expansion chambers.

The purple one that used to wheelie past the gas station
I hung out at had black Bassanis 

100cc was my speed back then, seeing a 2-stroke 750 triple with
"motocross" pipes on it wheelie past on a regular basis
was pretty cool...

-Mike

[F6Dave]

chromed expansion chambers.

The purple one that used to wheelie past the gas station
I hung out at had black Bassanis  

100cc was my speed back then, seeing a 2-stroke 750 triple with
"motocross" pipes on it wheelie past on a regular basis
was pretty cool...

-Mike

I think mine were made by J&R.  They came chromed from the factory, which may be why I chose them over the Bassani pipes.  I remember paying nearly $200 for the set, which was a lot of money on a bike that sold new for under $1,000.  I bought it used for $500.  That was a lot of performance for the money!

[old2soon]

Talk bout shakin loose and settin on fire the cobwebs! Had NOT heard Bassanis in YEARS. Course the feds killed the 2 strokes. But yer right bout the SOUND. A much overused word BUT it actually fits here-AWESOME.  Remember coming up on some V-twins on that 750 and before they could even think about it I was already around them and still accelerating. RIDE SAFE.

[Hooter]

1972 KZ900 Kaw. Thing could scare you a little if you weren't careful.

OK, my mistake, Z 1..

[F6Dave]

1972 KZ900 Kaw. Thing could scare you a little if you weren't careful.

I had one, too.  I think the KZ900 was only made in 1976.  They called it the Z-1 from 1973-75, and in 1977 it grew to the KZ1000.

[old2soon]

1972 KZ900 Kaw. Thing could scare you a little if you weren't careful.

I had one, too.  I think the KZ900 was only made in 1976.  They called it the Z-1 from 1973-75, and in 1977 it grew to the KZ1000.

                   Kind of an indirect direct response to Hondas C B 750/4. Nice time to be a rider with the horsepower super bike wars going on!  Couple of the bikes mentioned so far would/will Slam yer eyeballs to the back of yer gourd.  RIDE SAFE.

[F6Dave]

1972 KZ900 Kaw. Thing could scare you a little if you weren't careful.

I had one, too.  I think the KZ900 was only made in 1976.  They called it the Z-1 from 1973-75, and in 1977 it grew to the KZ1000.

                  Kind of an indirect direct response to Hondas C B 750/4. Nice time to be a rider with the horsepower super bike wars going on!   Couple of the bikes mentioned so far would/will Slam yer eyeballs to the back of yer gourd.   RIDE SAFE.

It was definitely a response to Honda's CB-750.  It was also marked Kawasaki's switch to 4 stroke engines.  In 1970 nearly all Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha street bikes had 2 stroke engines, with the XS-650 being the lone exception.  By 1980 nearly every street bike was powered by a 4 stroke.

The Z-1 was interesting in that it still used a roller bearing crankshaft, rather than the plain bearings common in 4 stroke engines.  Maybe they still had a lot of machinery designed for building 2 stroke cranks.

It also had both a kick starter AND an electric starter!  I remember how impressed a girlfriend was when I started my KZ-900 with the push of a button.  She'd never seen that before.  But the kick starter came in handy on a 5,300 mile trip when a bad diode in the rectifier ruined the battery with 1,500 miles remaining.  I could still kick start it and made it home easily.

[Mr Whiskey]

Okay, so now I could use some help...
What price do y'all think would be a good deal on this '80 xs1100, seriously?
Here's the skinny...
43k miles
2 owner (he's had it 13 years)
Garage kept
Carb boots show no cracking
Jus' rebuilt carbs, jetted to go with...
Mac 2 into 1's (has original exhaust in good condition)
Adjusted/shimmed valves 3k miles ago (has original shims)
Repainted factory blue 3 years ago with all new oem badges from Yamaha
Brakes calipers have new o-ring seals
Undercut 2nd gear (only weak spot in these machines has been remedied)
Recovered seat
Says it's ready to go & pulls alittle harder than factory (which was reputed to be 11.78 s 1/4 mile)
Never down.
I'm goin' tomorrow or Sat. to check it out & wonder what all y'all "gear heads" think it might be worth?
TIA


 

[The emperor has no clothes]

I don't keep up with values. So my answer is that it's worth $2,000 to me. I had a '77 XS750. They were good bikes. They have a fair amount of rear end suspension movement due the shaft drive. But, I got used to it pretty quickly.

[lakehunter]

Wow, all those old bikes really bring back memories. Had a Honda 750-4 with jaradine hedders and some other work, really fun bike. But, I know it isn't a super bike, my other bike then was a Yamaha RD350, two stroke twin hot rodded with bassini expansion chambers, webco high compression heads and mikuni carbs. It was bored and tuned by a local Yamaha shop, really spanked those Honda 750s once the rpm got to 4k and up. Ran it on sunoco 105 octane and premixed the oil. First street bike I had to put rim locks on, would spin the rim on the rear and rip out the valve stem on those old tube type tires. Guess the V65 was as close to a super bike as I have had, that one was scary fast in a straight line, not so much fun in the twisties. The Valk is in my opinion the very best do it all bike ever made, that makes it a super bike in my book !!!