1973 Superbike Shootout!

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Bernhard said:
Re; Super Seven's comment "Kawasaki 750 not that quick in its day"
Maybe it was not to some people's eyes, but this is straight out of the crate, without any tuning mods which would improve the ss1/4 times.
What was eye watering and a pocket/ wallet killer was the fuel consumption.... could it get any worse?
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They can just grab you by the throat quick ? I have seen some guys have real purler crashes off H2 Kawasakis. One was halfway up the front straight on Calder Raceway. The bike was on full noise and upright and it just stood our and launched the rider. Another was a bike coming around turn two at Winton, which stood out and launched the rider as it came on song. He went the furthest for the lowest speed that I have ever seen any rider go.
I never believed in Commandos until I raced my Seeley 850. My friend used to work for a dealer and did pre-delivery on H1 and H2 Kawasakis and Commandos. They use to take the bikes out and thrash them. The Commandos were right up there with the Kawasakis..
I have thing about two-strokes. If I only wanted to win races, I would ride one. But I like having fun.
 
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A Z900 is a good thing, but can you buy a close ratio gearbox for one - cheap ? With a proper race cam they go like buggery, but you need the gearbox to keep up with them. - And a decent swing arm. - Eddie Lawson Replica ?
hooshmand.net

Kawasaki Eddie Lawson Replicas — From the Z1 to Today

A history of the Kawasaki Eddie Lawson Replicas — the Z1, the ZRX1100, the ZRX1200R, the Z900RS Cafe — tech specs, style, and changes.
hooshmand.net hooshmand.net
 
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I have owned two Kawasaki triples a 1972 H2 and a 1974 H1E... The 750 was impressive, but the even torque spread made it easier to ride, the 500 was a handful, it went from noise to 60Hp in 1500 rpm... I still miss the smell.

Unique bikes that marked an iconic 5-6 year time span, that we will never see again in motorcycling.
 
my 73 Kawalski was just a 400 triple but I put expansion chambers on it with those little snuff can 'silencers' ported the cylinders, and put drag bars on for a café racer look I took it to blue ridge parkway and had a blast carving the mtn curves......it had a power band of about 1500rpm it was a lil bomb with a short fuse 'cause later the middle cylinder seized up
 
alan hodge said:
my 73 Kawalski was just a 400 triple but I put expansion chambers on it with those little snuff can 'silencers' ported the cylinders, and put drag bars on for a café racer look I took it to blue ridge parkway and had a blast carving the mtn curves......it had a power band of about 1500rpm it was a lil bomb with a short fuse 'cause later the middle cylinder seized up
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That was the S3. I had one too. The power band was from 6 to 8K. The gearing was set up such that when you get to 8K and shift it dropped back to 6K.

I raced it once at Bridgehampton on Long Island. Engine seized, DNF.
 
My brother has two Kawasaki speedway sidecars, an H1 and an H2 - both on methanol. He wont the Australian long track championship with the H1 in 2001. The H1 can do any thing my brother needs. The H2 is dangerous. It once came on song behind another sidecar and jumped three metres into the back of it. My brother and his passenger went over the front and the bike jumped both of them. They were both unhurt, but the bike had 4 bends in the sidecar and even the rear wheel was bent.
With methanol fuel, two-strokes really get up and go. But it gets expensive when you have seizures. In a road racer, a two stroke motor on methanol is fast until the bottom of the motor heats up, but by that time, you usually have brake fade.
 
MarcoNC850 said:
I have owned two Kawasaki triples a 1972 H2 and a 1974 H1E... The 750 was impressive, but the even torque spread made it easier to ride, the 500 was a handful, it went from noise to 60Hp in 1500 rpm... I still miss the smell.

Unique bikes that marked an iconic 5-6 year time span, that we will never see again in motorcycling.
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1973 Superbike Shootout!
 
Bernhard said:
Re; Super Seven's comment "Kawasaki 750 not that quick in its day"
Maybe it was not to some people's eyes, but this is straight out of the crate, without any tuning mods which would improve the ss1/4 times.
What was eye watering and a pocket/ wallet killer was the fuel consumption.... could it get any worse?
Click to expand...
You misquote me. I stated:
"74 H2 Not that quick on this day:" and attached road test data backing up the statement. On that day, in that test, the 1974 H2 didn't make it into the 12s, and barely broke 100 mph in the quarter. Nothing incorrect was stated. It also averaged 26.4 MPG, for a range of 118 miles assuming you could run it for the entire 4.5 gallons. Neither of the (piped and jetted) '79 CBX I owned ever made 30 mpg. They consistently made high 28s to high 29s. They held nearly another gallon though. The H2 range prevents me from ever thinking of it as a real motorcycle. Its 113 miles from Cantwell to the gas station at Talkeetna, Jct. CBX could do it. My RD400 couldn't, and an H2 couldn't either. Toured on the CBXs a bit. having to stop for gas every 150 miles was tiresome.

CBX and GS850G at Worthington Glacier. The GS850 didn't have anything like the mid range power of a Commando, but it was local, cheap and reliable, and there were already Commandos and an Atlas in another state.

On that day, in that test. Please acknowledge the misquote. Most Japanese bikes got slower and slower every year in those days. The early 72 was quicker than a late one. No doubt the quickest bike available at the time. The '74 test results posted with the text you misquoted was not impressive.
 
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Super Seven said:
You misquote me. I stated:
"74 H2 Not that quick on this day:" and attached road test data backing up the statement. On that day, in that test, the 1974 H2 didn't make it into the 12s, and barely broke 100 mph in the quarter. Nothing incorrect was stated. It also averaged 26.4 MPG, for a range of 118 miles assuming you could run it for the entire 4.5 gallons. Neither of the (piped and jetted) '79 CBX I owned ever made 30 mpg. They consistently made high 28s to high 29s. They held nearly another gallon though. The H2 range prevents me from ever thinking of it as a real motorcycle. Its 113 miles from Cantwell to the gas station at Talkeetna, Jct. CBX could do it. My RD400 couldn't, and an H2 couldn't either. Toured on the CBXs a bit. having to stop for gas every 150 miles was tiresome.

CBX and GS850G at Worthington Glacier. The GS850 didn't have anything like the mid range power of a Commando, but it was local, cheap and reliable, and there were already Commandos and an Atlas in another state.

On that day, in that test. Please acknowledge the misquote. Most Japanese bikes got slower and slower every year in those days. The early 72 was quicker than a late one. No doubt the quickest bike available at the time. The '74 test results posted with the text you misquoted was not impressive.
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I agree that nothing you stated is incorrect, I also agree that later models got slower . . . And slower, we saw that happened time and time again on different model bikes from the far east, that it was common to upgrade the latest ones to make them as quick as the early ones!
Sorry if you think I misquoted you.
 
A converted H2 road bike is not something I would ever try to race. An H2R is a serious bit of gear. I have seen one replica which has the road motor in it. The genuine item is far superior, but they are faster and more dangerous than I ever want to race. Speed is good, anxiety is bad. After the KR750 Kawasaki came out, most of the two-stroke race bikes became much safer - torque and handling were improved. In the early 1970s the H2R and the TZ750 were the top of the tree - very scary.
 
In the early 90s i exported about 200 bikes to the UK from the states. I rode all that ran. Some more than others.

I had my mk2 850 and a Honda V45 at the time.

I thought the H1 and H2 were pretty average. They may have been a bit long in the tooth by then, but i still liked the C'do way more. It could handle.

I bought a lot of Z1 900s. Straight line bikes.

I had a couple 850G as well. Good commuter bikes.
 
gortnipper said:
In the early 90s i exported about 200 bikes to the UK from the states. I rode all that ran. Some more than others.

I had my mk2 850 and a Honda V45 at the time.

I thought the H1 and H2 were pretty average. They may have been a bit long in the tooth by then, but i still liked the C'do way more. It could handle.

I bought a lot of Z1 900s. Straight line bikes.

I had a couple 850G as well. Good commuter bikes.
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Most guys only ride in straight lines.
 
Still remember this race around Sydney streets (Neutral Bay) from the Australian film Stone (1974). I know it is a movie with stunt/race riders but it still evokes a lot of memories of a great time. Sydney has changed a lot and so have the bikes, cars and attitudes! Kawasaki vs Commando:
 
Re the "Lawson Replicas," my latest Moto - purchased a bit over a year ago - is a '19 Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe. It is the first and ONLY bike I have ever owned that I am absolutely happy with as is. Not a single mod needed as far as I am concerned. HOWEVER, if you start reading the Z900RS forum, you'd think just about everything needs improvement and you'd wonder why anybody would buy such a terrible motorcycle! ;)
 
Most motorcycles do not need improvement. Their owners have a need to improve them. A Z900 is quite quick, but any bike can be made to go quicker. The one thing which most guys do not do is fit the close ratio gear box. It makes a very big difference to the way the bike performs when ridden fast. If you talk to anyone who has not used a close box, they usually believe it makes no difference.. If you are building a race bike, don't even start if you cannot afford the gearbox. When I look at any motorcycle, the first thing I think of is the gearbox. A GSXR750 L is a very good motorcycle, but quite rare.
When I first raced my Seeley 850, I tried it with the standard AMC box - it was appalling. I could not do anything with it. The close 4 speed box only cost $700 and the Seeley became a different bike.
With a race cam and a close box, a Z900 would be too fast for most guys. The handling would not keep up with the power. Have a look at the spec. of the Suzuki XR69 which Crosby rode in the early 70s. And that was only a two valve motor. A lot of guys used Yoshimura cams in Z900s - there are better.
 
A friend of mine was a very good A-grade rider and had two sons. When his oldest boy died of a drug overdose, he left behind a Katana engine of about 1400cc capacity. In a race bike, a Katana engine of normal capacity with race cams, a close ratio gearbox and running on methanol would probably be faster than with the big engine. Whichever way you go, would be a cheat.
In the old days, one thing very few of us did was cheat on capacity. With a Commando engine, the bottom end stops the use of high revs. Big is better but methanol is just as good and cheaper.
 
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