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Mr Trigg.
- Thread starter Mark Savage
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I have only ever owned one four cylinder motorcycle (Z1000J) back in 1983.
The 'Zed talk has me thinking about these again.
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I have ridden a very large percentage of late 70s-mid 80s Japanese 700--1100cc models, as I was a buyer/exporter in 89-91, and had hundreds pass thru my hands/garage. (Including all of the models in TWs post above)⁹
Some of them were very nice and a lot of fun. Some were dogs. Most were very low milage, sub 10k mi was very common.
Most were faster than a Commando.
Some handled better than a well sorted Commando.
Few were more fun.
I decided to keep none of the best, and still have the same Commando I had at that time.
Some of them were very nice and a lot of fun. Some were dogs. Most were very low milage, sub 10k mi was very common.
Most were faster than a Commando.
Some handled better than a well sorted Commando.
Few were more fun.
I decided to keep none of the best, and still have the same Commando I had at that time.
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- Nov 29, 2013
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- 613
A norton Atlas won a 24 hr race in Spain. And one won a TT race in the IOM (I think!)
Dunstall Atlas ridden by Ray Prickell won the TT , no idea if an Norton won the 24 hr race, Dave Degens won it twice in 1965 and 1970 on a single carb Manx framed Triumph.......
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Fast Eddie
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Almost. His second victory was using his own Dresda chassis.
I stand corrected.
H1 has a lack of cross bracing tubes, just look at the f/bed frame to see where Mccandless brothers put them. It will also need a 1 1/2 inch longer s/arm. This will cure most of the unwanted wobbles that most Kawasaki riders experienced.
Onder
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The thing for me about the big, indeed most all, of the jap bikes was the reliability and power compared to the brits. Few would be willing to simply head for the opposite coast on a brit bike compared to a big four. Back then I loved my Trident and it could beat most of the Hondas I met but not in terms of being trouble free or worry free. Sure a BMW had long legs and was reliable but handling stopping and ripping about it wasn't in the game.
Even fewer would be adventurous enough to ride a big (500+) British bike down to the race tracks, take part in 4 races and ride the bike home again. Yep, did that with a Jap 4, -always got home again.......
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I took my Trident to Assen in 1982 with no credit card or breakdown cover. I don't think I'd do it now without some sort of cover though.
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Thinking about it I went to Holland in 78 and 79 on a 750 Triumph Tiger and Holland again in 81 on the T160, I didn't even have a bank account back then let alone a credit card.
Was breakdown cover available back then? Luckily the only spare I needed was a clutch cable for the triple which I had with me.
Was breakdown cover available back then? Luckily the only spare I needed was a clutch cable for the triple which I had with me.
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18 inch rear, 19 front, found another photo. Heavy yes, although I did lift that engine in on my own once.
If you think the forks look spindly on a Trident take a look at a CBX.
If you think the forks look spindly on a Trident take a look at a CBX.
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Weak point on my H1, other than the cheesey suspension, was the swingarm pivot, which was bushed with plastic. Bronze bushes cured the "hinge in the middle" feeling. Koni shocks helped. At the time, other than playing with fork oil levels and weights, not a lot could be done with the fork.
I believe the early Superbike racers added braces to the Z-1's frame at the steering head.
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