fastest bike of the seventies

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daveyd

New Member
hey guys, two quick questions that might be common knowledge but i dont know them. What were the fastest/ best handling japanese bikes of the seventies and sixties, and possibly very early eighties? Also common sence would tell me the 750 is the fastest honda. this is open to any old school knowledge you would like to share. i have a 74 cb360 and while its bare bones and tuned decently, i have taken some much bigger bikes. the earlier questions tho would be for the same rider to be on all of them. Im excited to hear what you gurus have to say. i am aware most answers will be heresay, but what isnt these days. i just want some knowledge.
 
i have ridden quite a few bikes and honestly the one that sticks out, while not on topic was a 2stroke yz 490 it was early 80s but it was one hell of a ride with street tires.
 
Speed: Kawasaki H2 750 and Z1 900

Speed and handling: Suzuki GS1000

Handling: Yamaha RD350
 
Suzuki's GS 1000 was the fastest in 1978....I think it was '78.
The crown passed from maker to maker pretty often in that era.
 
What was the early 80's bike that was outlawed in Australia because it was killing people? I think it was a zuki.
 
in 1978 the XS1100 debuted as the fastest production bike in the world. But the CBX1000 came out in late '78 and was faster.
 
I think that was the bike I heard about. The GSX1100 you mentioned. Granted, I'm in the states and its 30 years later But I think I read somewhere that it was outlawed in Oz after a bunch of people crashed. I think it had something to do with the steering geometry/engineering/ technology was too old school for the modern power plant.
 
Yeah, the z1 900's were faster than the kz 1000's because there cranks were lighter so they revved up quicker. I know the early z1's had hollow cam's and the center stand bolts and the drain plug were hollow to loose weight. I know from personal experience my dad's 1974 z1 900 totally whoops my friends 1979 ltd 1000.
 
Yeah mk2 was a better motor all around no doubt about that. The first time i ever road my dad's z1 i was 16 and i had a kz 400, that z1 is the reason i have one, brute force and speed. I would love to have an mk2 one day.
 
My dad has a '76 KZ900A, and I have an '80 XS1100. Both are nearly stock, mine has a Yoshi pipe. All around I think the XS is a litle faster than the 900, as I have won most of the races. But riders & the rest are not equal, either. I know the KZ is a way more buildable and performance minded platform than the XS is. The XS shafty is a cruiser, and I don't care what anybody says!
 
Funny you mention about the turbo kits. My dad was good friends with "Mr Turbo" Ted Hoffmeister before he was known as Mr Turbo. The first turbo was built out of scratch in ted's garage over the winter. My dad told me about riding ted's Z1 back in 1977 or so, it was a built motor (ted never told him the size) and a "Mr Turbo" home build turbo, he said he got on a strait away hit the throttle and heard the turbo spool up and the front end ripped up and he said he couldn't shift fast enough. Another friend of mine that is into old kaw's has a 1975 kawasaki z1 with a turbo that ted built in 1980, it hasn't seen the light of day since then. It has never been started or ran.
 
What a great debate......but for me there is only one winner from the seventies. I have close friends who owned XS1100s' and Z1B900 Kawa's, but none could live with my superbike of the time.....and even though by modern standards the handling was poo, my 79 CBXz roasted all comers.
My pal Chris could never comprehend how bad I could leave his Z1B, as he had held the crown in our gang for so long. I guess 80bhp versus 105bhp does compute ! I loved that big 6, it revved like mad...no girlie limiters in those days eh?
That's your answer, no doubt about it.....I could even get it round the corners none too shabbily !
 
I don't know how the cbx slipped by me, there is a guy down the street from where i work that has one and it is sick, it has a 6 into 1 open header, whenever he leaves his house you hear him crank it and watch the front end lift right up. I have been trying to buy it but he isn't budging.
 
Yup, all motor, fast for it's day and still not too shabby!

DSC_6147.jpg
 
Sonreir said:
I'd put the CBX1000 right up there.
Click to expand...

In 1977 (or was it 79?)
Honda CBX 1000cc 6 cylinder knocked Vincent off the top spot as worlds fastest standard production motorcycle, and, you didn't need to strip down to bathing suit to do it.
I loved the GSX1100EFE, just kept accelerating with no fuss, just about flat torque curve
Only bike I remember that had rumors of being banned was Kawasaki 500 Mach 1
60bhp motor in a 20bhp chassis :o
 
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