Motorcycle minds were blown when the 1973 Kawasaki Z1 debuted with its 903cc engine, double overhead cams and burly styling--and Team Green's four-cylinder superbike was born--in rootbeer brown! Did 40-hp Triumphs ever have a chance? Technical Editor Kevin Cameron and Editor-in-Chief Mark Hoyer talk about the Z1's origins, how it compared to the Honda CB750, and the marketplace the bike entered, including facing off against Kawasaki's own two-stroke triples. The guys wander off a bit on this one and coincidentally heard the same crazy superbike race announcer at Monza more than a decade apart! (Really, it's a cool story.) There's a moment on Harley-Davidson steering philosophy that's at least peripherally related, and a little about the death of the two-stroke, plus so much more. Join us!
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00Welcome to the Cycleworld podcast. We're back. That means it's Wednesday. We do
00:00:04this every Wednesday. We is me, Mark Hoyer, Editor-in-Chief of Cycleworld and
00:00:08Kevin Cameron, our technical editor of SomeNote. He's read some books, done some
00:00:13things, built some bikes, been paying attention a long time. So this week we're
00:00:20attacking, inviting, examining the Kawasaki Z1, the legendary Kawasaki
00:00:28superbike of 1973. All credit to Honda for coming out with an inline
00:00:36four, four-cylinder with four pipes and sort of 69 and changing, really changing
00:00:43the marketplace and making affordable things that had had not been affordable
00:00:47and kind of cutting the British industry off at the knees. Well, they did that to
00:00:53themselves. That's a separate program. Yes, it is. Whatever happened to the British
00:01:00motorcycle industry. Yeah, but at the time, Kawasaki, you know, Kawasaki was working
00:01:08on a 750 itself and then the Honda came out and Kawasaki said, oh, wait a minute,
00:01:13let's think about this. And the result was the Z1. And what do you think, Kevin?
00:01:19Well, I think that it was, it's a fascinating era because what was
00:01:25happening here is that the Japanese had entered the U.S. market with a toe and
00:01:32then a foot and then a calf. And they knew that there was a potential for
00:01:40sales of big motorcycles. The market was, what, 60,000 bikes, they figured, at the
00:01:47time. But they'd swashbuckled in and created their own market. And people were
00:01:54saying, well, when they saw the sales figures, they said that that's for a year,
00:01:58right? And they said, no, that is for one month. And so each of these companies
00:02:06made the transition from being a manufacturer of campus cadet little
00:02:11motorbikes to, let's go the whole way. Americans want big, fast motorcycles and
00:02:20we're going to build them. So it was, it was tremendously exciting. And if you
00:02:24were reading the magazines at that time and talking with people, it was grand.
00:02:33The Triumph Trident had just appeared and it was puzzling because it didn't seem to
00:02:43represent market research carried out on Earth, some other planet possibly. So I
00:02:52think that Kawasaki made a masterstroke by making the thing 903cc and styling
00:03:03it so that it was not too large a jump from a Bonneville, Triumph Bonneville, to
00:03:13the original Z1. The bulbous tank, which dated back to the 20s, when deep forming
00:03:22of sheet steel became possible. And the tube frame, the Americans didn't want any
00:03:29of that sheet metal frame stuff. Everybody tried it. It was rejected. And the bike had
00:03:39to have disc brakes because Honda had taken the plunge. Peter Williams had a disc
00:03:49brake on his G50 that was made out of British race car parts. And Honda went
00:03:58ahead with the disc brake on CB750. So a lot of things changed in a very big way.
00:04:05And suddenly, everybody had to have one of these motorcycles. It was just so
00:04:14attractive. And none of us had any idea at the time that the 1000cc category was just
00:04:22going to grow into a mighty tree. It looked like a promising seedling. Little we knew.
00:04:33Really the beginning of what a the beginning of the term Superbike, which showed up in
00:04:38Cycle magazine. And they did their big 750 shootout with the Ducati and all those. And
00:04:44then in rapid fashion, it showed up in Cycleworld like the next month. Yeah, and
00:04:51their big shootout. And it really launched. Did it not launch the performance wars that we
00:04:56enjoy? Well, we enjoyed up until a few years ago. I mean, we're sort of pausing right now
00:05:01for twin cylinder torque bikes and emissions. But it really launched the ship that was
00:05:10last year plus 5% year after year. We're going to lower the quarter mile time and we're
00:05:16going to increase the horsepower. And we all were shocked and delighted when 750s made
00:05:2375 horsepower and suddenly they were making 105. And away we've gone. And you know, let's
00:05:29see. I'd say the GSX-R was probably say around 2000. A 750 was making 126 horsepower at the
00:05:39rear wheel. Not bad, not bad. And very tactically and with good mileage. So yeah, but it
00:05:45really started then. It started with Z1 and it started with CB750. And you know, Norton
00:05:51Commandos were kind of hanging on for dear life. The 850s were great running bikes, very
00:05:56vigorous and fun to ride and similar in performance, but sort of, how do you put it?
00:06:06What were they going to do next?
00:06:07Well, yeah. I mean, it's like, I don't know what it is. It's spaceship. It's not spaceship
00:06:12cladding on a steam engine, but it's sort of like that, right? You know, it's a transmission
00:06:17that was designed in the, when's the AMC box? AMC box was sort of 40s.
00:06:23Yeah, I expect so. I don't know.
00:06:25A great shifting gearbox, but they started, I mean, it was the same gearbox that they'd
00:06:28been running on their old 500s and stuff. But away we went and Z1 really put a stamp
00:06:37on it because the, you know, the Honda CB750 was a very good performing bike, but I think,
00:06:45you know, you ride one today and you compare it to an 850 Commando, like I rode a beautifully
00:06:50restored CB750 and the Commando actually had a lot more snap and vigor and the throttle
00:06:57pull was lighter and it, it sort of was more playful feeling.
00:07:02Yep.
00:07:03But Z1 comes in with big motor and just, and just says, here's what we got, Honda.
00:07:12Yep. So it wasn't long before people were trying to race the things. And of course that's
00:07:22where the term super bike really found its home. And I was at a race at Monza and their,
00:07:34their announcer there was famous for his, for his long cry. He would, he would announce
00:07:44the super bike race by saying, super bike.
00:07:50Dude, that same guy was at Monza in 2000 when I went and Troy Bayless was taken up
00:07:57to a Ducati factory team. He was pulled from Vance and Himes, that same guy saying the
00:08:01same thing. And what was great was because of the chicanes at Monza, you know, it was
00:08:07Pierre Francesco Keeley who won a race. Like he was breaking very, very odd, he said. And
00:08:13uh, they're sort of, they're going into the chicanes and Keeley's trying to go up the
00:08:17inside of somebody. And that announcer would come on and say, Keeley, Keeley, Keeley, Keeley,
00:08:22Keeley, Keeley, Keeley. No, just stop. That's amazing. I didn't think, Oh, if it's not the
00:08:29same guy, it's his son, but it's probably the same guy. That was awesome.
00:08:36It worked for a while.
00:08:37It's a talk show folks.
00:08:42The problem with the new breed of superbikes, of course, was that they doubled the power.
00:08:51I think Bonneville's had what, 46 horsepower and a Z1 had 80 something. And it was a bit
00:09:03heavier than a Bonneville. Bonneville's were always quite spare and, and light. But, uh,
00:09:13the chassis, tires and suspension weren't going to be up to the work in the racing side.
00:09:21And I think this is something that the Japanese later learned to do is, well, the crazy Americans
00:09:27are going to race these. And in order to avoid, uh, embarrassment, we have to make
00:09:33them race worthy. But people were so busy exploring these bikes and having a great time
00:09:42on them that, uh, it was, it was a new world. I think it's interesting to note that in the
00:09:51design of the cylinder head, they included axial swirl, which was the great invention
00:09:57of, uh, the British tuners of the, between the wars era. Uh, for some reason, the Italians
00:10:04didn't do swirl. But if you, if you flip a Z1 head and look at the combustion chamber
00:10:11side and the intake ports coming in, you can see that it's like directing a hose into a
00:10:17bucket that you're filling and you can make that water whirl around in there. And that's
00:10:22good for speeding up combustion. Another thing that they did was they adopted the British
00:10:30trend toward a smaller valve angle. Triumphs had a, a 90 degree valve angle, which was
00:10:37from the 1920s. And, uh, Burt Hopwood, who designed everything, including the, the Norton
00:10:45export twin just did this. And at Honda, um, Mr. Irimajiri at the very end, the last
00:10:57designs of the 1960s Grand Prix era had, uh, valve angles in the high fifties, and that's
00:11:06where Z1 began. So it was a, it was best current practice. And, uh, the odd thing was
00:11:16that it had a roller crankshaft and plane bearing camshafts. The camshafts had these
00:11:23little insert bearings that were 100% automotive. Automobile crankshafts had run on those plane
00:11:30bearing inserts for years. So, uh, like the Suzuki GS to come, Kawasaki stayed with the
00:11:38older technology of, uh, needle cage, needle bearing crankshaft and great old ball bearings
00:11:45as main bearings. So it was, it had some, some connections to the past in that respect.
00:11:55But of course, like all modern engines, it was unit construction and had a great big
00:12:01old clutch. And it was a well thought out design that, that lasted for years, did a
00:12:09good job.
00:12:10Well, considering where Kawasaki came from, I mean, they were doing the W1, which was
00:12:15a BSA like parallel twin. Yes. Um, not really necessarily what the American market was looking
00:12:23for and certainly not differentiating. They certainly had the two strokes, which made
00:12:28quite an impression.
00:12:30They did. They were, they were fabulous. And it was almost like that was a completely separate
00:12:37undertaking. They started out with the little singles. Um, then they graduated to the A1
00:12:45and the A7, which were 250 and 350 twins. And they had disc valves with carburetors
00:12:51sticking out their ears. Uh, and they,
00:12:55Sorry, these are pistons sticking out my ears.
00:13:00Yes, sir. They weren't, they didn't define any new category, but the H1, when it arrived,
00:13:09definitely did because it became king of the night. And then they followed that up with
00:13:14the, with the H2, which was a 50% increase in displacement. And that basically said,
00:13:20uh, forget drag racing. The rest of you were here.
00:13:23Yeah. King of the night, Kevin means king of the night is those street racer folks getting
00:13:27out there and throwing the clutch on XLCRs or sorry, excuse me, XLCHs and, and all that
00:13:33going off, uh, at the Hess station in Florida during Daytona bike week, rolling money out.
00:13:41Yes. So, uh, I think that, that, um, Mr. Inamura, who was the engine guy on, on Z1
00:13:52did his homework. Um, he, he delved into best current practice and where Honda had chosen
00:14:01a single overhead cam for CB750, uh, Mr. Inamura went all the way to double overhead cam,
00:14:10which of course eliminates the extra weight of, of, uh, rocker arms.
00:14:14You have a cam going down the middle of the engine and these rocker arms that are ticking
00:14:18back and forth. The rocker arms are convenient because you take off a cap and you can unscrew
00:14:23the little clearance adjuster. And in moments you, oh, that's, that one's good. That one's,
00:14:29uh, all right. That one's good too. On you go down the line. But, uh, Kawasaki had
00:14:38shim over bucket, uh, valve drive. The camshaft drove a cylindrical, um, inverted bucket that
00:14:49sat over the spring and clearance was adjusted by changing the thickness of a little shim
00:14:56that was retained on the top of this tappet by a ridge around the side. And it was just
00:15:04fine if you didn't mess with the red line. But of course, Americans, Americans are known
00:15:11to mess with the red line, spitting shims. And of course the shims were made out of hardened
00:15:18steel, so nothing was going to eat them up and live to, uh, roll another day. So that
00:15:28was, uh, the sort of the origin of that, of that engine. The chassis itself was, uh,
00:15:38nothing new. And when American super bike racing started in about 1975 or six, the AMA
00:15:49decided, oh, well, we have to make room for these because people are racing them just
00:15:56as Moto America has made room for baggers. And they called it heavyweight production
00:16:04at first. And all these private builders were, uh, getting out there and spitting some shims.
00:16:13And Mr. Yoshimura got involved. Uh, he was running Kawasaki's at first before he made
00:16:20his gentleman's agreement with Suzuki. And when the whole scene became quite competitive,
00:16:29I think that Japanese designers began a second level of study because they said, okay, we've
00:16:37entered the market. We've sold a lot of product now to stay in the market and to maintain
00:16:43our reputation for reliability. We will have to improve the handling. We will have to improve
00:16:50the engine durability. We will have to improve the suspension. And when Mike Baldwin described
00:16:59to me going out onto the banking at Daytona from the infield at turn five on the new 1983
00:17:08interceptor, he said 750 interceptor, he said, you know, he said, you normally you upshift
00:17:16there because you want the rear wheel disconnected from the engine when you hit that bump. He said,
00:17:22but with these new, new technology dampers said, you could just gas it through there.
00:17:28So big progress was made off of the springboard of those first generation big four strokes
00:17:37because they weren't that good in comparison with what was possible,
00:17:44but they were wonderful in comparison with what went before.
00:17:53I think there was some talk that Z1 would be, would have a role, something like what was discussed
00:18:03for, for Honda's GL 1000, namely a long distance, semi touring,
00:18:12fast conveyance. And I think that what came out of it was that the motorcycle was
00:18:23the continuation of the sport bike direction that had been set by CB750.
00:18:28And so when the first level of superbikes ended 1982,
00:18:40the AMA decided, well, these things are, are getting pretty fast.
00:18:44We'd better reduce the displacement to 750.
00:18:49It wasn't long before they were right back at whatever speeds that they achieved before.
00:18:55Rob Muzzy was able to get just over 150 horsepower at 10,500 on his Kawasaki based superbikes
00:19:09that were ridden by the memorable Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey later.
00:19:16Oh, there's a great, we got great photos of, of Eddie and Wayne.
00:19:19And in fact, in your superbike book, there are beautiful,
00:19:22beautiful photographs of Eddie and Wayne doing things.
00:19:25John Owens photos. Well, uh, I think those,
00:19:32where am I going here?
00:19:35Well, Muzzy was making 150 horsepower.
00:19:37Yeah. He, he had quite a, uh, a struggle to make his race engines
00:19:45as reliable as he wanted them to be. For example, there were some connecting rod breakages.
00:19:50So he had three levels of cure for this.
00:19:55The first one was to get a big plastic bag and let one connecting rod at a time
00:20:02stick out through the plastic bag protected by big rubber band or duct tape
00:20:07and polish the surface of the rod in the area where the failures were occurring.
00:20:13And the second level was to have some connecting rods made
00:20:19and to build up the crankshafts in the U.S. from parts.
00:20:25And the third level was crankshaft comes from Japan ready to race.
00:20:30And I think they, they finally moved to a, to a Canadian crankshaft,
00:20:36Canadian model. And I think the crankshafts originally weighed
00:20:4032 pounds or so. Oh my.
00:20:44And, uh, a fascinating fact is that Muzzy told me that
00:20:52he had never had any luck with getting a light crankshaft to top end at Daytona.
00:20:59And it's not surprising if you look into the dynamics of cam drive,
00:21:04because Honda found with one of their Formula One designs
00:21:10that if they operated the valve train by an electric motor
00:21:15with a flywheel on the end of the camshafts,
00:21:19that they would get X as the RPM of valve float.
00:21:23Presumably they're looking at it with a stroboscope
00:21:27so they could see the valve float developing.
00:21:29And then when they drove the camshafts from the engine's crankshaft,
00:21:37what they got for valve float was X minus 1500 RPM.
00:21:44Because crankshaft is a very upsetting thing
00:21:48to be driving anything else that has to be precisely timed
00:21:52because it's being, it's, it's like it's being punched around in a circle.
00:21:57By all those combustion events.
00:22:00So its speed is warbling terribly.
00:22:03And this is why so many engines have trouble
00:22:07when they're young with the cam drive.
00:22:11So, uh, this was one of those, one of those areas
00:22:17where with a nice heavy crankshaft,
00:22:21the drive to the cams would be relatively stable
00:22:24and you'd be able to get right up close to valve float
00:22:28and gear for it, have all kinds of top end.
00:22:32But if you put in a light crankshaft figuring,
00:22:35well, the place to make hay is in the infield
00:22:38where acceleration is what counts.
00:22:40Then when you got on the banking,
00:22:42it could be that the valves were sort of saying,
00:22:44you know, I, I just don't know when to open and close anymore.
00:22:48Somehow I've lost the rhythm here.
00:22:49And, uh, so you will find on some engines,
00:22:55for example, RC30,
00:22:57some of those versions had flywheels on the camshafts.
00:23:01And that's just to settle down some of these, these dynamics.
00:23:07This is, you know, this, this is an automotive, uh, point,
00:23:12but the Aston Martin, the 3.7 liter,
00:23:15uh, like the engine in the DB4, the James Bond DB5,
00:23:19the inline six,
00:23:21double overhead cam,
00:23:23big long chain that goes around the whole thing.
00:23:26And then the distributor is on the other end,
00:23:30the tailing end of the cam.
00:23:32Yes.
00:23:34And I, when I saw that, I thought that that's probably fine.
00:23:38It's probably fine on the street,
00:23:40but I I'm guessing that if we really hammer on this thing,
00:23:42we're going to get a lot of spark scatter because the,
00:23:44you know, the cam is got to be doing this.
00:23:47And then you're putting a drive on it.
00:23:49And, uh, it's interesting to think of that.
00:23:51We take, you know, we look at our tachometer
00:23:54and our tachometer says 7,000 RPM
00:23:56and we kind of envision it as this constant.
00:23:58And in fact, the crank is just going,
00:24:00Oh, you know, it's accelerating.
00:24:02It's stopping, especially with a 184,
00:24:04because the pistons, the two center pistons are going up
00:24:06to come to a complete stop.
00:24:08The outside two are doing the same.
00:24:10And then, Nope, we're going to get 7,000 G's
00:24:12and head in the other direction.
00:24:14It's just, um, it's, it's wildly variable.
00:24:18I love the stories.
00:24:20Yeah.
00:24:21Yeah.
00:24:22Yeah.
00:24:23All the things.
00:24:24And for you to talk about,
00:24:26you know, the three stages of,
00:24:28you know, Muzzy trying to make his,
00:24:30uh, connecting rods survive and,
00:24:32um, doing that.
00:24:34Well, just getting in and saying,
00:24:36I'm going to polish this,
00:24:38or we're going to shot peen.
00:24:40We're going to take this part we have
00:24:42and we're going to figure out how to make it work.
00:24:44I think that still exists today,
00:24:46but it seems maybe less so
00:24:48because a lot of our stuff is better.
00:24:50That's so good.
00:24:51In fact, yes.
00:24:53Yeah.
00:24:54It's better,
00:24:56but also I feel like as a culture,
00:24:58we've deferred to an expert
00:25:00and that would be,
00:25:02we're not the expert.
00:25:04I'm going to build a race motor.
00:25:06I have to get X rods
00:25:08or I have to go to the person who does the thing.
00:25:10And we don't necessarily try to blow it up
00:25:12and solve it ourselves
00:25:14and do something that the other answers.
00:25:16Yeah.
00:25:17Which is that,
00:25:19um,
00:25:21oftentimes when the story
00:25:23of some engine is told,
00:25:25they say at this point
00:25:27they substituted this material
00:25:29or they made this change
00:25:31in the valve springs
00:25:33or what have you.
00:25:35And that makes it sound
00:25:37like engineering is a very deliberate thing.
00:25:39Like yourself with your coffee
00:25:41that it's,
00:25:43I'll have a sip of coffee
00:25:45and I'll look at this drawing
00:25:47and it's driven by desperation.
00:25:49And there are people upstairs
00:25:51who are thumping on the floor
00:25:53bring the solutions to us now.
00:25:55Desperation.
00:25:57Changing the world since forever.
00:25:59Through desperation.
00:26:01Yes.
00:26:03And I think,
00:26:05uh,
00:26:07that's one of the most exciting things
00:26:09about racing is to get
00:26:11and get into the desperation
00:26:13because I noticed
00:26:15that the original
00:26:17had 13 turns
00:26:19and
00:26:21S&S valve springs
00:26:23work best when they had
00:26:25three and a half turns.
00:26:27So,
00:26:29uh,
00:26:31why was that?
00:26:33Because what you want
00:26:35is for the natural frequency
00:26:37of the valve spring
00:26:39if you pluck at it
00:26:41like it's a slinky
00:26:43how fast does the wave
00:26:45bounce back and forth
00:26:46the more you differ the spring
00:26:48the higher the frequency.
00:26:50And
00:26:52it wasn't a good idea
00:26:54from a metallurgical standpoint
00:26:56because the metal said
00:26:58Oh,
00:27:00I need a nap.
00:27:02I'm tired.
00:27:04Oh, click I've broken in two.
00:27:06And
00:27:08so they had to come up with
00:27:10better valve spring material
00:27:12and of course
00:27:14fewer coils.
00:27:15The first step worked.
00:27:17Now we have to make it last.
00:27:19Make the material work for it.
00:27:21This is a part of the desperation.
00:27:23When you look at suspension
00:27:25springs
00:27:27the really fancy suspension
00:27:29springs very often
00:27:31have
00:27:33few coils.
00:27:35It would be a high performance spring
00:27:37or fork springs can be like that
00:27:39where you don't have as many coils
00:27:41and then you get something
00:27:43that's a low grade material
00:27:44it's a material question.
00:27:46And
00:27:48Steve Scheibe
00:27:50who was
00:27:52the engineer
00:27:54for Harley Davidson's
00:27:56VR1000 Superbike project
00:27:58back in the 90s
00:28:00he said
00:28:02people are just increasing
00:28:04the stress on valve spring
00:28:06material like crazy
00:28:08because they're trying
00:28:10to protect the spring
00:28:12from
00:28:13reduced end-to-end vibration
00:28:15so many
00:28:17fatigue cycles
00:28:19that the material fails.
00:28:21So then they had to go to
00:28:23vacuum remelt.
00:28:25You heat the material up
00:28:27in a vacuum
00:28:29and let the
00:28:31impurities evaporate.
00:28:33We had dual valve springs
00:28:35to help
00:28:37reduce vibration, right?
00:28:39Those springs kind of
00:28:41resting on each other
00:28:42the coils pressing
00:28:44against each other
00:28:46yes, a press fit
00:28:48and there were those
00:28:50flat wire dampers.
00:28:52All these
00:28:54dodges are tried
00:28:56from time to time
00:28:58to find out
00:29:00which one is going to work
00:29:02before we have to go
00:29:04to Pomona next weekend.
00:29:06And that's the
00:29:08creative desperation
00:29:10and I think
00:29:11drink the whole thing
00:29:13if you like
00:29:15because get out there
00:29:17get your own
00:29:19answers
00:29:21break some parts
00:29:23but of course
00:29:25it voids the warranty.
00:29:27Yeah, well going back to your book
00:29:29one of the lines
00:29:31the sport bike performance handbook
00:29:33I think one of the
00:29:35great lines that was just
00:29:37tucked away
00:29:39in the oil change section
00:29:41but yeah, you were talking
00:29:43about doing the oil change
00:29:45and you said use your natural
00:29:47curiosity and examine
00:29:49what's in the oil
00:29:51what color is it?
00:29:53Does it stick to a magnet?
00:29:55Is it silvery looking?
00:29:57Yes, is it kind of
00:29:59gray and pasty?
00:30:01Well, there was a
00:30:03point when
00:30:05Japanese super bikes
00:30:07did not win
00:30:09super bike races
00:30:10and what was happening
00:30:12there of course
00:30:14was that
00:30:16European manufacturers
00:30:18placed a higher
00:30:20value on handling
00:30:22than Japanese companies
00:30:24did at that time
00:30:26because the Japanese companies
00:30:28were wedded to the
00:30:30quarter mile time
00:30:32and the top speed
00:30:34in our magazines.
00:30:36I have some data
00:30:38we can get to
00:30:39but for a time
00:30:41the
00:30:43Japanese
00:30:45super bikes
00:30:47could not use
00:30:49their top speed
00:30:51because their chassis
00:30:53would begin to weave
00:30:55before top speed
00:30:57was reached.
00:30:59Now normally a motorcycle
00:31:01designed so that
00:31:03every motorcycle
00:31:05has a weave threshold
00:31:07but thankfully
00:31:08and then
00:31:10I think
00:31:12Kawasaki won the
00:31:14won the
00:31:16super bike championship
00:31:18and it put an end to that
00:31:20European flair era
00:31:22but
00:31:24the thing that
00:31:27was talked about at the time
00:31:29incessantly
00:31:31was this notion that
00:31:33super bikes are a higher
00:31:35level of racing.
00:31:36You have an
00:31:38older more experienced
00:31:40rider who knows
00:31:42when to show courage
00:31:44and when not to
00:31:46and as for those
00:31:48young whippersnappers
00:31:50like Kenny Roberts
00:31:52that's winning the world
00:31:54championship and so forth
00:31:56well they give those
00:31:58guys bikes that are
00:32:00actually made for racing
00:32:02so of course they win races.
00:32:04So then Kawasaki
00:32:05look here
00:32:07oh here it is
00:32:09well
00:32:11they put old Freddy
00:32:13on one of their bikes
00:32:15he disappeared up the road
00:32:17and the theory of
00:32:19older more experienced
00:32:21and wiser men
00:32:23just went poof
00:32:25forget all that
00:32:27nonsense
00:32:29and
00:32:31everything moved on
00:32:33and that's why
00:32:35Freddy lost on the thing
00:32:37because
00:32:39he would find out
00:32:41how to get around the course
00:32:43I watched him come over the top
00:32:45of the corkscrew
00:32:47in practice
00:32:49and every lap
00:32:51he tried a different thing
00:32:53that's what riders do
00:32:55they're trying to find out
00:32:57what works
00:32:58they're not just
00:33:00going out there and
00:33:02twisting it up
00:33:04they're going to go with it
00:33:06lap after lap
00:33:08it wins races
00:33:10so
00:33:14Kawasaki and later
00:33:16the GS Suzuki's
00:33:18became the basis for
00:33:20drag racing class
00:33:23pro stock motorcycle
00:33:25and
00:33:27I believe the Suzuki's
00:33:29are in the form
00:33:31into which they have
00:33:32evolved after many years
00:33:34are still using roller
00:33:36crankshafts
00:33:38amazing
00:33:40at one point there were
00:33:42so many
00:33:44Z1's being
00:33:46treasured by
00:33:48riders who wanted to
00:33:50keep riding them
00:33:52that Kawasaki said
00:33:54we will produce
00:33:55a limited run
00:33:57of new cylinder heads
00:33:59for that motorcycle
00:34:00who wants to go
00:34:02to the high class
00:34:03machine shop and say
00:34:04I want all new valve seats
00:34:06and I want
00:34:08the valve guides
00:34:09replaced with
00:34:10guides whose axes
00:34:12are actually
00:34:13pointed the way
00:34:14that says in the drawing
00:34:16and
00:34:17that was a good thing
00:34:19for those
00:34:20people
00:34:21who wanted to
00:34:22continue enjoying
00:34:23their
00:34:24Z1's
00:34:26well it was
00:34:28when the Z1 came out
00:34:29and sure enough
00:34:30we have those
00:34:33the Norton 850
00:34:34Commando
00:34:36did a pretty
00:34:37pretty peppery
00:34:3812.96
00:34:39at 102
00:34:40miles an hour
00:34:42it's not bad
00:34:43for the day
00:34:44the CB750
00:34:45did a 13.38
00:34:46at 100
00:34:47and
00:34:49won the top speed
00:34:50battle at 123
00:34:51miles an hour
00:34:53but the Z1 came along
00:34:54and did a 12.61
00:34:55at 105
00:34:56right out of the box
00:34:57we got all these
00:34:58beautiful pictures
00:34:59probably
00:35:00the now defunct
00:35:01Orange County
00:35:02International
00:35:03Raceway
00:35:04OCIR
00:35:05oh yes
00:35:06those letters
00:35:07that's where we
00:35:08used to
00:35:09do it
00:35:10and now we
00:35:11use a
00:35:12landing
00:35:13runway
00:35:14out in Riverside
00:35:15rent the runway
00:35:16and we do the same
00:35:17go throw the clutch
00:35:18see what we got
00:35:19but that's a big jump
00:35:20I mean that's a
00:35:2112.61
00:35:22versus a 13.38
00:35:23you know
00:35:24made the Honda look
00:35:25a little
00:35:26it wasn't long
00:35:27until the Honda
00:35:28Twin Cam came out
00:35:30the F
00:35:33changed
00:35:34their production
00:35:35yeah
00:35:36well they had to
00:35:37they had to
00:35:38meet the competition
00:35:39didn't they
00:35:40and they
00:35:41a lot of that
00:35:42stuff was
00:35:43developed for
00:35:44endurance racing
00:35:45that Honda had
00:35:46become involved in
00:35:47originally with
00:35:48CB750
00:35:49and
00:35:51so that acted
00:35:52as a
00:35:54rich source
00:35:55of
00:35:56desperation
00:35:57for development
00:36:04the same thing
00:36:05has been proposed
00:36:06to me
00:36:07with regard to
00:36:08the development
00:36:09of aircraft engines
00:36:10during World War II
00:36:11piston engines
00:36:12of course
00:36:13they all were
00:36:14and
00:36:15the notion
00:36:16that
00:36:17now they move
00:36:18from a
00:36:19single-stage
00:36:20supercharging system
00:36:21to a
00:36:22dual-stage
00:36:23supercharging system
00:36:24is academic
00:36:25but in fact
00:36:26that's what you do
00:36:27when the Germans
00:36:28can climb
00:36:29above you
00:36:31and be immune
00:36:33you have to
00:36:34you have to
00:36:35cram air
00:36:36into your engine
00:36:37denser
00:36:38than what's
00:36:39outside the window
00:36:41and you may need
00:36:42a second stage
00:36:43of supercharging
00:36:44there are some
00:36:45two-stage
00:36:46supercharged
00:36:47automobiles
00:36:48out there now
00:36:49it's an adventure
00:36:54I think
00:36:56the AMA
00:36:57American Motorcyclist Association
00:36:59as it became
00:37:02did a good thing
00:37:03for racing
00:37:04in the sense
00:37:05that they
00:37:06in the early days
00:37:07of superbike
00:37:081000cc
00:37:09superbike
00:37:10they said
00:37:11front forks
00:37:12may be
00:37:13altered
00:37:14or replaced
00:37:15swing arms
00:37:16may be
00:37:17altered
00:37:18or replaced
00:37:19meaning
00:37:20we know
00:37:21that those components
00:37:22which were made
00:37:23for production
00:37:24and to hit
00:37:25a price point
00:37:26may not be
00:37:27satisfactory
00:37:28they may even
00:37:29be embarrassing
00:37:30if raced
00:37:31so go for it
00:37:32boys
00:37:33those
00:37:34engines
00:37:35weren't reliable
00:37:36to begin with
00:37:37because
00:37:38of things
00:37:39like the
00:37:40connecting rod
00:37:41problem
00:37:42that just
00:37:43described
00:37:44Suzuki
00:37:45at a point
00:37:46had a problem
00:37:47with rod bolts
00:37:48there were
00:37:49all kinds
00:37:50of things
00:37:51pistons
00:37:52that developed
00:37:53fatigue cracks
00:37:54around the
00:37:55wrist pin
00:37:56the wrist pin
00:37:57is saying
00:37:58I'm going
00:37:59this way
00:38:00and the piston
00:38:01is sort of
00:38:02well I like it
00:38:03where I am
00:38:04and so
00:38:05eventually
00:38:06the wrist pin
00:38:07pulls right out
00:38:08just
00:38:09tears the metal
00:38:10out of the
00:38:11wrist pin boss
00:38:12in racing
00:38:13so
00:38:14it took time
00:38:15for all of these
00:38:16things to get
00:38:17upgraded
00:38:18for
00:38:19everyone
00:38:20to cross out
00:38:21the details
00:38:22on the drawing
00:38:23and enter
00:38:24the better
00:38:25stuff
00:38:26and so
00:38:27the second
00:38:28generation
00:38:29of
00:38:30Japanese
00:38:31superbikes
00:38:32was
00:38:33a huge
00:38:34step forward
00:38:35because
00:38:36unlike
00:38:37the Z1s
00:38:38and GSs
00:38:39of the
00:38:40first era
00:38:41they didn't
00:38:42have to have
00:38:43their chassis
00:38:44sort of
00:38:45completely
00:38:46re-engineered
00:38:47with extra
00:38:48pieces of
00:38:49tubing
00:38:50and a
00:38:51usable
00:38:52angle
00:38:53but
00:38:54those
00:38:55bikes
00:38:56had
00:38:57a
00:38:58steering
00:38:59that was
00:39:00not overly
00:39:01conservative
00:39:02I think
00:39:03the usual
00:39:04thing was
00:39:05somewhere in
00:39:06the range
00:39:07of 27
00:39:08to 28
00:39:09degrees
00:39:10of steering
00:39:11head rake
00:39:12which is
00:39:13the
00:39:14generally
00:39:15the angle
00:39:16of the
00:39:17fork tubes
00:39:18to the
00:39:20chassis
00:39:21had
00:39:223.74
00:39:23inches of
00:39:24trail
00:39:25which is
00:39:26fairly
00:39:27radical
00:39:28for the
00:39:29time
00:39:30pretty
00:39:31short
00:39:32yeah
00:39:33and
00:39:34I'm
00:39:35told
00:39:36by Greg
00:39:37MacDonald
00:39:38the
00:39:39CompuTrack
00:39:40wizard
00:39:41that
00:39:42once
00:39:43you get
00:39:44the
00:39:45squat
00:39:46anti-squat
00:39:47behavior
00:39:48of the
00:39:49track
00:39:50to 4
00:39:51inches
00:39:52of
00:39:53trail
00:39:54and
00:39:55it
00:39:56isn't
00:39:57slow
00:39:58it's
00:39:59good
00:40:00but
00:40:01that's
00:40:02hearsay
00:40:03well
00:40:04what's
00:40:05the
00:40:06steering
00:40:07geometry
00:40:08on a
00:40:09Ducati
00:40:10MotoGP
00:40:11bike
00:40:12I
00:40:13wonder
00:40:14well
00:40:15we
00:40:16we've
00:40:17seen
00:40:18to a
00:40:19great extent
00:40:20enabled
00:40:21by
00:40:22chassis
00:40:23that
00:40:24have
00:40:25stiffness
00:40:26in the
00:40:27desired
00:40:28directions
00:40:29if
00:40:30you
00:40:31don't
00:40:32have any
00:40:33weight on
00:40:34the front
00:40:35wheel
00:40:36for example
00:40:37a
00:40:38Ducati
00:40:39bevel
00:40:40drive
00:40:41v-twin
00:40:42which has
00:40:43the
00:40:44engine
00:40:45way back
00:40:46and
00:40:47they gave it
00:40:48four and a
00:40:49half
00:40:50inches
00:40:51and a
00:40:52lot of
00:40:53rake
00:40:54and I
00:40:55think they
00:40:56gave it
00:40:5730 or
00:40:5831
00:40:59degrees
00:41:00it
00:41:01needed
00:41:02it
00:41:03and
00:41:04I
00:41:05think
00:41:06they
00:41:07tried
00:41:08to
00:41:09get
00:41:10away
00:41:11with
00:41:12as
00:41:13little
00:41:14as
00:41:15possible
00:41:16some people
00:41:17told me
00:41:18well I
00:41:19talked to one
00:41:20fellow who
00:41:21said he
00:41:22bought a
00:41:23Z1
00:41:24he was
00:41:25entirely
00:41:26in love
00:41:27for six
00:41:28months
00:41:29and then
00:41:30he
00:41:31realized
00:41:32his
00:41:33bike
00:41:34didn't
00:41:35handle
00:41:36all that
00:41:37well
00:41:38and
00:41:39I
00:41:40think
00:41:41there
00:41:42could
00:41:43have
00:41:44been
00:41:45better
00:41:46and
00:41:47so
00:41:48the
00:41:49industry's
00:41:50advice is
00:41:51buy more
00:41:52product
00:41:53this
00:41:54year's
00:41:55model is
00:41:56better
00:41:57you'll
00:41:58like it
00:41:59well the
00:42:00taxing
00:42:01element was
00:42:02the
00:42:03engine
00:42:04power
00:42:05it
00:42:06said
00:42:07here we
00:42:08are
00:42:09and
00:42:10it's
00:42:11going to
00:42:12drag the
00:42:13rest of
00:42:14the
00:42:15bike
00:42:16around
00:42:17and
00:42:18the
00:42:19taxing
00:42:20element
00:42:21is
00:42:22going
00:42:23to
00:42:24get
00:42:25better
00:42:26and
00:42:27so
00:42:28if
00:42:29you
00:42:30want
00:42:31to
00:42:32get
00:42:33better
00:42:34on
00:42:35your
00:42:36bike
00:42:37you
00:42:38have to
00:42:39pay
00:42:40a
00:42:41lot
00:42:42of
00:42:43To keep the bike online. It's not in neutral steering. It's intentionally not neutral because it's okay. They feel that it gives
00:42:51Feedback and that it will be self riding when you're finishing the corner and it's they have a they have a spec
00:42:57He wouldn't say I'm like, what's that spec? He's like, I'm not gonna tell you
00:43:02But you know the combination of developing tires with motorcycles and all of that work
00:43:08You can end up with a bike that is beautifully neutral steering
00:43:12You can do
00:43:14You can accelerate you can break
00:43:16You can trail brake really hard and and it doesn't want to stand up and go out to the edge of the corner
00:43:21It just keeps doing what it's doing Honda for a very long time was except is still exceptionally good at that. But
00:43:28Most bikes we don't see that anymore
00:43:31but you know a rubber frame z1 with you know, 80 something horsepower and
00:43:36Worn-out tires just imagine and you know damping just damping on on the z1
00:43:41You're you're basically looking at a screen door closer on the fork and the shock and everybody was like that
00:43:47It's just you know, there was nothing there even in the 90s were fork dampers were the worst they had
00:43:54a
00:43:55rebound orifice
00:43:57Which means that it had V squared damping the faster the fork extended
00:44:03The damping force went up as the square which means very quickly it went up vertically became infinite
00:44:11and then there was a
00:44:15One-way valve that opened on compression so that bumps didn't
00:44:20send you
00:44:22and that's why that all those old-time girling shocks had the one-way valve in them and
00:44:29gradually gradually
00:44:31shocks have
00:44:32evolved to the point where
00:44:35Their movement is pretty creamy
00:44:38And there aren't a lot of spike producing elements in there, but it has taken time
00:44:44Yeah, because riders get used to the all these new shocks are great. Oh, why didn't we have these last year and
00:44:51then after a while
00:44:54Well, there's some of these there's some new problems here could could could we talk about it?
00:45:00Yeah
00:45:01So there it never ends
00:45:05so the z1
00:45:07This during this period of time. Everybody was still making two-strokes
00:45:11it seemed like we had a war between not a war but a
00:45:15Hedging of bets or did we already see the writing on the wall for two-strokes in 1973 74?
00:45:20Oh, they sure did see it because they could see it clamping on cars
00:45:25And they knew that those people in Ann Arbor we'd be coming for them because
00:45:31Look at the smoke
00:45:33we used to get new h1s out of the crate and
00:45:38we take them out for a run up the hill in Arlington, Massachusetts and
00:45:44Just
00:45:45They're like to tip four C's of an airplane flying in
00:45:50humid conditions
00:45:52This smoke would come rolling out so
00:45:55mechanics turned down the pumps and
00:45:58we
00:45:59Came to realize that the oil pumps had been set for a worst-case
00:46:06and
00:46:07so
00:46:09But meanwhile the damage is done. Why is that thing smoking like that? I'm gonna make a few calls and
00:46:16eventually in
00:46:181984 was about the last year that two-strokes could be sold
00:46:22for the street
00:46:24of any kind and
00:46:26Z350 85
00:46:28Yeah
00:46:30cats in the pipes and
00:46:33You know, we gosh we loved it we loved
00:46:36what was great about two-strokes and what is great about two-strokes is that lightness and simplicity and
00:46:42essentially behaving like a double displacement
00:46:45engine
00:46:47You know, I had a 79 RD 400 Daytona special that was just a used bike when I bought it
00:46:53It was just an old two-stroke, you know, nothing wasn't a collector item
00:46:56it was just affordable and it was the fastest thing I could afford and
00:47:00It didn't have the number of the new ninja 600 are in 1986
00:47:06But it was there yeah, and that's why I bought it
00:47:12Well, I think that
00:47:14Last
00:47:16Week when we talked about the
00:47:19Honda NR 500 I
00:47:22mentioned that it's much cheaper to
00:47:26increase the horsepower of a two-stroke
00:47:28Than that of a four-stroke in the case of the two-stroke you're changing the shape of ports in the cylinder
00:47:34Some of that work can be done with a hand grinder
00:47:38That then has to go to the foundry department and they have to learn to cast it in that shape
00:47:44The other work goes into the exhaust pipes and
00:47:48Those are lightweight components
00:47:51You can you can make a set of test exhaust pipes straight ones for the dyno in a day
00:47:59so on the other hand with the NR 500 the
00:48:0522 kilograms of extra material that was the cylinder heads
00:48:11When you want to make a fundamental change, let's change the valve angle, let's change the ports. Let's change this means big money
00:48:19Lots of big important parts have to be made a second time. So that was the charm of the two-stroke. Was it a a
00:48:27No bucks guy with a die grinder in one hand and a gas torch in the other for the exhaust pipes
00:48:35could
00:48:37Make something frightening out of an RD 350
00:48:41And I made something frightening about with my RD 400 and what happened. I high-sided it as so many other good
00:48:50Well, that's the engine getting ahead of the chassis suspension and tires that's getting ahead of the riders, okay
00:48:57so
00:49:00Maybe not the best choice as a first street bike who knows but but I think I think to sum up
00:49:05I think that the z1 was
00:49:08Well planned for the market and
00:49:11They weren't in any hurry because when the CB 750 came out
00:49:16it was a couple of years before they
00:49:20went with they went to production with the with the 903 and
00:49:25I think that mr. Sam Tanigashima
00:49:30Who has been described as Japanese American?
00:49:34did a lot of
00:49:36New product research in the u.s. And it wasn't a case of I
00:49:43always feel sorry for for
00:49:47The engineers at Suzuki put blood sweat and tears into the the GS 750
00:49:55GT 750 the three-cylinder two-stroke or water buffalo or
00:50:01kettle and
00:50:03the re5 rotary because
00:50:07The engineering work was expended the market failed to confirm it
00:50:16It was kind of like
00:50:19Honda's Pacific Coast
00:50:21The only two the only ones I've ever seen was a group of five
00:50:25Who are being ridden by Honda executives back to California from Daytona that year and one collector bike
00:50:32That I saw at the gym
00:50:35Yeah
00:50:37Yeah, I mean in Southern California, they were around at the time and actually I worked at a co-worker
00:50:45At cycle news when I was working back there who was an adherent to the Pacific Coast just loved it
00:50:50And he was a motorcycle guy, you know, he did
00:50:53yeah, he did motorcycle things, but
00:50:56You're getting around California at the time. It's not bad. It was narrow. It had storage and so forth but in terms of
00:51:03Inciting passion or
00:51:06Causing feelings of love
00:51:08To the wider market. It wasn't a success in that in that way. Yeah, I think falling into the practicality trap
00:51:15I mean, there's you know, what did the z1 do the z1 came to market with?
00:51:20big power huge four-cylinder for the time the fastest quarter-mile time and
00:51:26styling that
00:51:28Felt like a cozy blanket look cool. It was very nice. Yes
00:51:33But it looked it looked good. It wasn't too new. It wasn't too out there
00:51:37It just looked like a big burly motorcycle and it had it delivered it delivered on its muscular looks
00:51:44It was there and people people went crazy for that
00:51:47And then we got z1 ours with those with that fairing and it's smoke tinted screen
00:51:52And we have a story on a z1 are being
00:51:56Tuned by Yoshimura at the time and running through quarter-mile and and
00:52:02One of the guys that Yosh
00:52:04Apologizes because it's a quarter-mile test
00:52:06They had the bike at the quarter-mile and I had it had a pipe it had a high high rise
00:52:11You know high clearance Yosh pipe
00:52:13If you wanted to change the oil you had to take the pipe off and drop the to get the oil filter
00:52:18It had no center stand because the pipe routing but it increased the cornering clearance
00:52:23But it was really a core it was a quarter-mile story they were at the drag strip they were changing jetting
00:52:28They were they were doing all these things and the Yoshimura folks
00:52:32actually apologized
00:52:35because
00:52:36They weren't accustomed to doing drag strip testing. They were really, you know road race people and sorry
00:52:42It's taking us a little bit longer and the results were great. They were
00:52:46they were doing
00:52:49120
00:52:50Something when close to 130, I think in the quarter-mile. So they were really good. They're making power it had cams
00:52:56Yeah, you know it was not
00:52:58it was not running below 5,000 for a while as they sort of tried to
00:53:02Figure out how the jetting was going the the turbo that came later the Kawasaki sort of semi factory turbo with the
00:53:11Molle Molle design paint kind of that rainbow great
00:53:15Yes, wonderful
00:53:21Yeah, it just it hit it it made big power and it resonated with the market yes, I think that it
00:53:30Makes me think of the
00:53:33GM's great stylist Harley Earl who said you must lead
00:53:37the market but not by too much and I think that's why the bulbous tank the generally
00:53:45British twin
00:53:47Inspired look but enough bigger
00:53:52To say wait a minute. This this is a good-sized bear right here, but not too big
00:53:58And that's a topic for another show, but the size of motorcycles
00:54:03You know when you go back to a Triumph Bonneville, you know 70 69
00:54:09Bonneville or anything before that pretty much because they were very similar from short wheelbase short wheelbase
00:54:18They were very handy they steered beautifully they were fun to ride they felt great
00:54:23Steering could see right through them. They were transparent
00:54:27but they were of a good size and you know the
00:54:30the oil and frame bikes that came
00:54:33After you know, what's m71 the oil and frame by anyone they were derided for having a high seat height and it was like
00:54:41I
00:54:42Think it was barely an inch higher. It was not significantly higher
00:54:46but they looked a little bit different and the seat went up and it changed kind of the vibe of the bike and people were
00:54:52Sure did people were disappointed in that
00:54:56Going to today
00:54:57You have the speed the speed twin 1200
00:55:02And it's it's a spectacular motorcycle really really fun bike
00:55:07It's big. It's it is pretty beefy the bike you actually want
00:55:12If you're trying to evoke what triumphs were is the 900
00:55:17Because it's smaller. It's it is the natural extension. That's that size thing
00:55:22I think that's one good thing about you know, mto sevens and and all that is it
00:55:28it
00:55:30It acknowledges the existence of a human of a certain size
00:55:35If you look at our 80 GS and now we have our 1300 GS
00:55:39The 1300 is a spectacularly capable bike. It's lighter. It has more power. They've done all these wonderful things
00:55:47But it is not what what the middleweight
00:55:50Adventure class is now, which is an f900 and the f900 in terms of riding off-road
00:55:56The size the narrowness the lightness it's it's
00:56:00Easier to handle you may not want to do it as much as a 17-hour day with a lot of highway
00:56:07You know, I mean it would it's capable and comfortable but when you get the big so I think that was what was
00:56:14Nice about the time is, you know, Norton commando. Wow, that's a big bike when I got on my RD 400
00:56:20Not a big motorcycle, but and I was 6 2 when I got it
00:56:24But I got on it and you know compared to XR 75s and MT 250 dual sports and ke whatever
00:56:31Kawasaki's I'd ridden it felt really really big and
00:56:35Imagine, you know, imagine getting on your draping yourself over a thousand CC superbike
00:56:42Versus a z1. Yeah
00:56:46And now it's just an antique but the z1 really came in and put a stamp on the class and
00:56:52Took power to a new level and
00:56:54Helped revel revolutionized the four-stroke era and and superbike and and all of that
00:57:03And one of the things that that was described to me by
00:57:08Some of your testers was this notion that you could go out and run
00:57:14In the dark of night in the secret place in the desert and when you came back from making your runs
00:57:20The engine acted like it had just gone for cigarettes at the corner it sat there and idled
00:57:28So it wasn't trying hard, I think that was one of the great things about Japanese machines was that
00:57:37They did what they did
00:57:40casually, you didn't get the impression of of
00:57:44terrible strain and and
00:57:46reaching for something barely
00:57:49Within reach
00:57:52Yeah, I don't know if there's a cultural thing going on with you know British engineering
00:57:58Like we need to punish ourselves
00:58:02Like okay
00:58:03We're gonna use a tower shaft with multiple shims and we're gonna just that we're gonna commit to shimming this at least three times
00:58:10to get the bevel gears to fit and all the
00:58:15how many different weird operations and
00:58:18not that there aren't quirks and and pain in the ass things with Japanese bikes, but
00:58:24You take a sport bike now and for the last
00:58:2935 40 years even yeah close to that you could go to a dealership
00:58:36Ride the bike break it in get your 600 do the oil change ride it to a racetrack and then
00:58:42Put 5,000 miles on it on a racetrack
00:58:45Just change the oil adjust the chain tires do all this stuff. Just keep doing that going as fast as you can
00:58:54And it makes no difference
00:58:56Yeah, I could never turn it off
00:58:57You could you could go to the racetrack do the laps and park it on the side stand
00:59:02Idling and go to bed and wake up in the morning and the temperature would be the same
00:59:06You'd have to fill it up with gas
00:59:08And then you could just it would just idle forever you could just keep putting gas in which it would idle for 15 years
00:59:15so
00:59:16Kawasaki made that
00:59:1924-hour run at Daytona with C ones and what they'd averaged 109 miles an hour
00:59:26I'm sure they had a look at that record and said, yeah, I think we can probably do it
00:59:33Because this this is the thing when
00:59:36This this is the thing when when I was a working guy in in Denver, Colorado
00:59:45There there was a customer who had a
00:59:4712 to 1 triumph that he was running on aviation gas that he kept in a shed behind his mother's house
00:59:54And that was 115 145 gasoline and he was definitely pushing it
01:00:00To make himself king of the night
01:00:04Uh
01:00:06but
01:00:07The Japanese bikes are based were based what was so important a difference between them
01:00:14And what had gone before was that?
01:00:18Japanese mass production could sell at an attractive price
01:00:24Features like electric start double overhead cam what have you
01:00:29That were not available at any price from another manufacturer
01:00:34at a competitive
01:00:36uh tariff
01:00:37You could you can afford it
01:00:39And I think that's that's been the thing design is one thing
01:00:44But production is what delivers it to the customer at a price. The customer can afford
01:00:51An art in itself. Yep
01:00:55So
01:00:58The beat goes on
01:01:00Well, thanks for listening folks. It's uh
01:01:03Kawasaki z1
01:01:05and more
01:01:06and more
01:01:07wandered a little bit there, but uh, it was a defining time and um
01:01:14It probably well, I mean, you know h h
01:01:18twos and all that certainly define kawasaki as an engine company, but they had a a lot of uh,
01:01:23Rep, you know that reputation is like oh, yeah, we build engines that run even to the zx9 era
01:01:29You know into the in the 2000s where it was
01:01:32kind of a longer
01:01:34It wasn't as focused as an r1, you know, let's call it 2000. So the r1 was, you know short light
01:01:40big power but uh
01:01:42Zx9 still uh still made competitive horsepower, but it was really uh
01:01:47The engine was the highlight on that model
01:01:50Thanks for listening folks, uh see you in the comments, um, like comment subscribe, etc
01:01:57Uh, if you're on spotify, uh, give us a rating down there help us out. Um apple podcast, etc
01:02:04Uh, we'll see you next wednesday. Thanks for listening