Top 10 Japanese Street-Legal Bikes Of All Time
84You May Argue With The Choices, But These Are The Best!
We're just talking standard Japanese street-legal bikes here. No fairings, saddlebags or other whizbangery allowed. The motorcycle has to stand on its own merits, not just as a starting point for an accessory dump. My choices will be controversial as lots of people will wonder why there are so few modern motorcycles, or what this bike or that bike is doing here when that other bike is left out. How could you be so stupid as to skip the Kawasaki H1, The Suzuki Water Buffalo, the Suzuki Rotary, etc. Well, I believe a road motorcycle needs a four-stroke engine and no engineering development to date has changed my opinion. I'm making a passionate case of each of these ten and why they belong here, so I look forward to reading your input as to why I'm absolutely crazy.
#10: Suzuki Savage 650. This was the first street-going Japanese thumper to do it right. The Yamaha SR500 went into the clip-on British nostalgia Tavern to Tavern bike mode and that was the completely wrong direction. Yammy's thumper was heaven in the XT incarnation but was balky, slow and vibration-stung in its street going version. The Savage did it right with superb styling, extremely comfortable cruiser ergonomics, and what was essentially one half of a Harley 1340 cc engine. It sounded right, it moved right, it handled right, it was priced right and I'm amazed that Suzuki didn't sell a few extra million of them.
#9: Honda CB350 Four. How can I possibly leave the ultimate paradigm setter of all motorcycledom off this list, the hallowed and respected CB750 Four? Simple. The first 750 Fours were way ahead of their time and created the modern multi-cylinder engine and what was called UJM, or Universal Japanese Motorcycle, mold. But they were not particularly great bikes, especially the F1 first generation models with the bulky side-mounted oil tanks and the flat-bottomed fuel tanks that looked like a jerry can with a stripe. Now, the 350 Four was a jewel. A magnificent engine married with classic but absolutely timeless styling and the second-most aesthetically-pleasing fuel tank design any Honda has ever had (the first generation XL250 wins that category). The 350 Four was a triumph of technology, innovation and style. That's why Honda killed it after just one year and replaced it with the hideous CB400F with those four into one pipes that looked like the bike had just been T-boned by a truck.
#8: Honda CB100. Although motorcycles this size are now under the radar for most riders, the sturdy, reliable, bulletproof and nicely performing single cylinder CB100 engine turned out to live on to the present day, mostly as a 125cc and sold countless millions around the globe. The vehicular basis of some entire nations are based around this engine and its endless Asian clones. The 1972 model was the apex of its styling, with a refrigerator white tank and sidecover with tasteful color inserts.
#7: Yamaha XT500. The XT was never really at home in the dirt, so it definitely qualifies as a street-legal motorcycle. And what a motorcycle! Everything about this bike was absolutely spot-on. That thumper may well be the best dual-purpose single cylinder four stroke in history. The big number tag sidecovers passed on the illusion that you could actually wrestle this behemoth around a motocross track but it was just an illusion. There's absolutely no doubt that a modern WR450F would eat it for lunch off-road, but that wasn't the idea behind the XT500. It was a commuter that you could take fireroading on the weekends, then pack up and take the summer to ride the Alaska Highway. And it was so doggone beautiful!
#6: Yamaha XS650. This bike was a complete revelation. The Japanese took a Triumph Bonneville, fixed absolutely every single thing (of the many things) that was wrong with it, engineered single pieces where the Brits would use sixteen screws, seven brackets and two cotter pins, and ended up with a powerful, attractive, great handling, utterly reliable and oil-tight motorcycle for the ages. Since the Japanese could never stop messing with their great models, this was soon turned into the TX650 which destroyed the classic styling and the elemental essence of the bike.
#5: Honda CBX1000. It's no wonder that one of these six-cylinder masterpieces in good condition will fetch today at least four times its original dealership price. Just look at that angled engine and those amazing six exhaust tubes cascading out in a waterfall of chrome. Why Honda would decide the next year to cover all that magnificent motorwork in a cheap Rickman-type fairing will always astound me. The only change I would have made to the original CBX would have been to issue it with six into six exhausts. Now that would have turned even more heads in those days!
#4: Kawasaki 1500 Vulcan 2nd Generation. The first V-twin Vulcans were an embarrassment. Their styling was only acceptable if covered up with a tarp. They had this exact clone of a Sportster headlight brow that was butchered by sticking a chromed probe up from the top of it. They shared the Virago's idiotic chrome coffee can forward of the lead cylinder that looked like it was just screwed on there since they couldn't find anywhere else for it. And what were they thinking when they put the rear cylinder exhaust port on the left? Ugly and stupid all around. Kawi learned from their mistakes and by the millennium had a remarkable V-twin on the market, a truly righteous cruiser that any long-time Hawg rider would be proud to ride. The 2nd Generation 1500 Vulcan was the first real Japanese cruiser and some argue that it's still the best.
#3: Honda 1000 Gold Wing. Another bomb-shell revelation motorcycle from the masters at Honda. When I first saw a spy photo of this amazing four cylinder boxer, I thought that it was a wooden mockup, and that no motorcycle could possibly have that incredible configuration. It turned out to be very real, and formed the basis for all modern touring motorcycles. Even Harley had to admit that the full dresser a la Gold Wing was the right formula and came out with its TourGlides to complement the classic ElectraGlides. From the fuel tank under the seat, to the bulletproof shaft drive, to that oh so sweet powercurve from those horizontally opposed cylinders, the original Gold Wing is truly Golden.
#2 Honda 90. I know I'm going to catch loads of heat for placing this utilitarian snoozefest as the second best Japanese motorcycle, but hear me out. If you weren't alive in the early Sixties you cannot possibly understand what this silly little step-through with its scrawny horizontal cylinder did to the psyche of the American public. It introduced two wheeling to a nation that thought all bikers were renegade Marlon Brandos on Triumphs. The Honda 90 demonstrated that motorcycling could be a clean, healthy, fun, polite way to head on down the road and that changed motorcycling in America forever. "It's not a big motorcycle, just a groovy little motorbike, it's more fun that a barrel of monkeys, that two wheel bike, First gear, it's alright, second gear, lean right, third gear, hang on tight..."
And the number one, best standard Japanese street-legal motorcycle of all time is... The New York Steak!
#1: Kawasaki Z1 900. Wow. Just wow. It's been over 35 years and the Z1 still floors you. The fluidity of the fuel tank flowing into the seat with that naughty kickup and then whooshing out to the taillamp. That muscular and brawny black and chrome monster of an engine, it all leaves you breathless. Kawi engineers code named it The New York Steak because they knew that they were building it to appeal to the American market. And so it did! The Z1 was everything that the Honda 750 never was, it was blindingly fast, stunningly beautiful and hit all the right buttons. In the early Seventies, Kawasaki owned the dragstrips with their vibrating violent widowmakers, the two stroke three cylinder H1 and H2 that had all of the explosiveness and the reliability of a grenade with the pin pulled. The Z1 could spank an H1 at the strip and still yield a comfortable ride that would have you checking the map for the best scenic route to the opposite coast of the continent. Straight out of the dealership, the bike could break 155 mph. With a few tweaks, it owned superbike racing for more than a decade. Of all the standard street-legal Japanese motorcycles ever built, the Kawasaki Z1 900 is the undisputed all time champion.
 | Amazon Price: $7.88 List Price: $19.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $55.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $15.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $7.94 List Price: $10.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $4.30 |
 | Amazon Price: $25.74 List Price: $44.95 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out Hal's latest Hubs:
http://hubpages.com/profile/Hal+Licino
Also don't miss Hal's many other Motorcycling Hubs!
- An $85,000 Diesel Cruiser. But It Gets Great MPG!
- Could MPG Alone Get You On A 250 Cruiser?
- Nothing Exceeds Like Excess: Boss Hoss
- Same Bike, Different Name: Suzi Boulevard Vs. Kawi Vulcan
- The Biggest & Meanest: 2007 Kawasaki 2000 Vulcan
- The Wacky World Of Mini-Choppers
- Which Cruiser Engine Layout: A V-Twin Or Straight 3?
- 2007 Factory Choppers Buyer's Guide
- 2009 Yamaha V-Max VMX17: The wrong bike at the wrong time
- All the Fuel-Saving Devices that do nothing but rip you off
- American Vs. Metric Cruisers
- CanAm Spyder: 3-Wheel Cruiser Or Roadgoing Snowmobile?
- Finally! 2009 Official EPA Harley & Yamaha MPG Figures
- Hal's Master Motorcycle & Scooter MPG Reference Hub
- Harley Davidson's Outrageous Pricing Ripoffs
- Honda Fury vs. Yamaha Raider: Perfection Meets Grotesquerie
- How You Can Ride Captain America's Panhead
- Hypermile your motorcycle up to 179 MPG: No snake oil, no scams!
- Is it time to retire superbikes?
- Motorcycle Ergonomics: Getting That Kink Out
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: BMW
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Ducati
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Harley-Davidson Big Twins
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Harley-Davidson Sportsters & Below 1201 cc
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Honda Boxers & Sixes
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Honda Off Road
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Honda Street Singles
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Honda Transverse Fours
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Honda V-Fours & CBRs
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Honda V-Twins
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Honda Vertical Twins
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Kawasaki Ninjas
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Kawasaki Singles
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Kawasaki Vertical Twins, Fours & Sixes
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Kawasaki Vulcans
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Suzuki Singles & Vertical Twins
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Suzuki Sports & Fours
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Suzuki V-Twins
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Triumph
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Yamaha Sports & Fours
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Yamaha V-Twins
- Motorcycle MPG Guide: Yamaha Vertical Singles, Twins & Triples
- Motorcycle nostalgia items I would gladly pay $$$ for!
- MPG Guide: The Fuel Economy Of 700 Top Selling Motorcycles
- MPG Guide: The Fuel Economy Of 250 Top Selling Scooters
- Pugang 125: The motorcycle built by starving slave laborers
- Revolutionary Harley Trike Has 2 Front Wheels That Lean
- Riding Your Bike For Maximum MPG
- R.I.P. XLH: How Could Harley Kill Off The Traditional Sportster?
- Sportster Iron 883: The Bike That Won't Save Harley
- Styling: Why Harleys Look Right & BMW Sedans Look Wrong
- Suzuki 350 runs on water. Pigs fly. Film at 11.
- Suzuki-ENV Hydrogen Fuel Cell Motorcycle?
- Suzuki's 2008 1300 And 1800 Deformed Emetogenic Mutants
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Sportsbikes
- The 25 Wackiest Motorcycles Of All Time
- The Current State Of Solar Powered Motorcycles
- The new 123 MPG Champ: Yamaha Zuma!
- There's no zen in the art of motorcycle maintenance
- Top 10 Japanese Street-Legal Bikes Of All Time
- Top 10 Ugliest Motorcycles Of All Time
- Top 10 Tips For New Motorcycle Riders
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Bizarrobikes
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Current Cruisers
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Golden Age Bikes
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Hypermotards
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Naked Bikes
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Older Cruisers
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Supermotards
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Tourers
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles - 10 Vintage Bikes
- Top 100 Ugliest Motorcycles In History - The Ultimate List!
- Top 50 Best MPG Motorcycles
- Tri Glide Trike Leads Harley Davidson's 2009 Lineup
- Why Motorcycle Manufacturers Missed Out On MPG Mania
- Why the VMX17, Hayabusa And Similar Bikes Should Be Off The Streets
CommentsLoading...
Well, I can most certainly help you having been the proud owner of a CB350F (and I wish I'd never sold it.) The headers/muffler are aftermarket as the originals are four into four. Given the speedo it's most likely the US version, which means it's either green or red. If it was pearl silver, then that might indicate a UK version. Please feel free to ask anything else as out of the 37 motorcycles I've owned, that is one of my top favourites!!!
Hal, what a great hub! I remember all of these bikes. The old KZ 900, the original Z1 was the fastest thing on the American street as far as I knew. Then you have the Honda CBX which I never got to ride, but it must have been fierce. I too owned a little Honda 350 four as one of my first bikes. Would love to have seen my favorites of the seventies, the Suzuki GS550, GS750, GS850 and GS1000, they were really fast, reliable and well behaved bikes. Once rode a GS550 from Houston, TX to Pensacola, Fl in 13 hours, 15 minutes, with about an hour lost to rain in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Ah, what adventure! - Great hub.
Hi, Wajay! Thanks for the props, I really enjoyed putting this hub together as it did bring back all the memories. The Suzies were wonderful bikes. I had a GS850 shafty set up as a semi-dresser and a GSX1100 which loved to have the front wheel pawing at the air at the slightest touch of the throttle... ah, those were the days! Whenever a list of any top 10 of anything is compiled, you always end up leaving out many more very suitable candidates than you leave in. Since the main thrust of the subject is to come up with the real trend-setting bikes, I had to leave out a lot of the great Universal Japanese Motorcycles which included a lot of the great four cylinder bikes of the '80 and '90s. Another very worthy UJM was the Yamaha XS1100 series. I rode a factory full dresser version from Toronto to Miami in a blistering 27 hours and 30 minutes, so just like you I know well what it was like to dodge the Smokies in the pinball machines on long dark Interstates! Ride On!
ahh....the sounds of the bozozoku bike! What great memories of the many sleepless nights whent the kids come riding down the street. They do have some cool bikes though!
Well I see my staple favourite the Yamaha RD 350 isn't on the list.. but a great list nonetheless .
Good List.
But I reckon that the list should have been the top 11 bikes, and that Honda CX500 should have been on it.
i have a 350 four and i must say i cant see why they didnt last long. They look and go great i have a 72 model and am keeping her close liked your review
I am amazed you didn't include two of the most popular and long running production models.
The two cylinder 325cc 350 Hondas. Built in huge volumes (the highest volume motor cycle cb 350 with over 300,000 sold in 6 years) Your list is totally slanted to your view----Oh yea that is what this is your view----
To have left out the rd350/400 Yamaha two stroke twin is pure folly. I understand your fear of two strokes---this bike kicked ass on everything on the twisty road that were made for motorcycles. Most of the bikes in your list could only follow the little RD 350 down a twisty road. This was truly a Japanese statement on Motorcycle handling that took many years for anyone else to catch. This was a motorcycle to be ridden not a motor on two wheels to go in a straight line.
Great hub though...
Good Hub. I have a Bike from Kawasaki. People say that Honda is little expensive as far as Repairs is concerned. Is It?
I've got great memories of the Honda 90 - I saw many of them when growing up - what a great bike !
Ah, the Honda 90... what one motorcycle magazine once called "the perfect substitute for feet." That was pure transportation boiled down to its essentials, and it just ran and ran and ran... complete nostalgia trip!
As for the Honda vs. Kawi repair bills, they should be about the same, as you'll find that the difference is going to be primarily relative to the age and model of the motorcycle. If anything, the older Hondas might have a greater availability of parts than the Kawis.
my nephew has an old cb10072. it very "old", bitty, and mostly makes other biker on new ride jealous
I love the '72 CB100. It was my first "real" street bike and I'd make it the cornerstone of this "collection!"
Japanese bikes looks very good. You have given good information about those. Nice images are used. I am so much impressed by those.
If you are interested in online shopping and coupons, here is one good hub about that. This is very much interesting. Too see that please go through the following link. http://hubpages.com/hub/CouponsfromBigBrands
Good way to sneak in a link, but at least you did refer to the article, so I have to give you points for that! :)
Hey man, the XT500, that one that you say "was never really at home in the dirt", had a 1-2-3 in the general classification at the first Paris-Dakar rally, 1979, beating all other bikes and cars. The bikes were completely unmodified standard stock with the exception of a large gas tank.
On the 2nd Dakar, 1980, the feat was repeated, also XT500's securing 2nd and 4th position
On the 3rd Dakar, 1981, I think the results were 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
And the list goes on.
I guarantee you that the XT500 is fab in whatever you throw her in, minus the open road. It isn;t a great commuter either.
Maybe it is your Honda bias, but this is a great bike and it sounds pretty obvious thet you have never ridden one.
You make good points and then you deflate your argument in just one phrase. In my Hubs I have often noted that the XT500 is one of the top 3 favorite motorcycles I've owned (among more than 30)!
Excellent hub. I had something similiar to the XT but in a smaller displacement. I had an IT175 from 1983. That thing was beast, so powerful for its displacement but unfortunately the throttle used to freeze. It was scary for a kid and a new trail rider to deal with. In a way, I am glad it is gone.
I am just starting to learn how to ride a motorbike, i'm learning on an old well loved Marauder. SO MUCH FUN! :D
Glad to see Suzuki's LS650 Savage on your list ... a perfect no-frills motorcycle and the only Japanese Bike that manages to capture some of the elemental character of the Harley Sportster. I'm on my 2nd LS650 now (after a brief flirtation with a VS800), an '05 S40 Boulevard. Viva la Savage!
i had a 1975 kawasaki 750h2c it ran 12 sec flat in 1975 i ringed it and it ran 12 sec back in the 90s my best friend had a kz 900 he used to get mad at me u know always gagging on the 2 stoke smoke and the only memory i cherished of the kz 900 came from my rear view mirror.the first bike that actually caught up with me was agpz 1100 fuel injected and a suzuki kantana 1100 now your playing with the big bores.besides the triple i wouldnt want anthing under 1000cc
jdh351, I rode my share of ITs and they were amazingly quick and fast. The powerband was not at all suitable for trail riding, but I loved them! I miss the smell of 2-stroke oil!
J_Eds, enjoy your learning experience and be careful out there!
Savage, the LS is a great bike and I agree! Viva La Savage!
mike tapia, the H2 was the two wheeled equivalent of a Saturn V rocket. It was unbelievable how much power those 2-stroke triples cranked out! What memories!!!
lose the CB100 and the XT500.
86 VFr700/750 Honda is the perfect bike. KLR650 has to replace the impossible to start XT500
VFR? It didn't make my 100 Ugliest list by a hair! And take it from someone who owned both KLR and XT, the Yammy's manual compression release separates the man from the boys! :)
You definetely had to include the Honda 90. That bike sold huge all over the world and especially in asia.
Oh yes. The CT90-type is the world's most popular bike for a reason!
The only bike you left out in my history of 2 wheeled adventures was a Shwinn. Began on a Honda 90 which carried me through the deserts of S. Cal and, albiet illegally, on the intersates while stationed at Camp Pendelton. Moved up to a Honda CB 350 in college, and a Yammie 650 after graduation. Currently ride a heavily modified Kaw Mean Streak 1600.
Seems we had an almost parallel life, Bikerboy! :)
I have owned or ridden all the bikes on this hub, and the Gold Wing boxer motor was my favorite motorcycle motor to sit behind and the Honda 90 rates very high with me too. The "Lead Wing" as my friends called it was wonderful to ride, with power all the way past the red line, which I ignored for years without hurting the motor!
Those were bulletproof engines alright. Believe it or not, I know a guy with a 1500 Wing that has... wait for it... over one million kilometers. Although it's had regular maintenance and work done on it, there has been nothing even resembling an overhaul or a rebuild. Yikes! Can't kill that bike with a stick! :)
similar to Honda 90there is M80 in India.. its a widely used vehicle..easy to handle.. i learnt driving on that..
Ah, yes, the Bajaj M80! That was a great little bike that was sold in the zillions. I'm surprised that it was discontinued!
Just arrived here from your hub on the 10 ugliest bikes so this is in the way of some musings on both...
Living in the UK where long-distance is >100 miles, my perspective is different - to start with, AFAIR the CB100 was never sold here - but the CB125, CB160 and CD175 were. The 125 was a gem, the 160 less so and the 175, whilst looking ultra-cool in its era, was a dreadful bike & handled like a wet fish. Harleys, whilst sold here in mercifully small numbers, are totally unsuited to UK road & traffic conditions (I have other issues with them but we'd be here all day if I started on that :)
Honda 50S - my first bike - I still remember as being a good looking machine and a real motorbike, not like a C50 :) My second was a tuned Honda CB72 Dream. 12000 RPM & 115 MPH from a 250 in 1967 was awesome but looking at one recently I can now appreciate how ugly it was!
Current ride is a 6th gen VFR800 VTEC, Ferrari red, with the full matching Honda luggage and custom saddle with matching piping. With a bike jacket and gloves that have matching red panels & a white lid, we turn heads - and before you say anything, no, it's 'cos people like the look of it :)
We recently completed a 1200 mile road trip through rural France & Belgium with my son riding pillion. Total all-up weight was around 450 Kg & we averaged around 50 MPG. except when doing 125 on an Autoroute through the mountains - then it's about 25! On the other hand, unladen, if you need it that thing can be FAST.
I certainly don't agree with your lists but they start a good discussion thread going and have given me a good few laughs. Ride safe.
OMG, the CD175! The bike that should have sunk Honda but instead refused to die for decades! What a huge pile of crap! Well, have fun negotiating the wet, slippery rindybites in jolly ol' England! BTW, can you tell me if Tracy Barlow ever got out of Redford Prison? I miss her! :)
Japanese Street bIKES is very strong
Sports bikes... yes is! :)
giimasterone: With a lot of time and effort! :)
Anyone who says that two stroke machines are not road worthy was probably one of those punk asses on a brit 650cc that a kawasaki 250cc two stroke would dominate. sure, i can understand. it only took how many years for the four stroke to become competitive???...oh wait...nope, kawasaki STILL has the WORLD RECORD for a naturally aspirated 1/4mile 750cc drag race. What bike was that again? A 1972 two stroke. okay, so it is obvious that i am biased towards two strokes, but seriously...eliminating them from the best Japanese road bikes? they were the japanese road bikes, with the exception of honda. when it really gets down to it, the four stroke will last longer, get better mileage, and wont destroy mother earth as bad. but for getting anywhere in a hurry, two strokes will always be the better motorcycle. nearly 40 years later and the fastest four strokes can't even catch the real japanese motorcycles.
TWO STROKE BLUE SMOKE FOREVER!!!!
"i would rather push my two stroke than ride a four stroke"
Well, by your reckoning we should also include steam powered motorcycles. Both are extinct! :)
No. Two strokes are very much alive. You should stop pretending you are an authority. A few days ago I drove my 1970 250cc Kawasaki two stroke to a dealer to see what was on the floor. Some kid was looking at dirtbikes and I asked him why he wanted the 110cc four stroke instead of the 75cc two stroke. (the kid was maybe 10) he said two strokes were worthless, slow, and break down all the time. I took him to the window and showed him my beautiful Kawasaki and asked him what he thought. He said it was pretty cool looking. He surely had never seen a bike like that before. Then I said it's a 250cc two stroke that is 40 years old. He was stunned. He said that's not a good street bike it can only go 55mph. I was surprised that this kid was trying to tell me about my motorcycle. Then I took him to a ninja 250 and said "the only thing this bike can so better than mine is stop and maybe turn" of course the kid did not believe that the 40 year old bike had more horsepower that it's four stroke of equal size and modern technology. My bike btw is a street legal A1R. It will go 127 the way it is geared with my 125# butt on it. On it's worst day it would dominate the modern ninja 250. kid had no clue either.
Dude, I'm not your mother so I'm not going to tell you you're a good boy and you're right when you don't have a clue. Check out the word EMISSIONS in the dictionary and then find out why 2 stroke street bikes have been dead for decades never to return. Sheesh!
Jason, grow up. You know you can't use expletives on HubPages. Deleted. Try to control yourself will you dude? Have you been smoking too much 2-stroke oil? :)
Jason right. I drive two stroke in 1975 and it could beat any four stroke motorbike. Hal you should open your head to two strokes. It really seem to me that you never learn to truely ride a motorcycle. You like a predictable motorbike that is smooth. If you learn to ride really you would see the truth about two strokes. I would always to love two stroke.
- Xiao
Good. Keep living in a museum. :)
The 2 stroke is the superior performing motor, no question. Look at modern motocross, even in 2010 - a 4 stroke needs twice the displacement to compete. Unfortunately, emissions did away with the conventional 2 stroke road bike back in the '70s. But take a look at ski-doo.com. Their 2010 2 stroke snowmobiles are cleaner than 4 strokes, and of course better performing.
Not too crazy about your choices either. I mean no CB750? that's like listing the top music groups of all times and omitting the Beatles and the Stones! I owned a '75 CB400F, nice bike but nothing to write home about, and it was an improvement on the 350!! so i'd cross that off the list
Chris, unfortunately the 2 stroke is not going to make a comeback in street bikes in our lifetimes if ever. As for the CB750, sorry... doesn't make the list although I agree it was a huge impact on the motorcycle industry. As for the CB400F it belongs in the scrap yard. Long live the CB350F!
You got it right.... I've owned a j 1000 82 kawa that was pretty sweet. I had a honda 350 (2) 1972 model.. nice machine. I've owned a bunch.
Looking at a 79 kawa 750 at the moment... real clean. What do you think?
The 1000 j was 560 lbs, a little too much for me. This 750 is 450 lbs... I think this is the bike for me.
I'm a japanese cycle man... I've owned 12 different models.
Your list is a good practical debriefing for Japanese cycles in the golden era.
Thx
I just wanted to make a comment not regarding emmisions, butt kicking capacity, or whether my viewpoint is more valid than yours.
Rather I just wanted to say that while I know that 2 strokes will never be mainstream street bikes again there are more and more of us who love them that are restoring them to better than new condition and use them as daily riders.
We're rather small up in Canada with about 500 members in the Kawasaki Triples Canada club, but there is also the Kawasaki Triples Worldwide site that has almost 10,000 members... http://kawasakitriplesworldwide.com/phpBB2/index.p
We have the best of both worlds... old school 2 stroke technology intermingled with the best that the 21st century has to make them even better!
The only real point of this comment is that 2 strokes won't make a comeback as they never left, and more importantly the ones that are left will be around for a long time to come.
"Smoke em if you got em and let the Good Times Roll"
Kid Country, I've got a soft spot for old Kawis... anything descended from NY Steak is a great bike in my book.
North, there's a flapper piston engine that might be the answer to the return of 2-strokes... the first tech results look quite promising.
The CB 350 Four was in production for 3 years, not one.
I'm sorry but the Kawasaki Z1 900? What about the Kawasaki KZ-LTD 1000? Now that was a bike. I had both at different times and I must admit the Z1 was a good motorcycle, but the KZ-LTD 1000 was most comfortable of the two. Although, for its time the Z1 was more maneuverable. KZ-LTD was just a wee bit heavy!!!
5 Hondas, 2 Kawis, 2 Yammys, and only 1 Suzie? Not only last on the list, but a 650 Savage at that! Surely Suzuki made better/more memorable bikes than the Sav. Howsabout the GT750 "water buffalo"? Since the 2nd Gen Kawi Vulcan made the list, perhaps the Suzuki Hayabusa merits a mention too? No argument with your choices for Yamaha and Kawasaki, but perhaps the GB500TT and the CB450 Black Bomber also merit a mention.....
Greg Crook 4 years ago
I have just bought a 72 CB 350 with mph speedo and magnivicent sweeping four into one on the right hand side. It came with a 400 runner and a few parts
I have never seen one before in Australia and would like to find out more . Any help?