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(12-15-2013, 04:38 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: Yep, but in todays 415 pound, 180 horsepower, 9 second quarter mile times its a pussy cat lol.
I don't think anyone could have envisioned how far motorcycles would go, how light, how fast, how reliable. Simply amazing. I mean how far can we go from here?
I love at the end of the story where every mfg came and picked up their basket of parts and hauled them off but the Honda guys put the 750 back together in 2 hours, started it up and rode it home. That was great!
I was also surprised how far the mighty CB 750 had fallen in such a short time. Earth shattering in 1969. Also ran in 1973. Yet Honda continued with this same motor for another 5 years before bringing out a slightly better dohc model in 1979.
I have always felt Honda would err on the side or reliability instead of all out performance. Seems like they have always been like this or at least in my mind anyway. Kawasaki always seem to push performance more to the limit.
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(12-15-2013, 06:20 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: My wife loves riding. This last year has been hard as she was not able to ride. She had a hip replacement 4 1/2 weeks ago with her goal to be able to get back on the bike again. Yesterday we went out the the garage and she was able to climb onto the ST for the first time this year. She said shes not where she wants to be yet, but she is encouraged that she will be able to ride next year.
Sounds like a trooper! I bet she will be.
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(12-15-2013, 08:52 AM)OldF7Guy_imp Wrote: (12-15-2013, 04:38 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: Yep, but in todays 415 pound, 180 horsepower, 9 second quarter mile times its a pussy cat lol.
I don't think anyone could have envisioned how far motorcycles would go, how light, how fast, how reliable. Simply amazing. I mean how far can we go from here?
I love at the end of the story where every mfg came and picked up their basket of parts and hauled them off but the Honda guys put the 750 back together in 2 hours, started it up and rode it home. That was great!
I was also surprised how far the mighty CB 750 had fallen in such a short time. Earth shattering in 1969. Also ran in 1973. Yet Honda continued with this same motor for another 5 years before bringing out a slightly better dohc model in 1979.
I have always felt Honda would err on the side or reliability instead of all out performance. Seems like they have always been like this or at least in my mind anyway. Kawasaki always seem to push performance more to the limit.
I agree, I have always been a fan of Kawasaki, I've owned Kawis and Hondas. But the Honda's always seem to be a little more "solid" than the Kawis. Kawasaki stakes their name and brand on performance, at all costs.
It was really evident in those early bikes, the H1 and H2 were absolute terrors in their time, but you had to be a good rider to enjoy the performance, or you could end up in a wheelchair. Even the mighty Z-1, which was a great all around bike, had it's flaw. The rear shocks, as mentioned in the article, would heat up and cause lots of problems.
The Z-1 was infamous for a speed wobble that occurred at around 120 mph, I experienced one, it was not any fun, probably was the scariest moment of my motorcycling career.
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Ive been on the receiving end of a couple speed wobbles. Some get so violent they rip the bars from your hands. Got to say going thru one is not as bad as having to come back thru one, but neither way is a fun way to spend an afternoon, and everyone make you question riding in the first place.
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(12-15-2013, 01:27 PM)The ferret_imp Wrote: Ive been on the receiving end of a couple speed wobbles. Some get so violent they rip the bars from your hands. Got to say going thru one is not as bad as having to come back thru one, but neither way is a fun way to spend an afternoon, and everyone make you question riding in the first place.
Yes it does, there is a highway close to where I grew up, that was practically abandoned when a freeway came thru about 30 years ago. Just north of town there is a stretch that is straight as an arrow for about 5 miles, we used to "test" some of our mods on that stretch of road. There was never any traffic, and if you were as dumb as we were back then, you could really find out what your bike/car would do.
My buddie had just installed a 4 into 1 exhaust on his Z-1, and urged me to check it out, (we were always riding each other's bikes). The Z-1 and I were travelling at around 120 when the wobble began. I had never before experienced a speed wobble and I did absolutely the wrong thing, I let off the gas, and the wobble got worse. I coasted until the wobble finally stopped, at which time I realized I was going to have to change my drawers  . It was a while before I got up to that kind of speed again, and never on the Z-1.
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(12-15-2013, 04:38 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: Yep, but in todays 415 pound, 180 horsepower, 9 second quarter mile times its a pussy cat lol.
I don't think anyone could have envisioned how far motorcycles would go, how light, how fast, how reliable. Simply amazing. I mean how far can we go from here?
I love at the end of the story where every mfg came and picked up their basket of parts and hauled them off but the Honda guys put the 750 back together in 2 hours, started it up and rode it home. That was great!
I was also surprised how far the mighty CB 750 had fallen in such a short time. Earth shattering in 1969. Also ran in 1973. Yet Honda continued with this same motor for another 5 years before bringing out a slightly better dohc model in 1979.
Bike tech-innovation decelerated quite a bit throughout the late 80's and much of the 90's. By '85 most sport production big bore did sub-10.9 second quarters and weighed in at 600 lbs before gas and rider. After the same time cars caught up and passed by in terms of innovation. Hairs can almost be split: Carbs vs. fuel injection, old-school frames vs. lightweight frames, no emission restriction vs. emission restriction. I am wondering if the 1 or so second differential is lost mostly in the "noise" of innovation. Sure, more power is typically faster, but throughout history that has always been the case. A naturally aspirated fossil burning engine has a theoretical limit of performance for a given displacement. The next quantum generation will have to do with electric propulsion and the profile algorithms. Conversely, the power will remain maybe the same, but range will be improved with fossil burning models. Arguably, the CB1100 has pretty good economy for its engine displacement. My '84 CB750 was a pig on gas - in comparison.
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(12-15-2013, 04:38 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: Yep, but in todays 415 pound, 180 horsepower, 9 second quarter mile times its a pussy cat lol.
I don't think anyone could have envisioned how far motorcycles would go, how light, how fast, how reliable. Simply amazing. I mean how far can we go from here?
I love at the end of the story where every mfg came and picked up their basket of parts and hauled them off but the Honda guys put the 750 back together in 2 hours, started it up and rode it home. That was great!
I was also surprised how far the mighty CB 750 had fallen in such a short time. Earth shattering in 1969. Also ran in 1973. Yet Honda continued with this same motor for another 5 years before bringing out a slightly better dohc model in 1979.
So to take the statement out-of-context, there is this far ...
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