'80s Turbo Bikes - any other fans or owners here?

[Papa Weeley_imp]

I know that these bikes had a somewhat polarizing effect with most riders of the time, but I was a fan, and was fascinated with the technology and the styling.
I bought a new '81 in '82 (or was it an '82 in '83?), and loved it. For the time period, I felt it looked like a cross between a fighter jet, and a Star Wars X-wing. The digital dash was also incredibly futuristic, and way before its time. It was amazingly comfortable, and placed you in what I'd call a "sport-touring" position on the bike. The fairing was greatly effective, and I never felt like I was fighting the wind, even at triple digit speeds.
But the biggest draw was that turbo. When it kicked in - at around 5 grand, if I remember correctly - the acceleration was explosive, and felt far stronger than Yamaha's claimed 90hp. Only my modded FZ1 threatened to tear the grips away from my hands the way the Turbo did, and even with way more power, it didn't come on nearly as violently as with the Turbo.
It was extremely docile at lower speeds, and off the turbo - more like the mere 650 it was, hampered by all the additional plumbing and bodywork. But the power was tractable and smooth, and it felt far lighter than the 560 or so lbs. I think it weighed, even if it was a little top-heavy. A buddy of mine bought one of the first Ninjas in 1984 (900cc), and the two bikes were perfectly matched in speed and acceleration, right up to its 125-ish mph top speed. We proved it time and again, every weekend down Santiago Canyon, or Ortega Highway, or even the occasional freeway blast (all in Orange County, southern CA). His two friends with Kawasaki GPZ 550s that used to tag along on most rides never stood a chance.
I know the Kawi 750 turbo was a faster/quicker, more hardcore bike, but it couldn't match the Yammer for comfort and usability, at least for my interests.
Just loved that bike. Still miss it. Still looking for that A-1 quality example to cross my path that will find a home in my garage...and I hope that just maybe there might be others here who liked 'em as well?

Here's a couple of old shots of mine, illegally parked on the walkway through Central Park in Huntington Beach early on a Sunday morning:
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And on a trip to see a Navy buddy of mine up at Moffett Field (near Mountain View, CA):
[url=http://s157.photobucket.com/user/mustangfeverrr/media/YamahaTurbo_zpszhhh9zui.jpg.html]

[Tim_in_AZ_imp]

Cool pics

[kmoney_imp]

I loved these bikes (even though they were over before I was born). If I found a Turbo Seca for the right price I'd totally love to do a resto on it. Aside from the turbo bits themselves, it's actually not hard to find all the carb and mechanical bits for these.

[Cormanus]

Sounds like a cool bike too.

[aschem_imp]

I've been casually looking for a GPZ turbo or CX650 turbo for a few months to replace my Buell.

[flynrider]

I fell in love with the GPz 750 turbo after spending some time on it at a local track. At the time I was willing to sell all my other bikes and my car to get one, then I found out that insuring it would cost just as much as the bike payment ( I was 21 at the time). It just wasn't doable.

I've thought about getting one now, but the thought of maintaining a 33 year old, very complex bike is just not that appealing.

[736cc_imp]

XN85 I thoroughly enjoyed at supersonic speeds. Riding 2-up usually. It had fuel injection, turbo, monoshock and was a super-sweet machine. Very rare, too. Less than 1,000 imported. I had fun.
I was a member of the TMIOA and we had rallies every year until around the turn of the century.
[url=http://s1030.photobucket.com/user/736ccdetail3/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpshefxhytk.jpeg.html]

[rboe]

I got to ride our CX500T, oh man, what a great looking machine but a plumbing nightmare. Always wanted to ride the 650T but has never happened. Now, normally asperated machines exceed their performance.

Today they would have to have all sorts of electronic nanny's to keep folks from killing themselves on them.

[Guth_imp]

My son attends a pretty awesome high school. It is most notable for it's storied heritage in the industrial arts. The first time we attended an open house there I wished that I could go back to school once again. At any rate, sitting in one of their automotive shops were a number of older bikes. Amongst them was a CX650 Turbo. I was more than a little surprised when I laid eyes on it.

Speaking of the CX650 Turbo... They used to have a really nice vintage race weekend out at Portland International Raceway. I don't believe that this event is still being held, which is a bummer. In conjunction with the racing, they held a vintage bike show and swap meet. They had some really interesting bikes show up for this event including this CX650E Turbo:

[736cc_imp]

My son attends a pretty awesome high school. It is most notable for it's storied heritage in the industrial arts. The first time we attended an open house there I wished that I could go back to school once again. At any rate, sitting in one of their automotive shops were a number of older bikes. Amongst them was a CX650 Turbo. I was more than a little surprised when I laid eyes on it.

Speaking of the CX650 Turbo... They used to have a really nice vintage race weekend out at Portland International Raceway. I don't believe that this event is still being held, which is a bummer. In conjunction with the racing, they held a vintage bike show and swap meet. They had some really interesting bikes show up for this event including this CX650E Turbo:

That's actually a rare Canadian version of the normally-aspirated (non-turbo) CX650