greatest bikes ever.

[bill14224]

Yeah- they were great. For paying widows the insurance money. Hence the term "widowmakers"

I have a Yamaha triple.  They're not very fast at all, not faster really than our GS. (maybe a little on the top end)  They're four-strokes.  You're thinking of the Kawasaki H-1 and H-2 two-stroke triples.  Those bikes were BAD!  Very steep all-or-nothing powerband.  It would be completely tame then at about 6 grand it got on the pipe and they would just explode with power so it was hard to get good traction accelerating out of corners.  Very hard to ride, noodle frame, wimpy brakes, but classics for sure!  They guzzle gas like a Buddha Loves You, too, especially the 750.  But the fastest one ever was the Yamaha TZ750 like I mentioned.  That was a liquid-cooled four, the bike Kenny Roberts said he was afraid to ride because it was so fast and unruly and was glad when it was banned.  If that ain't the wickedest bike I don't know what is.

[Big Rich]

Ah yes, my bad. Thanks for the clarification.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Yeah- they were great. For paying widows the insurance money. Hence the term "widowmakers"

I have a Yamaha triple.  They're not very fast at all, not faster really than our GS. (maybe a little on the top end)  They're four-strokes.  You're thinking of the Kawasaki H-1 and H-2 two-stroke triples.  Those bikes were BAD!  Very steep all-or-nothing powerband.  It would be completely tame then at about 6 grand it got on the pipe and they would just explode with power so it was hard to get good traction accelerating out of corners.  Very hard to ride, noodle frame, wimpy brakes, but classics for sure!  They guzzle gas like a Buddha Loves You, too, especially the 750.  But the fastest one ever was the Yamaha TZ750 like I mentioned.  That was a liquid-cooled four, the bike Kenny Roberts said he was afraid to ride because it was so fast and unruly and was glad when it was banned.  If that ain't the wickedest bike I don't know what is.

you referring to the water buffalo?

[bill14224]

No, the "Water Buffalo" was the GT750 liquid-cooled two-stroke triple Suzuki made in the early 70's.  It never touched the Kawasaki 750 two-stroke for sheer power, not even close.  They sold them for about 5 years because no one was buying them.  It was mild for a two-stroke because it was designed that way, a mistake.  They tried to mimic a four-stroke's broad power, so as a result it was mild where you would expect it to be wild.  It was supposed to have a broad powerband that was supposed to make you want to treat it like a four-stroke, and it fell short.  It was also heavy so it wasn't any faster than a 750 Bonneville of the day, and its handling was inferior to the Bonny, as was its gas mileage by a big margin.  And it was considered ugly at the time, and I agree, and I like many "ugly" old bikes.  This thing looked like a dehumidifier!  It was fairly expensive, too.  As a result it didn't sell well, and is now a collectible curiosity.  They're worth good money in good shape, but are they good bikes, even by GS500 standards?  No.  Our GS is better than the water buffalo.  Almost as fast, and better in every other way.

As far as old two-strokes go, the best one to compare with our GS would be the Yamaha RD350 and RZ350.  The RD performs comparably to our GS, but our GS is much better on gas and is much smoother.  The RZ350 is actually better than our GS in every way except gas mileage and comfort.  Comfort is about the same, and our GS gets about 15 more MPG than the RZ.  The RZ was a very refined two-stroke.  In my mind the best two-stroke street bike yet.  There will be more in the near future.

Direct injection two-strokes are coming, both cars and bikes.  Yes, that's right.  The Age of the Two Stroke is about to be re-born!

Imagine this:  The two-stroke was largely legislated out-of-existence due to emissions.  Why?  Because the two-stroke design allows some fuel/air mix to escape from the exhaust, and that's why they guzzle gas for their size.  How do we remedy this?  The answer is technology, or course!  If we make a high-pressure, computer-controlled fuel injection system with high pressure injectors we can inject the proper amount of air/fuel mixture into the right area of the combustion chamber at the precise moment, to allow complete combustion and exhaust without any un-burned mixture escaping the exhaust.  The result will be lighter, more powerful, more fuel efficient engines than we have ever seen.  Am I excited?  You betcha.  They already exist.  They're just not in production yet, largely because the whole idea is not politically-correct.  This is one of many examples of how dumb mankind can be.

[yamahonkawazuki]

will be interesting to see this. i look forward to it. as long as engine wear of old doesnt find its way into the new