stargazer148:
Hi Larry that looks a nice project what size is it? I was watching find it fix it flog it and they had a z 900 from the early 70s which was estimated at 6800 cheers Ray
" Hi Stargazer 148" Im not sure He lives in Canada so the next time I speak to him I will ask, My Son is restoring a Sisuki 185 . 1975 Reg He is getting well on with it I will post it on here in due course, Regards Larry.
Hi Larry thanks for the reply look forward to seeing the Suzuki as it’ll bring back some good memories cheers Ray
my current historic track machine
covid messing with my hobby big time
another pic of my mike hailwood honda for you petrol heads out there.
Of all the racing the great mike hailwood did risking his life he died picking up fish and chips
only in great britain…
stargazer148:
Hi Larry that looks a nice project what size is it? I was watching find it fix it flog it and they had a z 900 from the early 70s which was estimated at 6800 cheers Ray
" Hi Stargazer 148" Im not sure He lives in Canada so the next time I speak to him I will ask, My Son is restoring a Sisuki 185 . 1975 Reg He is getting well on with it I will post it on here in due course, Regards Larry.
Hi Larry thanks for the reply look forward to seeing the Suzuki as it’ll bring back some good memories cheers Ray
my current historic track machine
covid messing with my hobby big time
Nice. Is this you / your bike? Donny about 10 years ago, on a cloudy october.
Thanks for the reply
No that one is not mine,
Last went out on the lausitzring.
Had bike running again two weeks ago sounds awesome [i almost forgot the sound on those straight through pipes]
roll on lockdown ending
Get back to enjoying life.
Only downside more traffic.
stay safe .
stargazer148:
Hi nexus that’s a beauty hopefully you will be allowed to get it on the track soon to blow the cobwebs off cheers Ray
Thanks stargazer.
PE 400 fantastic bike , i had one at 28 sigs in germany in the 80s rode motocross at bruggen for the army. Only bettered by the fearsome 490 maico sandblaster not for the faint hearted and i have to admit it scared the pants off me plus i wasnt big enough to get the best of out of it .
great days.
Hi nexus i had it tuned a wee bit…high compression piston,ports opened,boysen expansion.It was bloody fast, good fun but thirsty cheers Ray p.s forgot the ohlins gas shocks
stargazer148:
Carryfast that is a 4 stroke 4cylinder the widow makers were 3 cylinder 2 stokes don’t argue as I used to own an h2 cheers Ray
The point was that Yam RD or Suzuki two strokes or four stroke Kwacker Z’s had a reputation for killing their riders irresepective of number of cylinders.
You are wrong there Carryfast. The Widowmaker was a particular bike, the Kwacker H2, 3 cylinder 2 strokes.
Made particularly famous in one of those “Cross America, race films”, either Cannonball Run or the other one. The bike only appeared once or twice in the Mk1 film, but numerous times in the Mk2.
stargazer148:
Carryfast that is a 4 stroke 4cylinder the widow makers were 3 cylinder 2 stokes don’t argue as I used to own an h2 cheers Ray
The point was that Yam RD or Suzuki two strokes or four stroke Kwacker Z’s had a reputation for killing their riders irresepective of number of cylinders.
You are wrong there Carryfast. The Widowmaker was a particular bike, the Kwacker H2, 3 cylinder 2 strokes.
Made particularly famous in one of those “Cross America, race films”, either Cannonball Run or the other one. The bike only appeared once or twice in the Mk1 film, but numerous times in the Mk2.
From memory we called just about everything from Porsche 911 to Kwacker Z900, Suzuki 750 and Yam RD’s widow makers it was just a generic term not applied to anything specifically.It also wasn’t generally applied without good reason.
In terms of Kawasakis I only really heard it used regarding the Z900 among those other types specifically all being of my time but the H2 was a bit before it.
C.f.Z1A 900 definitely not widowmaker kh750 H2 2 stroke which was the widowmaker frame was weak from the start my PE 400 on sandcross tyres handled better cheers Ray
Carryfast:
From memory we called just about everything from Porsche 911 to Kwacker Z900, Suzuki 750 and Yam RD’s widow makers it was just a generic term not applied to anything specifically.It also wasn’t generally applied without good reason.
You’ve got something of a contradiction going on there old bean.
stargazer148:
C.f.Z1A 900 definitely not widowmaker kh750 H2 2 stroke which was the widowmaker frame was weak from the start my PE 400 on sandcross tyres handled better cheers Ray
This is exactly how I remember it in the day.
I didn’t know much/anything about the H2 but the Z900 obviously continued with its flaws.
It was obviously plural the Z900 ‘continued’ the ‘widowmaker’ ‘tradition’ of a quick motor put in a frame made of spaghetti and cheese.Obviously or I would never have remembered it if it was just applied to the H2.Also bearing in mind that reputation applied on at least both sides of the Atlantic. odd-bike.com/2012/12/kawasak … rbo-z.html
Just like the Yam RD’s and the Suzuki 750 their riders were all generally laughed at as kamikazes with a death wish, like Porsche 911 drivers.
stargazer148:
Carryfast that is a 4 stroke 4cylinder the widow makers were 3 cylinder 2 stokes don’t argue as I used to own an h2 cheers Ray
The point was that Yam RD or Suzuki two strokes or four stroke Kwacker Z’s had a reputation for killing their riders irresepective of number of cylinders.
You are wrong there Carryfast. The Widowmaker was a particular bike, the Kwacker H2, 3 cylinder 2 strokes.
Made particularly famous in one of those “Cross America, race films”, either Cannonball Run or the other one. The bike only appeared once or twice in the Mk1 film, but numerous times in the Mk2.
And the term Widowmaker made a comeback in the 90’s for the Suzuki TL1000,
pete smith:
And the term Widowmaker made a comeback in the 90’s for the Suzuki TL1000,
Phenomenal bike ^^^ I raced one for a while. The problem was Suzuki built an uncompromising race bike and most of the people who bought them (whilst being enthusiastic) simply weren’t good enough to control them.
pete smith:
And the term Widowmaker made a comeback in the 90’s for the Suzuki TL1000,
Phenomenal bike ^^^ I raced one for a while. The problem was Suzuki built an uncompromising race bike and most of the people who bought them (whilst being enthusiastic) simply weren’t good enough to control them.
Maoster,
2 of my drivers have a TL, one that has been left outdoors for a few years and in bad condition but the other lad has had his from new and covered 7,000 miles only and is like new, I’ll get him to send me a pic of it.
And just for you I’ll send you a pic of my Unckes Matchlees G50 and YD350, I think that is the correct model number for the race Yamm!
Excellent Pete, please do. I cut my racing teeth on two stroke Yams, firstly proddy racing at Croft on an RD400 then I had a dabble in the YAM LC series against the likes of Niall McKenzie, (whatever happened to him? )
the maoster:
Excellent Pete, please do. I cut my racing teeth on two stroke Yams, firstly proddy racing at Croft on an RD400 then I had a dabble in the YAM LC series against the likes of Niall McKenzie, (whatever happened to him? )
Here you go mate,
That’s my late Dad with the G50 which my Uncle raced and my Uncle with the Yam, he never raced that ,
cheers Ray
cheers Ray
