cool or not cool?

[Paul Pless]

Big Straight Six Motorcycles? Anybody here ever own or ride one?

[Nicholas Scheuer]

I've riden "fours", and much prefer narrow bikes. My H-D 35cc Sprint was narrow, ans a Sportster ain't much wider.

[AnalogKid]

Not as big, but the stacked pipes on the Benelli make it way cooler than the Z or CBX:

[Uncle Duke]

Well - I owned a 1981 Honda CBX for many, many years. Not much wider than the 750-4 by virtue of moving the alternator back. Great bike and sometimes I wish I still had it. Standard comment applies:
"There aren't enough O's in smooth to describe it". Serious highway machine - dang.
Also - handled pretty well as long as you understood "front heavy". Lovely bike, just lovely.
However..... really, really hot in summer months if you were in traffic - those middle cylinders just had a hard time getting airflow....
I'd buy it back right now, though....

edited to add: I'm not sure it comes through above - a great, great bike as long as you understood it's limitations - it will never be a good "city bike". Open road is the preferred venue....

[Bob Adams]

How about a round seven?

[AnalogKid]

In fact, small sixes are cooler than big sixes:

[seanz]

Pardon my French........

[The Bigfella]

Isn't there a new BMW 6 out now?

[Lew Barrett]

There is, the K1600. And a bella machina by all accounts, but it's more than I'd demand.





This (below) is as many cylinders as I have ever ridden at one time. 'Specially for Paul (and cross posted )......



It's a Z1 (not KZ900) and it was a beastly thing. Not easy to ride fast. That picture is from the "those were the days" department!

[Paul Pless]

It's a Z1 (not KZ900) and it was a beastly thing. Not easy to ride fast. That picture is from the "those were the days" department!

I'm speechless!

[Lew Barrett]

Actually posted in the place you summoned me to do it as well Like I said "those were the days." It was good to be young, employed (and thin) in San Francisco in 1975

[The Bigfella]

I only ever rode a Z1 once Lew. I had my (now) wife on the back and we blew past the owner, who was riding my K1 750 Honda at 200kph. The Z1 spat an exhaust baffle out that went over his shoulder. Hmmm. Could have been interesting. I never tried it out in the twisties... but the old Honda used to snake through sweepers - plastic swing arm bushes.

[David G]

Haven't ridden one. Doubt that I'd want one.

[Lew Barrett]

Oh, they are nasty. The swing arms (bushings, and everything else!); that is it in spades, Ian. The thing could not handle the honest 80 odd HP and the torque that was available and the swing arm twisted in the frame. One felt it as a vicious head shake. They all did it to some degree or another, but some were worse than others. The fix was to gusset the frame and swing arm, but if you were inexperienced (as I was then) you spent all your time working over the front end because that's where the shaking took place. But of course, the bike was actually trying to spit you off from the back. It took a brave man to ride through it. But what a motor!

[StevenBauer]

I love that photo, Lew! I wish I had a photo of me and my first bike back in the summer of '80.


Steven

[purri]

Rode 2 models of the KZ1300, one out to 1600cc. And a short ride on a CBX1000. The big 1600 with resprung and revalved pneumatic forks really went!

[The Bigfella]

Oh, they are nasty. The swing arms (bushings, and everything else!); that is it in spades, Ian. The thing could not handle the honest 80 odd HP and the torque that was available and the swing arm twisted in the frame. One felt it as a vicious head shake. They all did it to some degree or another, but some were worse than others. The fix was to gusset the frame and swing arm, but if you were inexperienced (as I was then) you spent all your time working over the front end because that's where the shaking took place. But of course, the bike was actually trying to spit you off from the back. It took a brave man to ride through it. But what a motor!

A friend (since killed by a white van man) was entered as a co-rider to race a Z1000 in the Arai 3 Hour Race at Bathurst many a long year ago. He rode it in practice and declared it a deathtrap. It had engine work done, but nothing to the frame. Another friend, also an A Grade racer took on the ride. I watched him go through the radar trap on Conrod Straight at 137mph... then it flung him over the bars... whilst going in a straight line, albeit over a hump in the track (since removed). He slid a long way, picked the bike up and road it back to the pits. He raced again - on his proper race Yammie, the next day.

[Stiletto]

I test rode the Honda CBX, it was very smooth with a nice sound, but not a good handling bike because of the width of the engine and some frame flexibility.

I ended up buying a Suzuki GSX1100 which had more power with a flatter torque curve, and handled a lot better.

[The Bigfella]

What are you riding these days Grant?

[Lew Barrett]

Grant, I had an '82 1100ES that was superior to my z bike but also was the last Japanese 4 cylinder I have owned
That Suzuki didn't have bad habits, a good bike.

[pipefitter]

I rode a 77 KZ 1000 for 3 years without issue. It was cammed and geared and significantly faster than stock. The bike was undefeated until it was sold. It had Lester mag wheels, the rear which was a 16". They must have fixed the handling issue by 1977 because it was one smooth beast pretty much all the way around, and definitely a nicer ride than the Honda 750.

As far as someone dumping a bike, or having one toss you, that is something I could figure out my first pass through the gears and for an experienced rider to be tossed depicts a numb skull without the proper experience of fear in the right places. What experienced rider pushes something to that extreme without knowing it first? If I was ever to get dumped by fault of my own, it would have been on the H2, but it's limitations were apparent soon as I got on it.

I drove the same KZ, 2000+ miles straight thru from Sarasota Cnty FL, to Boulder, CO without a hitch in 1980, including holding it at 105 mph out of downtown Atlanta before I-75 was completed to get well ahead of the endless stream of tractor/trailers making for a rough ride when they would go by at 80+.

I'll say it again, against all internet chatter and rumor, but the Kawasaki KZ 1000 was an ample powered and comfortable TOURING bike and came from the factory as such. The heavy, quiet, stock exhaust that came on them from the factory, along with the jetting of the carbs, kept it well within it's frame capabilities. Anyone who would exploit the capabilities of one of Kawasaki's best engines to date, well ought to have the knowledge for the rest of the package before racing such an animal.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I loved the 900 Kawasaki... never owned one, but drove one a few times, and it was awesome. I drove a CBX once, but I found it very front heavy in the corners... it was a wrestling match.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I have been looking at bikes lately... this one is a couple of hours away from me. I like it. A lot. Only 6900 bucks, which I think is quite reasonable for this bike (1953 Matchless twin)
(total dreamscape. I have a 36 foot wooden boat in pieces at the moment.)

[Stiletto]

What are you riding these days Grant?

Nothing any more. I couldnt keep my licence these days with the amount of policing we have, and to be honest the skills have slipped away.

[Stiletto]

Grant, I had an '82 1100ES that was superior to my z bike but also was the last Japanese 4 cylinder I have owned
That Suzuki didn't have bad habits, a good bike.

I loved that bike. the difference over the earlier models that the then new four valve head made was amazing.

What is amazing now is that the latest models of sports bikes have twice the power, or more.

I remember the sad ride home on the bus with my helmet in my lap after I had sold it to put funds towards my first home purchase.

[Gerarddm]

The small Grand Prix 6s were way cool. Gilera? Exquisite looking engine.

[MattL]

A friend down the road has one, but I think I've only seen him on it a couple of times.

[goodbasil]

I took a short spin on a Benelli Six once. Verry smooth. Found myself twitching the throttle when stopprd because I thought it had stalled.

[Canoeyawl]

My neighbor had a 900cc six cylinder Benelli, we used to trade off from time to time.
I think it was a bit overrated in the speed and horsepower dept, but it sure was smooth running.

[Lew Barrett]

I rode a 77 KZ 1000 for 3 years without issue. It was cammed and geared and significantly faster than stock. The bike was undefeated until it was sold. It had Lester mag wheels, the rear which was a 16". They must have fixed the handling issue by 1977 because it was one smooth beast pretty much all the way around, and definitely a nicer ride than the Honda 750.

Just a few years later and things had begun to change. I know a lot of guys (racers) who suggest that the first three years of Z-1 production were the most "interesting" and also provided the most explosive, that is highest state of tune (from stock). I took a couple of years off between a '77 Suzuki 750 I bought after the Z1 (Suzuki's first big 4 stroke) and a used '76 KZ900 I bought shortly after I got married in maybe 1981. The KZ was a bit softer than I remembered my Z1 to be (both had stock internals and carbs) and also a bit better handling....that is it didn't suffer from speed wobbles.....but was still far from the mass centralized sort of experience you get on a new bike. I think when they went to the KZs they did something about that swing arm set up, possibly in the bushing department, but really, I don't remember. A few years later...that is when I bought my GS1100ES in '82, and when Kawasaki started offering the GPZ line, things had changed much more. The ES had an aluminum box section swing arm (and silly anti-dive valves!) and the GPZ line really was the wave of the future being monoshock, even though the 4 valve Suzuki motor was the bee's knees at the time.

But about the Z1s; they were really quite handsome but equally viral/viscous in that they absolutely would spit you off in a straight line and dump a good rider without much warning if he was pushing it too hard in corners. Mine gave warning by shaking violently. If you pushed beyond that, it would just oscillate more. The guy I sold it to gusseted the frame and swing arm and cured it to some degree, but today, no factory would sell anything remotely so vile and stay in business.

My experience with the KZ was that is was not quite the same bike even though the unbreakable 2 valve Kawasaki engine remained part of the package and the overall look was quite similar. Mine was just a hair tamer and better behaved than the Z1.

Peter: I would love to have my old Z1 back; nothing ever before or since was quite so visceral, but almost everything has been a better ride!

I have never had a yen for any 6 cylinder bike from Japan or Italy, and the Benelli was such an outright Honda (550) copy as to raise the question of what such a fine old firm might have been thinking at the time..

[pipefitter]

Just a few years later and things had begun to change.

True enough, Lew. I do know that in stock trim, the 77 KZ had to really be revved to get the front wheel off the ground. It was very quiet and smooth and had ample power for cruising and highway use, and was agile enough for around town. It also had a velvety smooth clutch and gear box and brakes. A good many of them could be seen with luggage and fairings attached. They were actually perfect in that regard stock. The stock exhaust was quite heavy. Not something you would see on a race bike. As far as we were concerned, basically a big block version of a type compared to a Honda CB 750. Just much better all the way around. Like a Lincoln Continental compared to a Mercury Marquis perhaps.

Every bike I ever owned, from dirt bikes on up that were modified to be quicker/faster, frame and suspension tweaks were always part of the package. My H2 got a steering stabilizer before anything else and eventually a shortened wheel base and optimized rear shock geometry. My Honda Elsinore, lay down fox rear shocks and air forks.

Bikes, like cars of the time, with those that were affordable to the middle class, were not scientific racing machines by any stretch and most knew their limitations. If you could afford the machine work and aftermarket parts to actually make them perform to race, the places that did so would have the staff with the racing knowledge for the handling as well. Even the two strokes like the Yamaha R5 and RD, were a basic motorcycle that would just get out of it's own way with regards to performance.

I do remember that when the Z came out, it had a front tire specially designed for it, and the dealer advised to replace the tires with exactly that and in a timely manner. It was also one of the most road tested motorcycles of it's time. I had never heard of any real complaints until recent years. But then when the Z came out, we were comparing it to the Honda CB's, and essentially was a superbike in that realm, handling included.

I had a friend here in FL. with the same last name as yours, Lew, that owned a 900. He never wrecked or complained about it and he was a second owner. He just said it wasn't as fast as the 1000.

The big 4 manufacturers had aftermarket performance options. Yoshimura, RC engineering, Rickman etc was what the go fast guys went to. I don't recall anybody, including amateurs, who really expected to ride stock factory hardware 'much' faster than designed. Anyone I knew who wrecked, were either inebriated, or didn't have a lot of common sense/coordination to begin with.