Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes 1973 Superbike Comparison

Not sure if this has been posted in the past but I just came across this comparison from 1973 and thought I'd pass it on to everyone. http://www.kawtriple.com/mraxl/articles/1973%20Superbikes/superbikes1.htm

I remember purchasing this copy of "Cycle" and being thoroughly impressed with it. It compared the Kawasaki 750 and 903, Triumph 750 Trident, Norton 750 Commando, Ducati 750, Honda 750, and Harley 1000 Sportster. Guess who came 1st & 2nd, the Kawas? The Triumph and Norton came 3rd and 4th. The Harley came .....last

Excellent read.

That's pretty cool! I found it interesting that the HD was not much more expensive than the other bikes. The comparison chart near the end sums things up quite well.

Only thing I noted that was odd is the Trident 750, 35 years ago turns in a 1/4 mile 2 seconds faster than my current bike.

That was probably about the last time Triumph beat a Duck.

Did you notice the historic indicator? The cost of ownership was really taking its toll by then. People were looking at speed, dependability, but also savings.

AMF sold very affordable machines back then. They did a pretty good marketing job.

Great article, thanks for posting it.

I had no idea!



This is a 72, little meaner then the 73.

No Suzuki triple 2 strokers? I have 3 and used to have 4, very fast machines.

That was a great look back, thanks for posting! I love two-strokers, but never got to ride a Kaw triple.

We were out riding a few years ago and ran across a guy with one. I don't remember what size it was anymore but the guy I was with asked him if he could take the bike for a spin. He went about 200' up the road and dumped it! Good for the stranger that there was no damage but that thing really went.

One of the fellows in town has just restored a 750 triple. Spent close to $8000 on the project to date. Bike was professionally ported and bored out. The only problem is that it was set up for the quarter mile. It only comes alive at over 6000 rpm. He is running the bike with tuned pipes and it is noisier than .... He wishes it had been more mildly tuned. When I spoke to him, he had just had the bike dynoed and said it was putting our around 120hp. Not that much when you consider a 675 Daytona but a lot for a vintage bike.

Only problem is that he can only get 40 miles to the tank of gas. Fun to ride if you like spending most of the time on the rear wheel.

And erle, yours looks a lot better than his.

Glad you enjoyed, but its no "look back" for me, that pic's about two years old, but, with "you know who" as my witness, I was riding it today!

Things have slowed some now, but originals were trading on ebay the last few years for about;
Dusted off barn finds 5-7K
cleaned up and tuned up barn finds 6-8K
clean and (questionable)good running 8-11K
amature resto 9-12K
semi-pro resto 11-15K
and top shelf 16-20K.
Mine was totally original stock when I got it about four years ago, BUT I'LL BE DA-NED IF I WON'T RIDE THE WHEELS OFF IT, mod. it to my tastes, and DA-N the milage!
When it comes time to sell, if its not destroyed, I'll put all the original stuff back on to sell, and sell all the aftermarket stuff seperately.

erie
thats a nice widow maker