Topic: first 450 photo

[72 yellow]

Nice bike.  A new 1970 CB450 was the first bike I bought.  Liked it a lot.  It had no trouble keeping up with my friends 650 BSA's and Triumph's. 

[MoMo]

I had a TX500 for a year or two back "in the day", never let me down.  Also, restored one for a customer several years back.  Someone along the line of owners had given it a hooker(header that is) that turned a pedestrian 500 into a decent bike.  Also had good Connies and a fine pair of Shelby Dowd wheels-it even looked good  .  It was that blue color.  I even enjoyed riding it after completing the work.  Now...........................a TX750 is another story .  I almost had one vibrate off the lift whilst working on it.  We would have to tie them down or face sure death when it fell on you...Larry

[MoMo]

Nice bike.  A new 1970 CB450 was the first bike I bought.  Liked it a lot.  It had no trouble keeping up with my friends 650 BSA's and Triumph's. 

Thank you,  only drawback was weight(it could have been lighter even though it was relatively light for the day) and distribution of the weight -it was top heavy...Larry

[Terry in Australia]

I had a TX500 for a year or two back "in the day", never let me down.  Also, restored one for a customer several years back.  Someone along the line of owners had given it a hooker(header that is) that turned a pedestrian 500 into a decent bike.  Also had good Connies and a fine pair of Shelby Dowd wheels-it even looked good  .  It was that blue color.  I even enjoyed riding it after completing the work.  Now...........................a TX750 is another story .  I almost had one vibrate off the lift whilst working on it.  We would have to tie them down or face sure death when it fell on you...Larry

Ha ha, I still have a memory of when I was 12 or 13, sitting on my bicycle outside the Yamaha dealer watching mesmerised as a TX750 vibrated across the concrete footpath while the owner and the Yamaha dealer were punching on in the workshop.

The owner wanted a refund and the seller wasn't giving him one, and the TX750 ended it's journey across the sidewalk, tipping itself into the gutter, where it belonged. Sadly the owner was killed on it a few weeks later, but at least he didn't have to suffer TX750 ownership for too long.......   

[grcamna2]

I had a nice blue Yamaha TX500A back in the early 90's,the one w/ the 2-piece cylinder head.I did a valve job and fresh rings,adjusted the cam and balancer chains as much as possible and kept up w/ all the re-torque on the cyl. head,etc.I put 10+K long distance miles on it w/o any problems before I sold it 2 yrs. later w/ no leaks from the cyl. head gaskets.I liked the torque curve of the engine,it even had the stock mufflers.
They just need regular maintenance & adjustments and don't survive well w/o them.

[MoMo]

I had a nice blue Yamaha TX500A back in the early 90's,the one w/ the 2-piece cylinder head.I did a valve job and fresh rings,adjusted the cam and balancer chains as much as possible and kept up w/ all the re-torque on the cyl. head,etc.I put 10+K long distance miles on it w/o any problems before I sold it 2 yrs. later w/ no leaks from the cyl. head gaskets.I liked the torque curve of the engine,it even had the stock mufflers.
They just need regular maintenance & adjustments and don't survive well w/o them.

No they don't Biil but a well-tuned one is fun to ride(torque is nice as you mentioned and the header greatly improved on that)....Larry

[grcamna2]

I had a nice blue Yamaha TX500A back in the early 90's,the one w/ the 2-piece cylinder head.I did a valve job and fresh rings,adjusted the cam and balancer chains as much as possible and kept up w/ all the re-torque on the cyl. head,etc.I put 10+K long distance miles on it w/o any problems before I sold it 2 yrs. later w/ no leaks from the cyl. head gaskets.I liked the torque curve of the engine,it even had the stock mufflers.
They just need regular maintenance & adjustments and don't survive well w/o them.

Larry,
They are early 4-valve per cylinder technology from Yamaha and I imagine a performance exhaust w/ possibly a K&N? or high-flow foam filter w/ maybe the filter cover/top removed(similar to the RD's)would probably wake that motor up a good bit.Do you remember if that one TX you worked on still had good low-end from 3-4K w/ the 2into1 header ?




No they don't Biil but a well-tuned one is fun to ride(torque is nice as you mentioned and the header greatly improved on that)....Larry

[MoMo]

It was a long time ago but I recollect it pulling well from idle on up.  It was a horse of a different bike from the one I owned back in the 70's.  I had one of the gold ones-never had a problem, think I went from that to a 400F....Larry

[grcamna2]

It was a long time ago but I recollect it pulling well from idle on up.  It was a horse of a different bike from the one I owned back in the 70's.  I had one of the gold ones-never had a problem, think I went from that to a 400F....Larry

Would be interesting to see someone take that Yamaha rolling chassis and install/retro-fit a modern watercooled 8-valve twin similar to the EX500 Kawasaki,and actually do a nice job on the bike.. I always liked that double cradle frame.