Topic: turbo charged motorbikes

[bike54]

hi all
i have been looking at the turbo bikes that where avalable in the 80s any one ever owned one or have any thoughts on them and where they reliable?

merv 

[SteveD CB500F]

I think the factory turbos were reliable (from what I remember of the road tests in the 70's)

The CX500/650 was the only Honda (I think). You still see them on eBay every now and then and there was a test in Classic Mechanics recently.

Here's a 650

[bike54]

thanks steve this is the model im looking at looks good and checks out ok with what i can find on line

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4578700817&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

merv 

[Raul CB750K1]

They all started with the Turbo craze back in the 80's. They didn't had much sense because the big capacity bikes, due to the good power-to-weight ratio, had a good acceleration even without Turbo. Add the turbo lag and all the additional circuitry and the Turbo bikes were doomed from the beginning.

I guess they had a customer base on those techno-geeks wanting the latest. For the manufacturers -at least for Honda, the first one if I'm not wrong- they had to do it just to show it can be done and they had the know-how. For the rest, specially for Kawasaki, it was a matter of not letting the competitors score a goal. A little the same that happened with 6-cyl bikes. The first one tried to score a goal, the rest had to jump on the train to avoid being regarded as second-bests, even if the bike market was testimonial.

Raul

[Terry in Australia]

I remember seeing a guy at the Bathurst Easter TT in 1985 riding a Turbo CX wearing a "T" shirt with the logo "Honda ripped me off!", and from all reports he was right.

The Suzuki XN85 was just a 650 with a turbo and not much to write home about either, same for Yamaha's 650 turbo effort, but the pick of the bunch was without a doubt the Kawasaki 750 turbo.

It was a beautiful thing, fast and reliable (well as reliable as a turbo can be, anyway) and I wanted one then, and still want one now. If anyone has one parked in their garage, please send it to me and I promise I'll love it forever. (or until I head-butt a semi at maximum warp speed!) Cheers, Terry.  

[bike54]

hi terry
check this web site for kawasaki turbos http://www.750turbo.com/home.htm their getting expensive nowadays

merv 

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Merv, but stop teasing me, if i bring home another bike, I'll be out on the street! Cheers, Terry.

[bike54]

Thanks Merv, but stop teasing me, if i bring home another bike, I'll be out on the street! Cheers, Terry.

after following your talks with raul i humbly apologise lol
i want to keep my wedding tackle original
 merv