By '73, the Italian twins just weren't competive with the Japanese 4s. A Z1 Kawasaki cost $2000, an SF1 was $2500+, and there was a Kaw dealer on every other corner. Twins were out (especially expensive ones). Price wins over overkill every time.
That's true Grumpy, the release of the Kawasaki 900 spelled the end of the Laverda's twin's dominance in racing world wide, but that was the only Japanese 4 that would show them a clean pair of heels. The CB750 (for all it's brilliance) was only pumping out 2 more BHP, much less torque, it was a good 50 pounds heavier and didn't handle or brake all that well.
The Kawasaki, on the other hand, had 22 more BHP and weighed about the same as a CB750, and apart from it's wobbly handling (no worse than a CB750, it was just more noticeable because it would get you in trouble so much quicker than a 750/4) was an absolute beast with power that the Italian, German and British manufaturers could only dream of. Of course, the factories had so much more money to spend on their racing programmes too, so the term "money talks" was another reason why the Japanese race teams were so successfull.
And Jerry, my Canary yellow 1975 CB750F was just an early F, America mightn't have got the yellow bikes until 1976, and I know that some Americans think that every thing that Honda made was made just for them, but you have to remember that there are other countries in the world outside of the US, and you might not have always been Honda's No1 priority. Oh, and I'm sure your Kawa riding friends are great blokes, but if they couldn't kick your butt on a porcine CB750F, they just weren't very good riders......
