carwash
CB750 Member
So here's my current situation.
My current ride is an '80 Kawasaki KZ550. Wonderful bike. I'm in Brooklyn, I've got a great mechanic who has this bike running great. It's light, it's fast, it's super torquey. These bikes have a fairly steep rake angle, it corners and handles beautifully. In '81 this bike became the GPZ550, godfather of the modern, mid-weight/size super bike.
A few years ago my father passed away and I inherited his '80 CB750F. He bought the bike new and maintained it meticulously. I was 9 years old and with him the day he bought it. It's been sitting for 2 years now, and I don't think he drove it much the last couple years before he passed. So I'd say it's been close to 5 years since it was driven with any regularity.
I've never driven the bike when it's been tuned up to it's full potential. We got it running last summer, barely, very sluggish, of course it needs a full tune up, carbs probably cleaned and synced, etc...
Living in Brooklyn, with limited space, I can't have more than one bike. I keep thinking about that 750, and think to myself, if I'm going to have only one 1980 UJM doesn't it make sense to have the CB750, if for no other reason, the sentimentality?
So my question is this...performance wise, what differences am I going to see between these two bikes? I know the 750 has considerable more horsepower, but it's also significantly heavier, as well as just physically larger (two things I'm not crazy about at all). I'm sure it's the better bike at highway speeds, but for the around-town stuff, is it going to be less spunky than the KZ550? I'm rarely on the highway, I'm all about the 0-45 mph acceleration and handling.
The 750 is in Minneapolis, so in addition to getting it tuned up and running 100%, I'd also have to have it shipped here. So it's not really realistic financially to do just to compare the two.
I know this forum is obviously going to be partial to the Honda, but if anyone has any experience with both bikes, I'd love to get a fairly objective opinion on comparing the two.
Like I said, I really love my KZ550 and would hate to give up all the performance I get from it, but if I got all that and maybe even more from the 750, well...
that'd be tempting.
here are some pics, because we all love pics!
thanks!
(before someone calls out that the 750 isn't an '80, it is, he dropped it the first year he had it and had it repainted and decaled with the next years colors)
My current ride is an '80 Kawasaki KZ550. Wonderful bike. I'm in Brooklyn, I've got a great mechanic who has this bike running great. It's light, it's fast, it's super torquey. These bikes have a fairly steep rake angle, it corners and handles beautifully. In '81 this bike became the GPZ550, godfather of the modern, mid-weight/size super bike.
A few years ago my father passed away and I inherited his '80 CB750F. He bought the bike new and maintained it meticulously. I was 9 years old and with him the day he bought it. It's been sitting for 2 years now, and I don't think he drove it much the last couple years before he passed. So I'd say it's been close to 5 years since it was driven with any regularity.
I've never driven the bike when it's been tuned up to it's full potential. We got it running last summer, barely, very sluggish, of course it needs a full tune up, carbs probably cleaned and synced, etc...
Living in Brooklyn, with limited space, I can't have more than one bike. I keep thinking about that 750, and think to myself, if I'm going to have only one 1980 UJM doesn't it make sense to have the CB750, if for no other reason, the sentimentality?
So my question is this...performance wise, what differences am I going to see between these two bikes? I know the 750 has considerable more horsepower, but it's also significantly heavier, as well as just physically larger (two things I'm not crazy about at all). I'm sure it's the better bike at highway speeds, but for the around-town stuff, is it going to be less spunky than the KZ550? I'm rarely on the highway, I'm all about the 0-45 mph acceleration and handling.
The 750 is in Minneapolis, so in addition to getting it tuned up and running 100%, I'd also have to have it shipped here. So it's not really realistic financially to do just to compare the two.
I know this forum is obviously going to be partial to the Honda, but if anyone has any experience with both bikes, I'd love to get a fairly objective opinion on comparing the two.
Like I said, I really love my KZ550 and would hate to give up all the performance I get from it, but if I got all that and maybe even more from the 750, well...
that'd be tempting.
here are some pics, because we all love pics!
thanks!
(before someone calls out that the 750 isn't an '80, it is, he dropped it the first year he had it and had it repainted and decaled with the next years colors)