Were KZ750 Twins used for drag racing?

I would like to know if this is true and if so does anyone have pics and info. I've searched and have not come up with anything.

I doubt it would make much of a drag strip machine, pretty slow for a Kawasaki, but with a good set of knobbies on it, you could plow fields, enter tractor pulls, or even make one heck of a hill climbing machine.. heh

I'm sure that somewhere someone is bracket racing a 750 twin
Last year or maybe the year before, a fellow on the GPz750 mailing list qualified for the Nationals bracket racing his GPz750 four.

Bracket racing is all about consistency, not speed/et, so a 750 twin would fit right in :laugh:

There is a guy in Canada that is road racing a 750 twin, last I heard he was putting 90+ hp to the ground and doing pretty well in competition.

What would be the most economical way to get more hp out of 750 twin. Best bang for the buck. I'm talking about 20 more hp tops.

Back in the height of motorcycle dragracing in the late 70s and early 80s there was the NMRA and IDBA which was nearly professional level at the various nationals. It was run like the NHRA cars still run today, on the index system, there was no dial your own classes. About every kind of motorcycle ever made ran in the various classes, but I can't recall ever seeing a KZ750 twin drag race. Never even seen one run at basic Saturday night local drags, so I think it was not particularly suited for the strip.

Maybe try these guys (I see some familiar names from here too): www.armbell.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=47&mforum=kz400

Seems to me the 750 twin is a shoe in for a street tracker or cafe racer.

That's what I figured when I heard this. I just got a kz750 twin and have wanted one for years after riding a buddies, years ago. Since it's only an engine, I'm on the fence as to the direction of the build. Stockish frame, hardtail, cafe, but my latest spark has been to build more of a super moto-utility type that I can put some miles on. I believe this might be the best use of all the low end grunt this engine has. Also the weight of the engine combined with a capable chassis would make this a great all around hwy and canyon bike. Maybe I'm deaming outside the confines of my wallet. I'm going to research the possibilties and go from there. I just don't want to take the easy way out, and hell I need to practice my welding anyways.

dnz wrote:

my latest spark has been to build more of a super moto-utility type that I can put some miles on. I believe this might be the best use of all the low end grunt this engine has. Also the weight of the engine combined with a capable chassis would make this a great all around hwy and canyon bike. and hell I need to practice my welding anyways.

That would be a good route imo, she'll pull you up those canyon hills with all the extra weight you want to bring, and not bat an eye.

The only way to ever dream that the 750 Twin is a quick bike, is to have it as your second bike with your first bike being an old dog slow 400, or the slightly thrilling 440.. chuckle You couldn't have ever ridden any of the inline 4s to have such a dream.:silly:

Any of the 750-4 Kawasakis will leave it so far behind it's just embarrassing. Even an old stock 750-4 1970s single cam Honda will eat it for breakfast. So badly that it'll probably just quit on you and pull over by itself out of shame. LOL I'm willing to bet that even the old 750 Yamaha Maxim would destroy it without effort. You can make her feel better though, as she will eat all the old Norton, Triumphs, 650 Yamaha twins, the same way the inline 4's eat her. giggle.

The problem with over boring these things is that you loose the square, and then loose the pull which I wouldn't recommend. I have a couple friends who punched them out the 50 over they'll go, and they were very disappointed with the results, and out close to a grand each (paying for a professional job).

The good news is, if you ever hurt her bad enough that a ring job and hone won't fix it, you can refresh her up to 5 times by only going 10 over each time, before you're out of usable cylinder wall. They were simplistic and built to last under normal use. At drag racing they're a complete FAIL! :blush:

I don't know how much crap I'm going to be dragging with me, but it's good to know that their is enough reserve muscle to do so. Actually my first road bike was a 82 kz750. It was a great bike and had alot of fun and learned alot with that bike. I like how narrow the twin motor is and the stump pulling torque. I'm a diesel guy because of the low end torque. Nothings better than chugging along at speed and rolling on the throttle and you eccelerate like a train, not with blinding speed, but with some ass behind you. That is what I like about this motor. I've also been thinking about experimenting with a bigger single carb set-up, possibly a S&S super B (I have a couple collecting dust) and it seems like a perfect fit to the torque curve of the motor.

That's one of the good things about e.t. racing nowadays. You can race ANYTHING! It's all about consistency...not brute HP. Yea...most racers use the latest, greatest bikes out there...busa's, zx14's, etc. but that's more an ego thing. There's a guy at a local track that runs one of those automatic Honda 750's. Everybody tries to stay away from him...he's not fast compared to 99% of the bikes there but he knows how to ride and will win more times then he doesn't. It all rider, so if you want to run yoru KZ twin...do it. Build it the best you can and go have fun. One of the good things about a bike like yours is that you won't be spending thosands of dollars on it to be the fast guy. Lower HP bikes are easy on parts, don't have traction problems or are easy to hook up and are unique. Just have fun with what you want to use. When I take my KZ to the track, people will walk right by all the new sprotbikes but stop and look at mine. It's different and people like that. Build that KZ twin, don't worry about how fast it is, learn to ride, learn to race, kick some butt and have some fun!

dnz wrote:

I've also been thinking about experimenting with a bigger single carb set-up, possibly a S&S super B (I have a couple collecting dust) and it seems like a perfect fit to the torque curve of the motor.

You get that worked out you gotta share.. heh.. I'm sure I can lay my paws on an old Harley carb or two in friends garages.

With a claimed 55hp and a top speed of 102 mph, the KZ750 twin was never much of a road burner. I believe they were made simply because there was a fairly strong vertical twin (especially British twins & Yammy 650's) market at the time and Ma Kaw wanted to cash in if possible. Not that they were bad bikes; they just couldn't compete with inline 4's. Ed