Dissect this bike- Yoshimura race bike

SO not fair that it's just a model!

This brochure is from Irishwill, thought most would find it interesting!

Found these few pics:

Two more:

The first picture of my last post isn't a Z1, I don't believe.

I've sent inquiry emails to Yoshimura R&D [America] and Yoshimura Japan earlier this week for more information, no reply back yet. Hopefully they have a small historical archive or something.

From the Yoshimura R&D website:

Pops had long been fascinated by the fabled Daytona 200 and its high-banked circuit. He established racing there as a goal and sure enough – soon was making the trek to the USA and Florida in particular. In 1971 Pops added to Yoshimura Japan by opening a shop in North Hollywood. Yoshimura Research and Development of America, Inc. was born and Pops pulled out all the stops.

Then in 1976, the first official AMA Superbike series was established and the first race was… Daytona. As the 200 was reserved for two-stroke 500s in that era, this was a great chance for Pops to race Daytona and hopefully… win!

Initial Yoshimura efforts were with Kawasaki motorcycles and a young rider named Wes Cooley. Wes had an exciting riding style that was very much in tune with the emerging sport. However, instead of the standard riding style of proper corner approach, apex, and exit… Wes and Pops had a new play-book that would set the Café racers of that era down the path of the Dodo bird.

Wes would come flying into corners more or less out of control,back the big Yoshimura KZ1000 in with tire smoking, scrub off some speed as he slid right through the apex, and then, hammer the brutal power of Pops’s engine to the stops. The Kawasaki was long on power but short on handling, but Wes rode the wheels off of that thing. The crowd was amazed by the incredible exhibition of riding (and tire smoking power) but at the end of the day…Pops didn’t win. Fourth was as good as it got for the Yoshimura team in ‘76… but a seed was planted.

just had to slip that uki pic in now dentcha :sick: !

i kinda threw up in my mouth a lil :silly: !

you should warn us that there will be such things :pinch: .

we got some closet gs lovers on here tho :lol: .i'm sure they appreciated it .

the pic i posted came from a race in japan.i got it from a sanctuary blog.

leon

That GS pic made it past the censors lol. And look at that hippie Mike Velasco in there, later on he went to American Honda's superbike team but he was around for much of the Yosh Z1 development years. The guy in the bones suit is Dave Aldana on an early Yosh Z1 superbike or Open Production in those days at Daytona. I think it was him and Yvon DuHamel on the Yoshimaura Z's that year.

Hahaha *open mouth, insert foot*

peter1958 wrote:

look at the bends in this pipe!

Leon, you said you found this on a Sanctuary blog?

yessir.

leon

Would you mind posting a link? Maybe I can email those guys to see if they have any other pictures of it. Thanks!

here is a link to the sanctuary blogs.

www.ac-sanctuary.co.jp/blogs/index.html

i "believe" that it was in the tokyo west blog a couple months back.

leon