What is the difference? Almost everything except that they both have two wheels. The twins came in basically two configurations, a standard model and two cruiser style models.
No, a forty-five year old motorcycle will not keep up with a five year old motorcycle. In this case, the Yamaha makes about thirty-five percent more power, weighs considerably less, has better brakes and suspension, and a much stiffer frame.
The twins were never popular with the performance crowd and they have been out of production for many years, so there are virtually no performance parts available. If you are willing to do a lot of custom fabricating, many improvements can be made. There is one member here who has gone this route, and he has a beautiful bike, but it was a long, involved evolution.
Here is that thread-
kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/598240-saving-a-1980-750-twin
If you live in Europe, CMSNL is an excellent place to find factory parts. In North America, the usual choice is Partzilla.
