yamaha two strokes

[bob miller]

if my memory is right didn't Yamaha make a 500 cc and 750 cc two stroke motorcycle street bike ? pretty sure it was not a café racer.....what were the years they were made ?.....what models were they known as ?.....pretty sure the 500 cc was a twin ....the 750 cc may have been a tripple.....thanks.....bob

 

[Randy Rapedius]

Late 70's they made an RD400 which in later years became the water cooled RD350.

 

[bob miller]

randy , I think the 500 and 750 were made in the late sixties early seventies,,,,,i don't think the 500 cc was water cooled the 750 cc may have been water cooled .....bob

 

[moparbarn]

The largest 2 stroke street bike I remember from Yamaha was the rd400 twin. Originally 350cc, both air cooled, then the 350 water cooled that randy mentioned. The only 500's I recall were a twin air cooled road race bike & a single cylinder dirt bike. The 750 was a water cooled triple for road racing, that Kenny Roberts road to fame. Suzuki made a 500 & a 750 street two stroke. 500 air cooled twin & 750 water cooled triple - the "water buffalo". I still have a 1972 Kawasaki H2 750cc triple, modded by Denco. Frame #304, engine #284, Denco work order #181. 138 HP on the dyno sheet from Denco, in a 423 lb. bike!!

 

[Brad Christy]

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/sunday-salon-the-kawasaki-2-stroke-triples-a-family-of-four/

 

[moparbarn]

Yup had a S2 first, wasn't enough - LOL! My first bike was a Suzuki X6 Hustler, a 6 speed 250cc 2 stroke. This was about '68 or '69, back when most folks just laughed at Jap bikes. They stopped laughing when I was still out front by the next stop light, that 6 speed tranny sure helped that little bike (-;

 

[bob miller]

I think the 500 cc and 750 cc I was referring to were kawasakis....thanks for refreshing my memory....bob

 

[Bill Gibson]

The Kawasaki 500 Mach III was the fastest production street bike in the quarter mile at the time.....The H2 750 triple was nicknamed the Widow maker because it developed a severe headshake at high speeds.....lottsa people were injured or killed riding this motorcycle.......the 350, 500, and 750 were ill handling bikes at speed....at one time or another i rode all three of these bikes....insane speed, scary handling.......personally experienced the headshake issue with the 750...never rode one again!

 

[bjacobsen71]

In the 70's Yamaha had several two smokes, the RD 350 and 400 were their hot rods of the day, later the RZ 350 (liquid cooled twin, available in the US '84 and '85) and RZ 500 (4 cylinder, never officially availabe in the US). Kenny Roberts Harley killer dirt tracker was a two stroke road race Yamaha TZ 750 inline 4 stuffed into a dirt track frame....apparently even King Kenny was reputed to say Yamaha didnt pay him enough to race that bike even though it was banned from racing dirt track by the AMA after that '75 Indy Mile.

 

[moparbarn]

Bill, I have never experienced severe headshake with mine....I do get a kinda lazy snaking wobble on deceleration from speeds above 70 mph. Doesn't seem to matter how I slow down, hard braking, downshifting, or just rolling off the throttle. But ONLY on decel. I have done a bunch of stuff to try to eliminate it & improve the handling. Replaced the ball bearings in the steering head with tapered roller bearings, replaced the stock steering dampener with a Bilstein, torrington bearings on an 1" longer swingarm (off a '74 h2) instead of stock bushings, Bilstein rear shocks with dual rate springs, air fork kit & numerous different sets of tires (more rears than front LOL). Handles somewhat better, still not great, but the wobble on decel will not go away! I don't ride it much at all anymore, it's worth too much, parts are almost unobtainium & I don't like playing dodgeball when I'm the only one on my team. Mine is said to be the first one sold in Fla., for sure the first one sold by The Cycle Shop in Tallahassee. I've owned it since '78, second owner. BTW, NEVER, EVER armor all the seat......0-:

 

[michael faszcza]

Check your axle alignment. That will cause ill handling on heavy acceleration and on deceleration

 

[Bill Gibson]

Robin, did yours come with a steering dampener? I believe that was Kawasakis " fix" for the problem way back in the day.....I heard it didn't help much..!

 

[Brad Christy]

Guys,

I know my brother had a Yamaha 750cc three cylinder two stroke back in the day that he always referred to as "that old iron-head". He said it was an absolute beast. Not really sure what Yamaha called it. I'm guessing it was the one that was in that article I posted earlier.

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

Model Machine and Precision LLC

 

[dave roach]

I had a 500 three cylinder two stroke Yamaha and back in it's time was a rocket.

 

[Glenn Gates]

I saw a crazy Canadian drive one of the 2 stroke triples at The San Jose Mile dirt track. He would pass everyone on the straights- and they would all pass him in the turns. Yep the handlebars would start to wag as soon as he let off the throttle. Duhamel had some big stones.

 

[Bob Kensill]

I had a Kawasaki 350cc triple (there was also a 250cc triple). I remember that you couldn't get through an intersection with out shifting at least once. I built a Yamaha RD 350 cafe racer that was amazingly fast. I also had a Suzuki 750cc "water buffalo", it was a tank

 

[Tom Foley]

Guys,

I know my brother had a Yamaha 750cc three cylinder two stroke back in the day that he always referred to as "that old iron-head". He said it was an absolute beast. Not really sure what Yamaha called it. I'm guessing it was the one that was in that article I posted earlier.

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

Model Machine and Precision LLC

Yamaha never had a 2 stroke triple road bike . You may be confused with the GT 750 Suzuki nicknamed the Water Buffalo . Kawasaki had their lineup , 250 , 350 , 400 , 500 , 750 CC as mentioned before . I worked in the motorcycle field then at Orient Express . Also someone previously mentioned that Roberts rode a 3 cylinder bike , this is incorrect . From the four cylinder TZ - 750 , a transverse inline arrangement case ,then the stacked four cylinder 500 engine in the RZ 500 and the race version whose designation was the OW - 23 - YZR - 500.

Here is a link to the TZ 750 :https://www.google.com/search?q=ow31+yamaha+for+sale&biw=1280&bih=509&tbm=isch&imgil=hvTvNY150uU3XM%3A%3BN3XZLbc4woma6M%3Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DwLDyt8EvI5M&source=iu&pf=m&fir=hvTvNY150uU3XM%3A%2CN3XZLbc4woma6M%2C_&usg=__NIX7_PPH_pLxoutgsyShmUyd1ug%3D&ved=0ahUKEwi2-cWZwrDJAhVDRCYKHcP2CMMQyjcIMw&ei=00BYVvbDN8OImQHD7aOYDA#imgrc=hvTvNY150uU3XM%3A&usg=__NIX7_PPH_pLxoutgsyShmUyd1ug%3D

 

[Tom Foley]

I had a 500 three cylinder two stroke Yamaha and back in it's time was a rocket.

This would have been a Kawasaki at 3 cylinders and 500 CC or a suzuki GT 550 triple . Yamaha never made a triple 2 stroke .

 

[Bill Gibson]

Little more 2 stroke trivia for ya.....the predecessor of the TZ 750 was the TZ 700, first came out I think in 1973/74....Yamaha took a good thing and made it even better with the 750! KR's banned TZ 750 Grand National Indy Mile winner wasn't the first attempt to stuff a 2 stroke 750 engine in a flat track frame.....another group of crazies transplanted an H2 triple in a dirt track frame....I think Don Castro who was a factory BSA, then Yamaha rider had some involvement in that project....don't know if it ever made the track or not....!

 

[Tom Foley]

Yes good info Bill . How about tony Nicosia was down at Winghouse in Largo yesterday for lunch ! TNT products , he lives in the area .