I
t is July 20, 1976, and Cycle
News editor Lane Campbell
is understandably in a bad
mood. After all, the chart-topping
song of the week is "Afternoon
Delight," the Ford Mustang has
morphed into a Pinto, and the
leisure suit is high fashion. When
it's right, it's right, but all of this
was all wrong.
But what really had Lane and
contributor Gino Sheridan miffed
was the motorcycle they were
charged with testing that week,
the Kawasaki KZ750. The Kawi
was a good looker and handled
well, so what's the problem?
Surely, the company that even
the unwashed, non-motorcycling
community recognizes as the
manufacturer of fast bikes
wouldn't turn out a two-wheeled
dud?
"On first impressions," Camp
-
bell wrote, "reality crunched
any great expectations rather
quickly. The engine has fair to
decent midrange, but power just
fades away as the needle climbs
toward the redline and the engine
begins to sound like it's ready to
burst asunder. The power curve
is a natural consequence of a big
engine with a near-terminal case
of asthma; tiny carbs combined
with huge, heavy (but quiet)
chambered mufflers."
Sheridan gave the bike props
for "an enormous amount of low-
end torque." That good feeling
didn't last but a few more sen
-
tences, as he quickly pointed out
that "as one winds up the engine
in the lower gears, its torque
curve drops off drastically, with a
feeling somewhat like a slipping
clutch at high engine speed."
Yep. Kawasaki, the company
CNIIARCHIVES
P132
BY KENT TAYLOR
1976
Death of the Superbike?
In 1976, Cycle News had
high expectations for the
new Kawasaki KZ750.
KAWASAKI KZ750
