Proper Bikes - Japanese Superbikes
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- Опубліковано 8 бер 2015
- Paul Brace talks about his passion for Japanese motorcycles from the 70s. From the Kawasaki Z1A to the Yamaha RD400 Daytona, Paul's collection features some seriously impressive machinery from the golden era of the superbike.
Paul Brace is a life-long motorcycle enthusiast with a background in professional engineering and restoration, including the design and construction of the Eagle E-Type Speedster and Low Drag GT featured on Top Gear.
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"Camping, drinking and girls,!!!" Sums the late 70's and early 80's to a tee. Happy days!!
" Going to work its not a commute, but an occasion" so true.
This guy is a man after my own heart. Those bikes are my all time favourites, he is one very lucky guy.
These bikes are pretty much what did it for me in life. Whenever I see one of these models or something similar, it puts the biggest grin on my face and brings me back to when I was a young Lad and was introduced to the Honda CB750 for the first time. The speed, technology and innovation paved the way for me in life and eventually into the cockpit of jets. Just pure, raw power!
On a bike you get a sense of freedom and a real appreciating for the road with all of it's turns, imperfections and straight lines begging you to twist that throttle even more. This Gentleman is a man after my own heart and he has a right to ride or even "wear" whatever makes him happy on a motorcycle. Ride on Bro...
Well said
I LOVE your collection - In my youth I had ridden a few of those bikes, owned a few and wanted ALL of them. Still want them. Thanks for sharing your collection and your love of the greatest bikes of all time. Thumbs up
That warmed the cockles of my old heart. A serious surge of nostalgia.
I am only 41, so didn't experience bikes in the 70's, I like most bikes but for some reason I prefer these bikes instead of the many bikes of today that are covered in plastic fairings, I bought a CB1100 last year. Nice collection you have.
Im only 18 and i love 70's bikes. I have 2 sohc cb750 hondas
@@johnmeurer4780 you are very lucky, if you planning to let go one of it please let me know brother..
29 y.o. here. I like bikes of this era as well.
I have to agree. As a former biker from the 70's half the attraction was the sheer beauty of the machines. As soon as they all were styled like racers I kinda lost interest. Too much plastic. Anyway, motorcycles are almost gone now, it's all scooters which are ugly personified.
Thanks for sharing your collection and passion. First superbike someone let me ride in the mid-70's was a friend's Yamaha RD 350 and it left me with the first sensation of nearly pulling my arms off under acceleration, something that's become addictive into my mid-50's with most of my bikes quite capable of 10 second quarter miles.
These are nice looking. I believe the CBX from 1979 was the culmination of those times. Beautiful motorcycles. They should be kept original. Converting those to the ubiquitous "cafe racers" should be a crime.
Totally agree
That was the era when us lads would stand in the street and be able to tell 1/2 a mile away or more if it was a Kawasaki, Yamaha etc, I have fond memorys of my RD 350 LC and my CB750 F2 with a yoshimura exhaust lol.
+Andrew Linch That's because they sounded different! A Kawasaki (especially and particularly the Z650, but all of them did it) sounded lonely, like a wolf howling at the moon. A single cam Honda 4 ( 750, 650, 500, 400/4 - all of them) had a slight warble, rather like a Subaru car engine. It was the exhaust design. Yamahas had a whine, because they had a straight cut primary drive. Round case Ducatis sounded like God drinking Mead from a 44 gallon drum, and Harlies sounded like a drunk shaking a bowling ball in a steel rubbish tin. If it had shotguns, make that a big steel industrial bin. And a GT 750 Water Buffalo with chambers sounded like a king of bumble-bees had caught rabies... n wuz-z-z-z cummin ta gitcha. A honda CBX/6 (even with stock pipes) sounded like her lady-ship tearing a silk petticoat in her hurry to get it off for you. But a Benelli sicks sounded like a 500/4 that had a steel sardine tin thrown up the exhaust pipe and half the baffles out. Trumpet triplets sounded like a Kenworth with the jake-brake stuck open, and perhaps a 13 speed road-ranger into the bargain. BMWs sounded like half a Dack-Dack, which stands to reason, because they are half a dack dack...
These days the damn things all sound much the same. Harley David's somethings sound like sewing machines. Like old Hugh Hefner their swinging bits have made final and irreparable contact with the ground and they are now one of the good boys, whether they want to be or not. And Yama-harlies sound like mild flatulence with a big end bearing on the way out... Like a CX500 with a hangover... And Motor Guzzis of course always sounded like small amphibious landing craft, because .... How well do you know your history?
+Kneedragon1962 Oh yeah, and the most distinctive noise of all - a 916 (or one of its children, any Duck with a dry clutch) sounds (at idle) like a small Hari-Chrishna troop with half a dozen tambourines and one bass drum. It sounds like Bruce Lee fighting Chuck Norris in a small factory where they make lawn mower blades...
So funny . But true, my mate had a Laverda Jota with a sawn off pipe crazy loud lol
Ah, yes. A Ducati done properly... They did have a quite distinctive sound, didn't they? Sounded good thought. The 1200 Mirage sounded even better. Ducati have ... sort of lost their way with noise. Early round-case Ducatis would give you an eargasm. Even the rather poxy 860GTS I rode (the only Ducati I have been able to pry away from its mother for an hour) sounded bloody magnificent. 'Make noise' was the one thing it did as advertised. Everything else was quite ordinary. But all that fantastic angel choir harmony they had fades when you get them spinning to 14 and trying to break their own Desmo stuff. Still sound like a loud engine, but it doesn't sound like a Ducati any more, or very nice. between 4k and 8k a Ducati SS900 round-case sounded like the Arch Angel Gabriel blowing Robert Plant on the road to Kashmere, with Jimmy Page hand over eyes, "Oh not again. Do we have to do this every fucking day, Rob?"
@@Kneedragon1962 so true..we were just talking about this very thing around the round table the other day..today,very little has it's own sound or soul..its own frequency if you will..we live in a plastic world these that is full of marketing copy cats..if something is even slightly liked by the public,it is copied to the point of being a caricature of itself...I miss the old days..like all old men I suppose.
I had a 74 H2-750 with expansion chambers, pure adrenaline...awesome video!
You lucky lucky man.wonderfull collection of great hap classics.would love to see so many old favourites in one place.
Hey, we were young and so were these bikes.
Thanks Paul for sharing you collection of those amazing machines , the most beautiful ever , the 70's . Cheers .
I am so jealous of that man cave, 70s heaven!
Beautiful bikes!! I remember them all quite well. Even today I own an old bike (a 1988 Suzuki Katana 1100) and ride it every chance I get.
Give me one of the older bikes with style and character over a new one anyday of the week.
Hell of a collection, I would love to collect all the Hondas built in the 70s, just love them!
I waited 3 months for the first '74 GT 550 to come to a big dealer. There were two colors that year, green or red.
I worked across the street from that dealer and watched every delivery truck for those 3 months. Dirt bikes, dirt bikes dirt bikes. Finally, 1 fire engine red GT 550. March 1974. Beautiful by everyone who cared.
Great, great collection. Thank you for sharing. Brings back me youth...
What a great garage. On my way to something similar. Avocado green Z check, 73 Suzuki water buffalo check, RD350LC check 79 Honda xr250r. A long way to go but its never going match yours. Thanks for sharing it warms my heart to see someone caring for those marvellous machines.
Oh man, the nostalgia! Lovely, lovely collection!
Wicked collection mate & great edit 👍
Very impressive collection.. Respect Brightside Man
There's a point where the Japanese motorcycle became this thing that really belongs on a track. After 35 bikes I realized I love the Japanese inline 4.
Most of the time I only use 750 cc's. Right around 1 liter I'm most happy. I ride a Kawasaki GPZ 1100 1982 B2 triple disc mags, metzler's, with fuel injection.
It's hard to find one that hasn't been molested, EFI.
Iron American Dream on UA-cam.
Awesome, thank you for showing your collection. 👍
Thanks for watching!
I am so jealous,
you have all the bikes that i would like to have in my garage (if i had a garage not a shed)
you have got a very nice collection paul you are a lucky man
i feeled with every word he said. He brought me in mood to classic Japanese Motorcycles and Cars. I was fully with him - until i saw pulling on his jacket...
Awesome, living the dream. Fantastic motorcycle collection & garage. Congratulations & well done.
What he was trying to put into words was......
"They're not just a machine..... they feel like a companion"
I remember this time and my first bike very well. Wenn I see your collection I get really envious.
awesome collection
your vids make my mouth water, you are my hero!
gorgeous collection.
Nice collection mate, greetings from Australia 👍
incredible collection. i'm jealous
I am sooooo jealous of that collection, I want them all....... Loved that little burst of flame from the Zed's exhaust when he started it at the end :-)
bandit120069 what was that last bike at the end? I fancy one of them lol
I totally understand where he's coming from! I've got a few of these bikes for the same reasons he gives. I don't have the Z900 yet though.
Takes me back to them days, a fizzy then a Rd 250 to a gs 750 good days love the vid ❤️
A gs 750 would piss on a z900 !
Leslie Hayton
That wasn't my recollection of 70s bikes.
Almost identical weight, Z1 and Z900 had a good twenty bhp more
Thank you for expressing so welll, succinctly and eloquently the reason why I LOVE my Japanese milestone and/or superbikes (as well as Italian, UK and German) from the late 60s to early 80s. I'll record that for next time I get asked "why?". Well done! And of course nice collection. Totally in sync with my interests/subjects. Have many of what you have, and -- yes -- I want to keep them all. And -- like you -- I only got what I wanted or those that I had a connection with. I'm not a flipper or poser for anybody -- just for me. Someday we should talk. I'm in New England, but grew up in Tokyo Japan during my teenage youth and the Japanese Golden Age of bikes...and super bikes. Remember crystal clear when the H1 Mach III hit the streets of Tokyo...and the CB750 six months later. 'Test rode' both of them and never was the same after. Anyway, ride on my friend. Live to Ride...Ride to Live. [BTW: Kawi H2 Mach IVs are phenomenal (evil, wicked, mean and nasty) but don't you just HATE that dodgy kick starter drill and how you have to retract the foot peg before kicking thru? :-) ]
Superb collection
Great collection! Got 1976 RD400. Fun bike.
70's Motorbikes are timeless...the best decade for fantastic looking bikes.just amazing.
Love the music...spirit of those days
You missed the point.
Love these videos
Had gt380 loved it
Fantastic A real trip down memory lane
Who in their right mind would give you a thumbs down. Holy sh1t
You and I are of the same mindset, I would have every one of you're bikes in a heartbeat if I had the money. You are sooooo feckin lucky to have these bikes. The 70s bikes are the only ones that matter, in my opinion. I've watched and re watched most if not all of you're videos, and they are amazing and very memorable to me. I've been lucky enough to have owned a few of those bikes in my day. My very first new bike was a 1973 suzuki GT250K candy apple green, and I really really loved it. I had the very first one in Northern Ireland, in April of 73. My local dealer got it specially for me on my 17th birthday. It broke my heart when I had to sell it. I've started to relive my youth and have another 1973 suzuki GT250K candy apple green.
I've had it power coated, tons of NOS parts, wheels rebuilt with NOS spokes and rims, the hubs have been vapour blasted, beautiful chrome from the USA, California, like new, paintwork professionaly done in the original colours. I've got to start the rebuild now and get her finished. It's only been 7 or 8 years now. lol
I loved the review of the 250s. I had the gt and my big brother had the 72 kh250. He loved the kh for the blast, but always asked me for the gt if he was going on a club run. I'd really really really love to see you're collection, but I know how valuable they are, and keeping them secret, safe and secure.
Oh well, I'll just have to dream on. lol. Well I think I've burnt your ears for long enough. Thanks for taking the time to show and make the videos. I'm just so happy to see them again. Please don't sell any of these things of beauty.
Oh, on a final note, the cars are also amazing, especially the datsun. 😀 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍
Beautiful machines ! 👍🏼
There is almost nothing, almost nothing on Earth like the first sensation of opening the throttle of a large UJM in first or second hear and thinking "Oh... This is all very loud and very sudden".
For me it was a GS750.... Dull, you may think, but not so. It simply felt brutal. Nice little video. I rode a few, but not all, of the bikes shown here... It is nice to know that someone is still looking after this stuff.
Memories of going (as a schoolboy) into Powerhouse on Kentish Town Road and seeing these mad, huge, shining monsters. Somewhere nearby (my memory fades) was a guy putting motors onto crazy Moto Martin perimeter frames that looked like nothing on Earth.... Memories.... Lovely old machines.
Did you see our film about the GS750? ua-cam.com/video/bLOuCiSMtIQ/v-deo.html
awesome collection,i envy you so much,the Z1 is the bike I want,but they are all brill,
Can't beat the water cooled I was fortunate to have two of these back in the seventies, great bikes.
Yes, they're awesome. We've just shot a new film about the GT and it will be out in the next several week. So subscribe if you like.
I had 2 GT 750's and a Honda CBX 1000 during this period. Great bikes all. The GT's sounded good but was a little slow but they could be made to be quick. The CBX had a wonderful engine. I rode those bikes everyday, for commuting (across 5 countries), fun, indeed everything. I then moved on to the big Kawasaki's which were fantastic machines. I still ride a Kawasaki ZZR 1100 and a ZX14R. I love the old bikes but bikes from every decade have their great models.
That Kawasaki Z 900 looks and sounds absolutely amazing! No wonder Kawasaki is bringin that style back in to next years modern-retro bike!
Hate to get picky about this but it really does my head in when people refer to Z1’s as z900’s. ( I know, even he refers to them wrongly as the z900 )As far as I can see the guy doesn’t have a z900 in his garage. He does appear to have a Z1, a Z1A and the bike he rides out of the garage on, a Z1B. The z900 was a later bike produced in 1976 (UK) and lasted a year before being replaced by the z1000 A1 in 1977.
Highly evocative stuff!
I knew immediately which bike was going to get ridden first. The Z1 is the King of all the bikes in that time frame. Which by the way was nicely modded. How did I know, I own a 75’ Z1b. The sound of that exhaust note from the custom 4 into 1 exhaust at idle, mid range and full song is throaty and has soul. I could recognize it blindfolded. Long live the King Zed !! 🇺🇸
The Z1 is an awesome bike and one of our favourites. We're working on a feature about it, so stay tuned and feel free to subscribe if you like :-)
Any one of these bikes has more class than anything you will see in a modern showroom, i owned half of them back in the day.
We couldn't agree more :-)
Aaah,the venerable Waterbuffalo! I’ve ridden them but never owned one. The H-2 and Z-1 were awesome bikes.👍🏻
Top bloke with some of the best bikes ever built. I agreed with everything he said.
The 1970’s were the best years ever for motorcycles. I had the halloween orange CB-750, and my buddies had the water buffalo and the H2. Man, those were the days. Now, I have a garage full of Norton Commandos, just because.
The Kaw Z 900 was king of the road in the mid '70's however, the water cooled three pot Suzuki was a heavy oddity that was dismissed as a touring bike in the states, The exquisite Yam RD 350 of the early '70's was the best Jap 2-stroke ever sold. The Kaw 500 triple was good only in a strait line while the 750 triple was immediately eclipsed by the Z 900.
Z-1 to the first GSXR 1100 & 750, that's my favorite era. Still would like to have an '83 GS 1100
I can't imagine liking a bike any better than I like my 1980 and 1979 Yamaha XS1100s, and my Honda V45 magna... and; any more of the great old beasts that I can find to add to my collection. Yes, I love my Harley Road King best... but that XS1100 rules the roost of the great older bikes in my opinion... although after riding a V65 Magna or Sabre I'm on the lookout for one of those now... see how addictive these things are. Especially to us folks who remember them when they were new.
Bikes of my youth, love em 👌
what a collection sir. I envy you.
Simply wonderful!!
Glad you like it!
que belleza las 2 tiempos, volverán?
Awesome as those were my dream bikes as a kid. The 70's were the best!
+Johnny Yum I agree with you totally.
What a beautiful collection you have there and they all look to be in as new condition.It reminds me of a typical bike shop from the 1970's. These bikes are now so rare nowespecially in this condition. Bikes back then had style and charisma, unlike the plasticmissiles of today.
Too funny...and we didn't think it could happen, did we?
LIFE WAS BETTER THEN, Anyone got a time machine?
One day if I hit the Lottery I'd like to put together a collection of all the bikes I've owned . My favorite by far was my 1979 Kawasaki Kz 750B model which had dual overhead cams with non-adjustable valves ( because they never needed adjusting they used shims instead of rockers to push directly on the valve stems , a superior arrangement ) It also featured an harmonic balancer and rubber engine mounts which together eliminated almost all vibration .
I love how he describes riding his bikes to and fro work as events. I get it for sure. Bitchn’ collection..
I had the lime green KH250 with and appeared to suffer with ignition points problems and a friend had the 400 with electronic ignition much better ..Still saying that it had a great sound
Owns massive Japanese superbike collection. Wears a Harley-Davidson jacket.
👌
REGGIN RETNUH just watched this video , bikes to die for! that jacket not so much 😄😄can't believe your comment was first one!
Haha! I didn't even notice.
Dave Rowarth hahaha...True but these guy is a 70s fan, and that's why he has freedom to do anything, to wear anything.
Yes harleys are cool but they are not super bikes.Harley has a core group which is fine but they need to build bikes for everybody .
Fantastic
I had a 78 GS1000 like the one in the back ground there, cruised at speed so effortlessly. 50 mpg, got chased more than once. survived to tell about it. used to wear a bronze colored helmet which got stolen from my truck right after I'd been chased twice in a week or so . LOL poor guy probably never knew why he got pulled over after using it..
Excellent! :)
Thank you! Cheers!
Had a GT750A , for the period amazing : 0 - 60 in " holy crap ... " and wheel-spin all the way to 80 if you wanted to show off - at about 20 mpg ...everything has a price . Still miss it .
ps then , ie when not 40 years old , they didn't smoke if you used Bel-Ray Si-7 and gold/palladium plugs ...
coooooor gt750 heaven
Are you responsible for the amazing condition of all of these bikes or did you buy them as new?? All fantastic bikes of course but that is like a museum collection!! Thanks for sharing
Superb @paulbrace
Love those bikes.
The best
Is that a yash header? I would like 1for my bike but all I can find is kerker
Bikes are awesome, so is that music, can i buy that music somewhere?
Glad you liked the film. We're not sure where you'd be able to buy the song, sorry mate.
Do you have the 1973 RD 350 that was the best running one of the bunch
I saw he had a 79 RD400 Daytona is all
Beautiful bikes... What model is the last one, Kawasaki, that you take for a drive? Cheers!
That's a Z1
@@BrightsideMedia Modded with electric starter?
Insane..to die for...
The music is too high for the voice ,Everytime I had to reduce the sound during the music and increase it when somebody talks .Something to look at may be during audio mixing /editing .
What was the background music used in this?
The only bike I did not see was the truly strong Suzuki T500 Titan. We took my brand new XS650 Yamaha, a smoking little CB400 4 cylinder Honda, and the Suzuki Toaster-looking twin up to the Twisties. The Honda handled superb, amazing stability, and both bikes were a bit quicker than my heavier 650. But for pure acceleration, we all agreed the Titan was the champ.
I just bought a 79 KZ 750 for $600 Canadian. $100 in parts later, she's alive!
Now if it would only warm up!
I love them all ❤️ the best bikes ever!
Thanks :-) They're really awesome.
Hi Paul , i am hoping you can help me with paint colour numbers for the Honda , Antares red R-6CS i think do you have any numbers in a common brand of paint that means something to a paint mixer , I have a 76 Gl1000 . Cheers .
Sorry, we can't really help there. Check out some of the Honda forums maybe.
I love suzuki.its my first bike in my life.. from India..
They're awesome bikes :-)
Nie wieder gab es so schöne Motorräder, wie in den 70er Jahren
Absolut! Die müssen nicht mal gefahren werden. Es reicht, wenn sie einfach da stehen ;-)
I grew up riding the two strokes my best years ever them long hot summer night out riding in the countryside
I believe the first Super was in 67, Honda 305 Superhawk.
Bad ass '70's! Yeah!
Those motorcycles looked like motorcycles. I would buy one if they were still for sale 👍
You can still buy them second hand but you will need a nice bank manager to loan you about half a dozen suitcases full of money
Lucky man for sure
AP50 at 16, GT500 at 17 and The Kettle at 18 ......I miss them all
A great progression :-)