You wrote “stinger expansion chamber pipes” and I took that to mean a single chamber and three inlet pipes :~. They lower power but weigh 50 lbs or so less than stock which is why they were somewhat popular for these heavy bikes. For compactness, 3 (or 2) into 1 exhausts are often used on 2-stroke snowmobiles and watercraft.
The buffalo has 4 heavy mufflers (the middle pipe splits into 2) and because of it’s mild porting, it has a nice linear 4-stroke like power band. Adding individual chambers and porting, makes it run more like a 2-stroke should. The TR750 racer with 50+ more hp was based on the GT and it weighed 326 lbs compared to the 500+ lb tourer.
its always interesting to think back and reflect on the bikes that were personal favorites or high on the wish list. The same guy who owned this watercooled triple for sale also owned at the same time a RE-5 (?) rotary… only ever saw one of those on the road.
At relatively the same time I made an offer on a K1000 kawi, the one that had the driveshaft…was mint, but seemed very heavy on the road. My interest: my father had an early KZ1000; the year or two after they upgraded from the KZ900. Always had a soft spot for that one too, though I owned a few UJMs after that that history treats better than the ‘wish bikes’.
New member here thought I’d try to post some piccys of my bikes as per request
Hope this works
FireBlade has had Micron removed(way too loud) and swapped for later RRW stainless full system
Yamaha has had exhausts changed for YPVS F2 pipes as old ones looking tired
Heres a couple of my RD I bought in about 1981. It was a 1976 model. It was written of soon after I got my licence and rebuilt many times. If anyone knows the whereabouts of it now I'd love to know. l owned it for about 12 years.
I bought my LC in 1987, my first bike was a Yamaha DT50 (learner legal in UK at 16) after a while the gudgeon pin came loose and put a nice groove in the barrel before it seized on me
That was an introduction to how a 2 stoke comes apart , as by law it had to be a 50cc with 2.5bhp, I replaced the barrel and piston with a 60cc racing setup which doubled power to a whole 5BHP
At 17 I got a CZ125 a Czechoslovakian made pos which was only just faster than the DT, it was soon replaced with a Honda CB125 tdc twin, that was a great little bike at 17 years oldyou could chuck down that far you’d scratch the exhausts while being silly ahh good fun.
While still 17 I passed my test then bought the LC from my pictures I’ve had it ever since, it requires some TLC now though as I found out I won’t beat a mates Suzuki TL1000 on faster stretches
A piston broke up then on way back up the broke bit got stuck in exhaust port and smashed out the side of the barrel ooops.
So now it sits in the garage with that I’ll get round to it one day thing going on, kids and life are getting in the way nowadays though.
Are those the DG radially finned heads? I had a ’76 350 with rearsets, S&W shocks and Toomey chambers. The heads would’ve been next if the bike didn’t get stolen. :_(
Here’s something I recently saved from a trip to the graveyard. It supposedly only needs batteries.
Bastards. Yes they are DG which I machined the squish band clearance to 20 thou. The chambers I’m only guessing at are Proto Pipe. I did have about 4 different brands on at different times including a mongrel set made by me. The mods I made on this bike were endless over the years.
I had this for a while, heavy but solid, overshadowed by the fours but when I put a 3-1 on it rejetted the carbs and put some slightly higher bars on it it made for a lovely medium/fast cruiser that howled, I’ve had all sorts through the years - a lot faster and some a lot slower but that Yam never missed a beat.
I was just about to tell you that you can’t have put a 3-1 on that bike until I realized it was a Euro model, something that was a 750 in the USA.
Our triple was an earlier 750.
I had a ’82 750 Seca that was a four and this brings back some memories…electric smooth, quiet a bit of suspension jacking from the drive shaft and a bikini fairing that looked sweet but didn’t cut any wind at all, just made the helmet buffeting worse at almost any speed.
But I sold it after a year for some reason and that started me on a hilarious and expensive run of Kawi Ninja bikes… god save me.
Talking of 3-1 exhausts I had one on a 1976 GT550 Suzuki, two stroke triple, not a lot over 90 but it increased mid range power noticeably and one jet in the middle carb was all it took, the outside two got by on a one groove lift of the needles. It didn’t hole pistons like my mates with 3-3 individual expansion chambers and didn’t attract much police attention like the crackle of 3-3, it sort of warbled.
I had a string of Suzukis from 1970 onwards, always buying new, then an 850 Mk2A Norton Commando, POS that was - from new it spent more time off the road than on, put in part exchange for the GT550 Suzy. Then the Yamaha 850 and onto Harleys.
lol! Actually back in 1977 I worked for a company that made circuit boards for Grumman Aerospace. BTW, I was a pot smoking hippie musician in those days playing in the local band scene..
A digital photo of an old Polaroid, my ’83 Honda V45 Sabre 750, shaft drive, water cooled, mono-shock rear end with a racing clutch, she’d do 150mph and get 43mpg.
I got this bike used in ’87 with about 7000 miles on it, put almost 50,000 on it riding it daily to work. From 12º to 112º, rain or shine.
I haven’t rode in nearly 14 years!
Sold it to my cousin when I had surgery on both arms in late 2000, he totalled it about a month later. Not his fault, a guy in an argument squalled tires in reverse with a pick-up, having an argument, plowed straight into my cousin while he was doing about 10mph coming into a gas station for gas. Threw him nearly 30 feet (he’s about 240) and trashed his right foot, had pins put in his ankle. Not exactly sure what ever happened to my baby…
