18 replies to this topic

[RC162]

Here's a few strokers from France for rd500. The Bimota can't be too common and the others are a little different or just nice to see.

[Rennmax]

Here's a few strokers from France for rd500. The Bimota can't be too common and the others are a little different or just nice to see.

Didn't Randy Mamola campaign such a bike in his early days ?

[philippe7]

Didn't Randy Mamola campaign such a bike in his early days ?

This is indeed a 1979 "factory" version déco , as originally campaigned by Mamola who left the team mid-season to join the Serge Zago outfit, and was replaced by Eric Saul. This is the 350 version which of course was TZ-powered and the Bimota people had apprently found a "trick" in the exhaust system which made their 350 very powerful - I witnessed Saul leading the season-ending French GP by miles from all the Kawasakis of Hansford, Ballington etc.. before losing it on a damp patch.

The 250 was originally equipped with a home-made V-2 branded Adriatica ( name of the main sponsor ? ) which didn't work too well and I seem to remember that the relationship between Mamola and Bimota turned sour precisely because Bimota insisted that Randy used the home-made engine whereas he would have prefered to have a standard 250 TZ fitted.

Philippe (checking in from Biarritz )

[rd500]

very nice, its always nice to see bikes like these. cheers rc

[kz71]

This is indeed a 1979 "factory" version déco , as originally campaigned by Mamola who left the team mid-season to join the Serge Zago outfit, and was replaced by Eric Saul. This is the 350 version which of course was TZ-powered and the Bimota people had apprently found a "trick" in the exhaust system which made their 350 very powerful - I witnessed Saul leading the season-ending French GP by miles from all the Kawasakis of Hansford, Ballington etc.. before losing it on a damp patch.

The 250 was originally equipped with a home-made V-2 branded Adriatica ( name of the main sponsor ? ) which didn't work too well and I seem to remember that the relationship between Mamola and Bimota turned sour precisely because Bimota insisted that Randy used the home-made engine whereas he would have prefered to have a standard 250 TZ fitted.

Philippe (checking in from Biarritz )

Nice pics.
These frames were quite common in the mid 70's in Italy and were a nice piece and handled well. The Diemme team (who ran Cecotto for his 350 world title year) in Italy used them and when Stu and I arrived at the Diemme workshops in '76 they had a workshop full of them plus a ton of TZ350 engines and cylinders.
I spent many hours working on the dyno on the 350 engines with 'Nobby Crack' (Danielle Battaglia) the Diemme mechanic and they were fast. I remember one of them was timed at 173mph at Spa. I know exactly where the pipes you mentioned originated, they were pretty different and worked real well and I saw them on a few other bikes over the next few years.
Mike S

[Paul Collins]

Nice pics.
These frames were quite common in the mid 70's in Italy and were a nice piece and handled well. The Diemme team (who ran Cecotto for his 350 world title year) in Italy used them and when Stu and I arrived at the Diemme workshops in '76 they had a workshop full of them plus a ton of TZ350 engines and cylinders.
I spent many hours working on the dyno on the 350 engines with 'Nobby Crack' (Danielle Battaglia) the Diemme mechanic and they were fast. I remember one of them was timed at 173mph at Spa. I know exactly where the pipes you mentioned originated, they were pretty different and worked real well and I saw them on a few other bikes over the next few years.
Mike S

Mike,out of interest what was the best bhp figure you saw from a TZ350? I estimate a good standard spec late (F,G,H) made about 70bhp at the back wheel, I would be interested to know what figures you saw.

[fil2.8]

Mike,out of interest what was the best bhp figure you saw from a TZ350? I estimate a good standard spec late (F,G,H) made about 70bhp at the back wheel, I would be interested to know what figures you saw.

Well , Paul , I can tell you that now it is not unusual to see 80 bhp at the rear wheel , mine has seen 76/8 about 18 months ago , unfortunately , hasn't been on since , but , doesn't seem to slow ...........................( when running correctly )

[Paul Collins]

Well , Paul , I can tell you that now it is not unusual to see 80 bhp at the rear wheel , mine has seen 76/8 about 18 months ago , unfortunately , hasn't been on since , but , doesn't seem to slow ...........................( when running correctly )

Thats pretty good!! I take it you are using a modern ignition? and maybe a few other little tweaks gleaned from the modern era?

Back In the day I think Yamaha quoted around 67bhp for the TZ350A, rising to about 72bhp by the time development finished with the F/G/H (same motor for last 3 years of production)

[fil2.8]

Thats pretty good!! I take it you are using a modern ignition? and maybe a few other little tweaks gleaned from the modern era?

Back In the day I think Yamaha quoted around 67bhp for the TZ350A, rising to about 72bhp by the time development finished with the F/G/H (same motor for last 3 years of production)

No , that was with the Hitachi unit it came with , treated it to a modern system this year , as it was hard to start from cold , but , yes , a few minor tweaks , barrels slightly tuned , etc

[tonyed]

Well , Paul , I can tell you that now it is not unusual to see 80 bhp at the rear wheel , mine has seen 76/8 about 18 months ago , unfortunately , hasn't been on since , but , doesn't seem to slow ...........................( when running correctly )

I knew a guy who had 130 bhp from his TZ350

65 bhp from the left side and 65 bhp from the right side - He had trouble convincing the scruitineers that the left hand pair of cylinders only drove the petrol pump and used the rear wheel as a counter-balance.

Edited by tonyed, 18 July 2011 - 17:18.

[kz71]

Mike,out of interest what was the best bhp figure you saw from a TZ350? I estimate a good standard spec late (F,G,H) made about 70bhp at the back wheel, I would be interested to know what figures you saw.

Sorry, haven't been online for a while.
I think we were getting around 72 at the G/box sprocket, not that peak readings meant much with those dynos.
It was the power spread that made them fast and those pipes were a big part of that.

[RC162]

Here's a video on YouTube that is a series of photos taken at the Trophees Gerard Jumeaux. The interesting item is at 3mins 41secs and it is a Chevallier. Never noticed it when I was there and I don't know wether it was Eric Saul actually riding it. It's worth a look through most of them if you have ten minutes.

[dixie]

Looking at RC162's photo of the Kawasaki prompted me to dig out a leaflet I got in 1967.I considered getting one of these at the time but settled on a Yamaha instead. The dealer was Peter Chapman and it was priced at £603. Don't know if anyone actually had a win with one but I did like the look of it.

[Russell Burrows]

Looking at RC162's photo of the Kawasaki prompted me to dig out a leaflet I got in 1967.I considered getting one of these at the time but settled on a Yamaha instead. The dealer was Peter Chapman and it was priced at £603. Don't know if anyone actually had a win with one but I did like the look of it.

Yes, they certainly looked the business. In Australia, a bloke called Dick Read made one fly around '68 ish, think he might have won Bathurst? I think too that I can recall Jack Ahearn riding one. There were a few around over there but TDIB/C's were more numerous. I do remember that they were fast, in a straight line at least, perhaps not wonderfully reliable though.

Didn't Chris Vincent race one in Britain?

Edited by Russell Burrows, 24 July 2011 - 19:14.

[Rennmax]

Yes, they certainly looked the business. In Australia, a bloke called Dick Read made one fly around '68 ish, think he might have won Bathurst? I think too that I can recall Jack Ahearn riding one. There were a few around over there but TDIB/C's were more numerous. I do remember that they were fast in a straight line at least, perhaps not wonderfully reliable though.

Didn't Chris Vincent race one in Britain?

This is the heavily modified A1R of German racer/tuner Reinhard Scholtis



It was quick enough to match the TD2s in 69, he achieved a 7th place at the German GP in Hockenheim on this bike

And there was Börje Jansson on a 'Kawasaki Yamaha' in that season, I guess the engine was Yamaha

Edited by Rennmax, 24 July 2011 - 15:59.

[Russell Burrows]

Yes Renn, on paper they probably should have outgunned everything back then, even without watercooling. Someone out there knows why they weren't a huge success.

[fil2.8]

Yes Renn, on paper they probably should have outgunned everything back then, even without watercooling. Someone out there knows why they weren't a huge success.

Well , I suppose I could answer a bit , being a Kawasaki A7 owner since 1969

I have the full ' spec sheets , somewhere , but have short summary of performance figures to hand

The 250 A1R is listed as 40bhp in 1967 with top listed speed of 125mph


The 350 A7R is listed as 53bhp in 1967 with top listed speed of 138mph

There were 4 x 250's entered in the IOM TT 250 that year , Bill Smith , Dave Simmonds , John Cooper and Du Pont of the US , both John Cooper and Dave Simmonds running in the top 6
Just Dave Simmonds entered on the 350 ( 338 ) I have no record of how Dave finished .

The 350 especially ought to have been competitive enough , I feel , but only a few top 10 places I can find
The 250 on checking a few programmes had several top 10 finishes

[dixie]

Well , I suppose I could answer a bit , being a Kawasaki A7 owner since 1969

I have the full ' spec sheets , somewhere , but have short summary of performance figures to hand

The 250 A1R is listed as 40bhp in 1967 with top listed speed of 125mph


The 350 A7R is listed as 53bhp in 1967 with top listed speed of 138mph

There were 4 x 250's entered in the IOM TT 250 that year , Bill Smith , Dave Simmonds , John Cooper and Du Pont of the US , both John Cooper and Dave Simmonds running in the top 6
Just Dave Simmonds entered on the 350 ( 338 ) I have no record of how Dave finished .

The 350 especially ought to have been competitive enough , I feel , but only a few top 10 places I can find
The 250 on checking a few programmes had several top 10 finishes

On the spec I have the top speed is 130mph with ' more than 40 bhp@ 9,500rpm' . Max torque: 21.7 ft/lbs @ 8,500rpm.

[Russell Burrows]

On the spec I have the top speed is 130mph with ' more than 40 bhp@ 9,500rpm' . Max torque: 21.7 ft/lbs @ 8,500rpm.

No wonder my little Macchi was running out of grunt.