First turbo production bikes??

[Jonno]

I found this an interesting little read>>http://autospeed.com/cms/A_110613/article.html, short as it is I learnt something from it, I never knew suzuki made an early Turbo

[Glen]

Oh yeah the mighty XN85. I had a GS 650 at the time (the one that they called a Katana but it had shaft drive). A mate had one of the XJ 650 Turbo's and it was a bit of a dog. It couldn't even keep up with the 650 Katana

[frog]

All POS, only the Kwak showed any potential, it was as quick as the 11oo of the time but just as heavy.
Was one of my dream bikes and I finally got to ride one.
Wish I hadnt.....

[Smitty]

All POS, only the Kwak showed any potential, it was as quick as the 11oo of the time but just as heavy.
Was one of my dream bikes and I finally got to ride one.
Wish I hadnt.....

I had one




only for about 9 months

[Gosling1]

That article on the XN85 did include a reference to the Z1R-TC, I thought it had been overlooked. It was the first *production* example of a turboe'd street bike in the world (albeit a limited run) - and the article stated that it was not backed by factory warranty - thats not quite true. The Z1R-TC was backed by Kawasaki US in a specific number of dealers, and Kawasaki provided a warranty on the entire motorcycle *except the turbo* - the turbo had its own guarantee from American Turbo-Pak.

The XN85 designation on the Suzuki at the time confused a lot of punters - many of whom mistakenly believed it to be a reference to capacity (850cc) - It was in fact a reference to horsepower - 85bhp (allegedly )

The GPz750Turbo was considered by most magazines at the time (mid-80's) to be the *best* example of a turbo bike made by any of the Jap manufacturers. The XN85 was uglier than a standard Katana, the CX500 was uglier than a stock CX500 (I know, unbelievable but true ) , and the XJ650 Turbo was just plain ugly !! The GeeperTurbo actually went pretty well once you got them over about 6 grand.......not much chop in the twisties, but *unreal* on long country sweepers and straights !

There was one of these models down at Phillip Island last year at the Island Classic. I have a photo of it somewhere....