Were they REALLY this fast?

[wannabridin]

Were early wings REALLY this fast even back then??? This bike does NOT feel like 82 hp at the crank...

[wolf_walker78]

Fast is relative. And I suspect there a lot of room for parasitic losses over time with a machine like this.

[wannabridin]

The torque curve on these is solid, so relative to a new bike, no. But they're VERY surprisingly quick

[Fred Camper]

My LTD remains very strong today. No longer in contention for fastest bike but with two up it is still quick.

[heli_madken]

I remember having an epic race with a Porsche 911 turbo around 1980, off the line I could beat him dead but he did catch up over 65>70. I personally thought it was a quick bike back then, now though is a different story.

[robbie202]

https://www.randakksblog.com/dyno-resul ... /#more-176

"The original, unfaired GoldWing was the world’s biggest, heaviest and second fastest bike available at the time (only the mighty Kawasaki Z1 was swifter)."

[pidjones]

Straight line, Yes. Tire technology at the time limited most all bikes in the curves.

[Whiskerfish]

In 79 I was Stationed in Millington Tn going through Aviation Electronics school. Dad and Mom came down for as visit on their 78 Wing. I had a 78 750F. I took them over to Shelby Forest State park where I usually raced with buddies. Dad said go for it. I did. We did probably 15-18 miles of curves straights etc etc etc and I could not loose him. He was double up I could not shake him. One the straights I had an advantage as my top end was a few higher but otherwise he was right behind me for the whole run.
Opened my eyes it did.

[wannabridin]

I have a 76 760K awaiting rebuild and it was always a hoot to ride, but it was quite clapped out. This is def quicker! 750 was a bit more nimble though. Now, none of these compare to my old 01 VTR1000, that thing was an absolute monster....

[redglbx]

Back in the day when I bought my 76 new it was one of the quickest bikes available, plus it was a relatively comfortable ride (except for the oe 75/76 torture log seat) and it was just effortless in building speed.

I was a bit of a hot-rodder back then and would race anything at anytime, nothing from the Motor Company (HD) could really compete, but they were always fun !

a Z1 was THE bike and quite frankly from a dead stop it would simply smoke the GL but from a rolling start things were different and the GL would make a good showing of itself, winning as often as not (torque).

The GL’s weight was its biggest issue out weighing the Z1 by a good 50lbs and a CB750 by about 75lbs and not enough horsepower to offset the weight, it was pretty porky In it’s day, not so much today.

As far as horsepower goes,I think Honda’s advertising group was a bit optimistic. I’ve seen a few dyno’d (1000’s)and typically stock they make around 46-54 rwhp, which doesn’t really translate to 80+ at the crank, if I remember correctly I believe Honda originally advertised around 68hp at the crank which is close to the rear wheel power I’ve seen.

Back then they were one of the quickest bike there was and it had more top end speed than most. The magazines really weren’t kind in their reviews as they were horrified by it’s 600lb weight, just way over weight according to them. Ride reviews were mixed as they either praised the smooth effortless power or complained that it totally lacked any soul or personality, myself , when asked I always referred to it as a fine wine (maybe whine?),, the fact that they are still selling them and are pretty much Honda’s top seller say’s a lot, I would like Honda to revisit a naked 75-79 type wing, I think they’d sell well.

Today, the wing still calls to me, it’s so effortless and while the improvements I’ve found make it much better, it’s still no match for most modern bikes for speed or handling. But with the really low cg and effortless, smooth power delivery it is still an enjoyable great ride. Go ride your Wing and enjoy it !

[wannabridin]

Randakk did a dyno of his weber bike before and after. showed ~60 whp/50 wtq w/ stock carbs.

Maybe the bike isn't as fast as i'm thinking, it's just been awhile since i've been on 2 wheels and the 4-4 has quite the exhaust note!

Again, it's all relative. I will say, power delivery is quite continuous, so even w/o all the power of a modern bike, it seems to be present throughout all the revs!

[redglbx]

Don’t know what Randall did to his bike at that time but I’ve seen either 3 or4 as delivered from Honda that dyno’d usually just under 50 rwhp while the 50 rwtq seems about normal. The 1/4 mi times from back then were generally in the 12.90-12.98 sec range while the Z1generally ran in the 12.20’s. That difference between the Z1 & GL’s at the finish line would be within about 10ft or less. A rolling start tended to eliminate the weight Advantage the z1 had. The flatter torque curve of the GL made a much better contest from a roll with the peakier z1.

I would have to say that at 60rwhp Randall’s bike is not a “stock” representation. But I should add that any time spent optimizing things on the intake side will give good results.

[wannabridin]

Interesting, thanks for that info!

[CaseyH]

I have a 1976 KZ900 and a 76 Wing
I just went out out and flogged them both and besides both being great fun the KZ feels faster but the Wing is pretty cool in 2nd and 3rd.
My butt dino says the KZ wins. The Wing is my favorite

May 13 2017 North Pelham.JPG (167.61 KiB) Viewed 290 times

gl.jpg (106.14 KiB) Viewed 290 times

[redglbx]

Casey, beautiful bikes ! I hated those yellow wings back when they were new but frankly they’ve really grown on me.

As far as the butt Dyno goes, with the work I got to do on my friends Dyno I learned the Butt Dyno lies, badly !

The thing is that while the KZ may still win It has a much peakier power curve which makes it feel really fast while the GL has a flatter torque curve which really makes it feel slower but really isn’t.

On my 76 when I advanced the cams +4 degrees (new keyways) I thought I really screwed the pooch by the butt Dyno it felt slow, really slow ! But when I ran it on the Dyno I found that it picked 2 ft/lbs at the rear wheel but the big thing was that the torque curve was essentially flat and the peak only varied by 2 ft/lbs from 2200rpm through 6800rpm. And a little testing on my test patch showed it to be much faster, it just felt slow.

On another note, I see the orchard in the pic’s behind your KZ and it looks very Michigan, where are you located if you don’t mind me asking .