What was the first crotch rocket?

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PostHuman · Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:02 pm

What was the first bike that could be considered by today's standards a crotch rocket?

Rydr · #2 Unread post by **Rydr** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:07 pm

By todays standard (I may be shooting in the dark) it would probably be the 1983 Honda 750 Intercepter.

MotoF150 · #3 Unread post by **MotoF150** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:17 pm

1986 Kawasaki GPZ1000RX

flynrider · Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:47 pm

I'm with Rydr. The '83 Interceptor was the first purpose built factory "sports" type bike I ever saw. While not as radical as what comes out of the factories today, it was pretty rad for its day. When it first came out, one of my ridin' buds sold his Yamaha triple and bought one. Everyone else was just scratching their heads trying to figure out why someone would buy a bike with all that plastic all over it. Not to mention the water cooling and a single rear shock.

After riding on it for a few twisty miles, opinions changed pretty quickly.

Johnj · #5 Unread post by **Johnj** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:39 am

I'd say those H1 and H2 Kawasaki two stroke triples. Those things were OMG fast.

-Holiday · #6 Unread post by **-Holiday** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:10 am

i'd say the 82 Zuk Katana.

#7 Unread post by **dr_bar** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 9:57 am

Johnj wrote:I'd say those H1 and H2 Kawasaki two stroke triples. Those things were OMG fast.

+1 on this guess.

They may not have had the looks of the current sports bike, but fast barely describes them... I had my 500cc H1 up to 155mph

and still had over a third of my throttle left. Scary fast for a bike with such a lack of stability.

Now if you include cornering capabilities, these two are definitely out of the picture. Every corner I took on my H1 was an adventure and one that I never knew the outcome of until I was back on a straight stretch...

Those babies where ugly in the twisties...

Not mine but I had it's twin...

EDIT: Did I mention that they were a pig to stop... Near to useless drums front and rear...

flynrider · Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:36 am

I guess it depends on the definition of "crotch rocket". The H1 and H2 were blindingly fast bikes for their day. We called them "Scary fast". One of the main reasons that they were scary is that the frame and suspension was no where near adequate for the kind of power they produced. They were at their best going in a straight line and very hard to manage if the road got twisty.

#9 Unread post by **Wrider** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:03 pm

-Holiday wrote:i'd say the 82 Zuk Katana.

+1 on that, it's still got the modern day crotch rocket look, and was the most radical of the day...
I've got a friend who rides an 83 Katana 750, and that thing will kick most modern 600s off the road, scary fast!
Wrider

High_Side · Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:32 pm

dr_bar wrote:They may not have had the looks of the current sports bike, but fast barely describes them... I had my 500cc H1 up to 155mph and still had over a third of my throttle left.

Dr. Bar, no disrespect but :horse:

Only if you dropped it out of a plane buddy.....

Wrider wrote:
-Holiday wrote:i'd say the 82 Zuk Katana.
+1 on that, it's still got the modern day crotch rocket look, and was the most radical of the day...
I've got a friend who rides an 83 Katana 750, and that thing will kick most modern 600s off the road, scary fast!
Wrider

Ahem. "Define kick off of the road...."

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What was the first crotch rocket?

What was the first crotch rocket?

Crotch Rocket