Gladius

Jughead · Post by **Jughead** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:47 am

Stopped by the Cycle Shop Yesterday on my Way to take my Limited Electrical License Test to drop by some Parts to the guy who's buying my CB750 F2.They have one Gladius in.That thing Grew on me Pretty fast.

Damn near brought one home with me but figured that it may be Hard to come up with a spare $170 per month for the next 60 months.

Craig380 · Post by **Craig380** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 1:59 am

Not ridden a Gladius but have done some miles on its ancestor, the SV650. That's a very nice bike indeed ... more power, handling and brakes that I knew what to do with.

It's funny that a 125mph+ / 12.5 sec standing quarter bike is now regarded as a "middleweight" or "starter" bike. 25 years ago only the most expensive superbikes got you that kind of performance.

rngdng · Post by **rngdng** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 5:01 am

Craig380 wrote:It's funny that a 125mph+ / 12.5 sec standing quarter bike is now regarded as a "middleweight" or "starter" bike.

Not to anyone with some comman sense. The lack of smaller streetbikes is a major problem in my opinion. There should be something to piddle around town on, and learn (like we did). Of course, they weren't selling or they'd still be building the tiddlers.

Lane

Craig380 · Post by **Craig380** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:55 am

I agree 100%. My 380 is plenty fast enough for me, and more than quick enough for UK roads.

johnakay · Post by **johnakay** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:08 am

took my bike in for it 1st service. they had 2 kawasaki 250 in.the owner said that he had sold 6 in 2 weeks. they are one of his best sellers so far.
70/80 mpg ,33bhp,100mph £3300 on the road. not bad that.

http://www.zpower.com.au/catalog/images ... _Right.jpg

cyclebuster · Post by **cyclebuster** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:15 pm

Is it true that the CB750 F2 supersport had nearly 80 hp?
If so i need to find an F2 Head!

Wayne Meuir · Post by **Wayne Meuir** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:05 pm

The CB750 F head was REALLY hard on valve guides because of a radical cam angle. Most folks doing hop[ up work on them just have the K heads reworked instead of going to the F head.

Wayne

H2RICK · Post by **H2RICK** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:23 pm

Sorry, but the Gladius is a little too.....um.....er....."modern".....for my tastes.
Another example of Japanese motorcycle "art", IMO. Same school of thought as the B-King......."Make it look weird and they will buy!!"....or something like that.

bikegeezer · Post by **bikegeezer** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:24 pm

rngdng wrote:
Craig380 wrote:It's funny that a 125mph+ / 12.5 sec standing quarter bike is now regarded as a "middleweight" or "starter" bike.

Not to anyone with some comman sense. The lack of smaller streetbikes is a major problem in my opinion. There should be something to piddle around town on, and learn (like we did). Of course, they weren't selling or they'd still be building the tiddlers.

Lane

Absolutely right, Lane. And one reason they're not selling is those comic books masquerading as motorcycle magazines. They use amateur or semi-pro road racers as testers, and nothing they test is worth a crap unless it'll lift the front wheel in the first three gears with respectable lap times. The younger readers pick up this attitude, and the result is what you see in the showrooms - bikes that are miserable for 95% of the way they're actually used. A long time ago, testers put the machines through normal street and touring duty and ended the writeup with drag strip numbers. But these days, the entire test is a white-knuckled drag race up the PCH. I'm embarrassed to be in the same business as those clowns, because they do the public as well as the manufacturers a gross disservice. Consumer Reports got into bike testing in the mid '70s, but they went over the falls in the other direction. It was like they were testing washing machines.

Back on topic, I test rode a Gladius last week and thought it was a great bike. You don't have to ride like a lunatic to enjoy it.

Stu