10/24/22, 3:20 PM 5 Bikes That Embraced Forced Induction From The Factory

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Neil Winn
Bikes
 7 years ago

5 Bikes That Embraced Forced Induction

From The Factory
Superbikes tend to be incredibly fast and capable. As a result, they don't usually require
forced induction. Here are five times the factory boosted their bikes anyway...

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The 1980s was the decade of the turbocharger. The incredible Audi Sport Quattro S1
dominated in Group B, BMW got its M12/13 F1 engine producing 1400bhp, and the Ferrari
F40 re-wrote the supercar rule book. But it wasn’t just the four-wheeled world that was going
boost crazy. Tempted by the idea of high power and low capacity, motorcycle manufacturers
also decided to experiment with the wonders of forced induction.
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1. 1982 Yamaha XJ650 Turbo

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Yamaha was first to enter the turbocharging war with the frankly odd-looking XJ650 Turbo.
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whopping 90bhp from a 650cc engine was impressive at the time, but the bike was by no
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means a full on sports bike. With a rear drum brake, power sapping shaft drive and a floppy
chassis - sourced from the standard Yamaha XJ650 Seca - the XJ Turbo was more of a
sports tourer.
The bike also used archaic 30mm Mikuni carburettors which gave it a fairly choppy throttle
response; not what riders wanted, especially when the bike already suffered from significant
turbo lag. Ultimately Yamaha ended up with a bike that had dodgy fuelling, an unsuitable
chassis and astronomical maintenance costs. It also didn’t help that naturally-aspirated
sports bikes like the Honda CB1100R could obliterate it in a straight line. Not surprising then
that the XJ Turbo was discontinued after only two years. Not a great start to the turbo era.

2. 1982 Honda X500 Turbo - CX650 Turbo

When Honda’s motorcycle division sets out to do something, it doesn’t do it by half. The
Tokyo based manufacturer has always been able to produce bikes with class leading
technology, all round capability and bomb proof reliability. And so it was with the X500
Turbo. At the heart of the company’s boosted project was the CX500’s tried and tested Moto
Guzzi inspired pushrod V-twin. A simple engine with a good amount of low down torque. It
had great potential.
The motor was fitted with a 19psi turbo and an innovative electric fuel injection system. The
new injection system (Programmed Fuel Injection - PGM-FI) helped to refine throttle
response and allowed Honda to incorporate a clever fail safe system which lowered the
chances of a catastrophic detonation. The packaging was a complete work of art.

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Photo credit: mcnews.com.au

However, even with all of Honda’s engineering know how, the bike still suffered from
appalling turbo lag. This put off a high number of potential buyers, so Honda quickly rectified
the problem one year later with the CX650 Turbo. The fix (or shall we say improvement)
wasn’t particularly innovative. Honda simply upped the capacity from 500cc to 674cc, and
lowered the boost. Somewhat surprisingly, power increased from 83bhp to just over 100bhp.
Unfortunately, with its expensive production costs the bike wasn’t made in huge numbers
and it very quickly became uneconomical for Honda to sell. Production ceased in 1983.

3. 1983 Suzuki XN85

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Photo credit: motosolvang.com

The Suzuki XN85 was produced in the same year as Honda’s X500 Turbo, leading to the
Suzuki being somewhat overlooked. Even today, very few people are aware of the bike’s
existence, which is a shame, because it was a brilliant package. Built as a realistic
alternative to naturally aspirated sportsbikes, Suzuki focused on the chassis first, followed
by the engine, a completely different approach to Yamaha. The bike featured the first factory
16-inch front wheel, monoshock rear suspension and numerous other goodies like racing
foot pegs and handlebars.
The 673cc engine produced a respectable 85bhp and was the first motor to feature Suzuki’s
Advanced Cooling System (SACS). Like the other turbo bikes on the list, it was complex to
manufacturer, leading Suzuki to limit production numbers. As a result it wasn’t a big seller,
but that didn’t stop it surviving for five years.

4. 1984 Kawasaki GPz750 Turbo

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From the 1972 Kawasaki Z1 to the 2015 Ninja H2, Kawasaki has always been capable of
producing mind-bendingly fast superbikes. Therefore it’s not surprising that the GPz750
Turbo was the fastest of the turbo production bikes. The 738cc, 112bhp, turbo four-stroke
was by far the most powerful motor in the class, allowing the bike to achieve an impressive
10.71 quarter-mile time - in 1984! To produce that power Kawasaki took its already
advanced GPz 750cc motor and went to town, completely rebuilding it with reinforced
gearbox internals, racing pistons and a new exhaust.
Kawasaki also managed to achieve a milestone with the GPz750 Turbo. For the first time, a
motorcycle manufacturer had managed to produce a small capacity bike with the
performance to rival conventional 1000cc sportsbikes. For reference, the larger Kawasaki
GPz1100 produced 3bhp less than its boosted brother; the Turbo was a genuine competitor.
With its impressive performance, easily tuneable engine and good looks, the Kawasaki is
remembered as the best of the turbo bikes.

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 Kawasaki GPz750 Turbo Promo Film   SIGN IN

Unfortunately, even with the success of the GPz750, manufacturers quickly moved away
from forced induction. Ultimately, the turbo bikes as a whole were too expensive to produce,
the bikes were too heavy and chassis technology just wasn’t advanced enough to handle
more power.

5. 2015 Kawasaki Ninja H2

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Since the 1980s we’ve seen a handful of forced induction bikes; the Bimota
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DB11 VLX and
Vyrus 987 C3 4V being two of ourNoted
favourites, but they can hardly be called
architect John Nash built the neoclassical home on Regent’s Park ‘factory’. The
Bimota is basically a glorified Ducati 1198 and the Vyrus is a limited production, hand-made
and made it his personal offices toward the end of his life
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piece of artwork. These are not the kind of bikes you pop down to the dealer to have a1
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Luckily for us, Kawasaki was brave enough to return to the forced induction game. In mid
2014, when Kawasaki first revealed that it was developing a 300bhp supercharged
hyperbike, the automotive press was taken by surprise; everyone had an opinion. Some felt
that the bike would be too powerful and heavy, while others (myself included) didn’t care
about dynamics, we just wanted to see the return of a factory boosted machine.

Putting the argument of ‘too much power’ aside, Kawasaki picked the perfect time to
develop such a bike. With modern chassis technology, advanced electronics and sticky
rubber, it is now possible to produce a manageable high horsepower machine. Released in
early 2015, the 210bhp road bike comes in at a very reasonable £22,000. There’s nothing
else on the market like it, and even though the throttle response has been reported to be a
little ropey, what do you expect from a bike with hot hatch levels of power? At 238kg it’s not
going to worry a 204kg BMW S1000RR around a track, but ultimately that’s not the point.
Kawasaki has shown what is technologically possible.
And if 210bhp isn’t enough for you, you could always go all in and purchase the £41,000,
300bhp track only H2R. You know a bike is a serious bit of kit when you have to sign a
disclaimer which states that you will only ride it after using tyre blankets, and that you should
store the bike off the ground to avoid damaging the advanced rubber. Ironically, the bike is
actually too loud for most UK tracks, but don’t worry, you can always take it to the Isle of
Man and let rip. At TT 2015 Kawasaki rider James Hillier kit a GPS verified 206mph down
the fearsomely fast Sulby straight on what was supposed to be a demonstration run.
Brilliant.
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So CTzens, do you want to see more forced induction road bikes being produced? Or are
today’s refined superbikes enough for you? Let us know!

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