I remember reading about that Yamaha 4-cylinder machine in 1971, when I was a teenager. It looked fantastic, and the styling is modern even today. In the end Suzuki came up with a more viable solution, and produced the awesome GT750, one of my favourite bikes of all time. I'd sure want to buy one of those, if I can find one in good shape.
Highly appreciated report on this yam ! Memories come back when I recall a photo of this beauty appeared on one of our German Motorcycle-magazines. I was totally sure that this one would immediately follow my R5 / RD350 i rode at that time. But as fast as this dream appeared, it was gone again. Thanks for bringing back this almost forgotten memory. Rgds from Germany
Cheers mate my first road bike was an R5 350 I bought for 90 dollars my dad said to me you will never get that going road it out the drive way that afternoon loved that little bike all the best Australia. Two Srokes rule.
This New today with 100 HP. 2 Stroke and 150kg weight!! With a Öhlins dämper and front fork modern tiree and the dream bike is ready! Sorry for my bad english best wish Reiner from Germany
Except for the white seat and the goofy mufflers, a great looking UJM from Yamaha. You can definitely see the TZ 750 foreshadowing in this machine as well as the later Genesis- motor cylinder slant. Gotta wonder why Yamaha used the GL prefix as I always thought that was associated with Suzuki. Like so many others, sure would have liked seeing this bike make production. Still love them 2 strokes.
Great video my man, that's one bike I've never heard of. Love two strokes, in the 80's I had a gt750 triple, wish I still had that bike, I've owned over 50 bikes in the last 40 years.
That's a pretty good summary of the demise of big-bore two strokes; in my eyes, the Suzy 'water-bottle' was an exception to the rule but, when I had to make a choice between that lovely triple and an XS-11, there really wasn't any more to say; the Yammy is one of my all-time favorites, not least because it was so forgiving to abuse and mistreatment - unlike a typical stroker
Always keep in mind; the most revolutionary designs never come to market. Fuel mileage remains unchanged since the 1920's for a marketing reason. Engine manufacture and petroleum production is a partnership. This thing would have screamed, making four stroke engines look like dogs. So would have the Kawasaki square 4.
Some lament the demise of what was shaping up in the early eighties as the six cylinder era, not me (well, not that much), those bikes were never going to overcome the burden of bulk and weight, but to think of what might have been when I look at this and the Kawasaki square four 750, the potential four cylinder two stroke era, dear God!! It's enough to bring a grown man to tears!!!
@@quietknight8250 there was one 6-cyl prototype from Suzuki which I have also covered that did overcome the size problem you mentioned but due to world circumstances at the time it was canned too.
A lot of the running gear wound up on the TX750. The whole fork assembly, wheels, mudguards, headlight and instruments minus the temp gauge included. I believe the bike does still exist along with many more rare and concept bikes in the warehouse of the Yamaha Communications Plaza in Iwata.
I believe it was Dick Mann who tested a 4 cylinder 2 stroke Yamaha at Lime Rock. He said on the straightaway that the front wheel never touched the ground.
Don’t forget that in the early 70’s 2-stroke snowmobiles with fuel injection was available. The step to a road bike may not have been so difficult. But then, it never did happen on any other 2-stroke road bike either, so anybodys guess is as good as any ....
Such modesty, it was, as usual a very good video😊. As you say, it was a good looking bike except for the hideous silencers. I was never a real 2 stroke fan but always liked the Suzuki gt 750.
@@jeremyharris5102 the 750 Suzuki was a great bike those 3 cyl Suzuki engines were a bit different to a normal 2-stroke because they actually pulled really good down at low revs.
I am 72 years young. Back in 1973, I owned a Suzuki GT750J. The model before the front disc brakes. Later that year, I traded it in for a brand new GT550K triple. Rode it from Sydney to Perth and back. Met 2 guys at Ceduna. One on a Yamaha 650 twin and the other on a Yamaha 750 twin. The 750 twin was renowned for overheating. Back in those days there was 350 miles of dirt road from Ceduna to the WA border. Still got some old home movies of that trip.
It might have been a tourer when it came out of the dealer's showroom, but I suspect it would have been fairly easy to get another 10 or 15bhp out of it - step forward people like a young Stan Stephens 😁 The white seat and the Japanese 'ray-gun' silencers looked like pure West Coast but an easy fix for the Euro version. Given the lifecycle of bikes back in the early 70's - 5 to 7 years saw a lot of bikes come and go - I'm sure Yamaha could have got a good product run out of the GL. It might have had a bit of a problem a year or two down the road in California but there were plenty of other places that would have put up with the smoke for a decade or so. There must have been some other reason it was canned.
Want to see and hear big two-stroke blocks you have to look at the snowmobile scene and yamaha before moving to the 4-stroke sled has produced some not so bad ones.
Short but very good video. Right call by Yamaha even though I was fascinated by it and was really disappointed they didn't take it into production. Mufflers apart it was a cracking looking bike. I'd put it on a par or just slighyly ahead of the Suzuki GT 750 but no match for the KH 750, but I'm biased being a Kawasaki nut.
Thanks buddy. No point making the video any longer than needed. I don't bother milking videos to make them longer than necessary like some channels do. I imagine they do it just for the $. Cheers
Wrong, if I may > Uh, are We Forgetting the Suzuki GT 750 that Yamaha was way to late for street. True Tell, the reedvalve/ watercooled TZ 750 was Awesome with Crazy Kenny Roberts riding that Beast! 😉✌
@@lawrenceolds8392 I owned a 750 Water Bottle myself. That bike is covered elsewhere in the channel. This video is about a Yamaha prototype nothing else.
This yamaha GL 750 was never fitted with carbs & infact the engine was later used in a different form in snow mobiles . Had they ever put carbs on it ...wow it would have out sold the honda cb750/4 & the suzuki Gt750 aswell. You have to remember that in the 1970s ( my time for bikes) power / speed was all we cared about & this Yamaha would have been both. Could you imagine it with expansion chambers fitted omg it music to my ears😂
this is why i grow a crop of castor every year. extract castor oil, careful of the ricin... deadly stuff ;) shove all the stems, leaves, roots, and various grass clippings in a pressure vessel, pyrolytic breakdown to woodgas, distil for methanol... i tried fermenting the stuff first one year, ethanol... maybe worth revisiting when the sugarcane gets a bit more established? 100% eco friendly and renewable, carbon neutral clouds of beautiful smelling exhaust smoke...
@@daverees9344 Suzuki stopped making all their triples... Kawasaki canned the 750 etc. Once the 80s came there wasn't many left. A couple 500s, 350s, and 250s. They all focused mainly on 4-strokes.
Well that would have been good news. I have dreamed about a road version of the TZ750. But I'd rather se a version more like the TZ rather than the pedestrian looking GL... like the RD500LC and RG500 Gamma in the 80s . Apparently they were possible to produce and sell in the mid late 80s... sold decent around here I think (Sweden). Saw them quite often (same bikes?). 95hp for the Gamma. 88hp for the RD. The tz had 112-130hp in the early production versions. not imposssile in the 80s and a 160kg weight.
@@motorcyclecafe yeah I know, and I lament it. The tuning level of those 4-cylinder 500 at mid 80s, would have made a gp-light 750 110hp bike possible at least before 1983.
Lets get something right about 2 strokes engines and exspansion chambers . This was not invented or even thought of until late 1930's . But those was what to be tuned exhaust . The tuned exhaust developed much latter around the end of 1950s by an East German man named Walter Kaaden that worked for MZ . The concept is to gain as much HP as the cc of the engine could allow . The other thing with 2 strokes there is what is called Acoustic waves from each pulse of the exhausted gases . In the pipe that needs to move back and out for the the next pulse of gases not pushed but free flow out . To do ths chambers in the exhuast have to in the exhaust in order for the waves to freely flow in the correct direction for the next next wave . So the exhuast have to match the cc wave from the engine exhaust gases in each chamber . This is where black art becomes Science . Later the tuned pipe can be ajustable to where you want your peak turq to be at a give RPM . Getting on the pipe . In GP racing the 2 strokers run at top RPM to stay on the pipe That is the black art comes from .
A bloke in the pub reckons his mate's cobber told him his sister's boyfriend had a yarn with a stock agent who saw one out of the corner of his eye, pass him going the other way along the Nullarbor in a dust storm around midnight back in the day. I reckon he might have been onto something. I'll let him know you were asking. 👍
J ai vu cette moto au salon dans les années 72 moto élancée fine réservoir rouge pailleté si mes souvenirs sont bons 4 pots séparés dommage jamais commercialisée en france
In its place we got the TX750..... Only Suzuki will have dared with the GT750 to create a large liquid cooled 2-stroke. A 750 H2 does not exceed 55hp (the real ones). The GL750's engine was wooden, just a prototype.
@@motorcyclecafe 1000ccfour triumph quadrent prototype made in the seventys I think similar to two a pair of Bonneville twins would have been a game changer for the British bike maker
I remember reading about that Yamaha 4-cylinder machine in 1971, when I was a teenager.
It looked fantastic, and the styling is modern even today.
In the end Suzuki came up with a more viable solution, and produced the awesome GT750, one of my favourite bikes of all time.
I'd sure want to buy one of those, if I can find one in good shape.
I can totally see the familial DNA of this 750 in my '81 and '82 RD350LC's I had and loved for many years!
Imagine if this did get made, the 70's would have been vastly different and a lot of fun.
@@garthhayter9217 i know
Although not a production bike, Yamaha did go on to make the legendary TZ750 GP bike (1974 through to 79). Now that was an impressive machine!
Back then the big boys only wanted two bikes: the kz1000 and goldwing. Yamaha would've had to make it 1200cc's to sell it. Feature that 😮
It as a lot of fun!😁
Great Video! I Saw That Magazine Cover At The Newsstand In '72, I Was 13. Thanks For The Memories! (Like #71)
@@thewatcher5271 thank you. And excellent you are a tad older than me. Now i feel good 😉
Highly appreciated report on this yam ! Memories come back when I recall a photo of this beauty appeared on one of our German Motorcycle-magazines. I was totally sure that this one would immediately follow my R5 / RD350 i rode at that time. But as fast as this dream appeared, it was gone again. Thanks for bringing back this almost forgotten memory. Rgds from Germany
@@michaeldornquast1281 cheers mate and I am glad you liked it.
Cheers mate my first road bike was an R5 350 I bought for 90 dollars my dad said to me you will never get that going road it out the drive way that afternoon loved that little bike all the best Australia. Two Srokes rule.
This New today with 100 HP. 2 Stroke and 150kg weight!! With a Öhlins dämper and front fork modern tiree and the dream bike is ready! Sorry for my bad english best wish Reiner from Germany
@@ReinerSchwarz-rb6xg all good mate my German isn't the best 😉
Would have ended up closer to 120hp. My RZ350 had 59hp
Thanks for your great videos, well done, look forward to more in the future.
@@paulspeedbowl4522 glad you enjoy them mate!
These videos are simply awesome. Knowledgeable and friendly presentation. Thanks for posting mate.
@@stevenlangdon-griffiths293 thank you for your kind words buddy !
@@motorcyclecafe yours are the best motorcycle videos on TH-cam. You could progress to tv easily. Once again, thanks for posting your videos.
Straight off the bat just like your spoken words Brilliant
@@paulthompson8613 thanks I had to warn people
You dared to do the video with very little to go on, and I can appreciate that. Enjoyed it. Good job man! 👍🏻
@@mikeyerke3920 thank you
Except for the white seat and the goofy mufflers, a great looking UJM from Yamaha. You can definitely see the TZ 750 foreshadowing in this machine as well as the later Genesis- motor cylinder slant. Gotta wonder why Yamaha used the GL prefix as I always thought that was associated with Suzuki. Like so many others, sure would have liked seeing this bike make production. Still love them 2 strokes.
Great video my man, that's one bike I've never heard of. Love two strokes, in the 80's I had a gt750 triple, wish I still had that bike, I've owned over 50 bikes in the last 40 years.
Top look at a very interesting two stroke prototype from Yamaha. Never seen it before. Thanks.
Vry incredible video of vry superb 1970 yamaha 750 2stroke should had been a rocket
Well done, I remember vague stories about this , good effort with this video.
@@robert-wr6md thank you mate, it is a pretty lame video but I thought it important.
That's a pretty good summary of the demise of big-bore two strokes; in my eyes, the Suzy 'water-bottle' was an exception to the rule but, when I had to make a choice between that lovely triple and an XS-11, there really wasn't any more to say; the Yammy is one of my all-time favorites, not least because it was so forgiving to abuse and mistreatment - unlike a typical stroker
@@petersteen4014 Thanks, yes the Suzuki 750 was a very good 2-stroke. I owned all 3 of the Suzuki triples. I always thought the 550 was the best one.
@@motorcyclecafe That's what I've heard - I did ride the 380 on a couple of occasions, but it did need a lot more oomph obviously
Always keep in mind; the most revolutionary designs never come to market. Fuel mileage remains unchanged since the 1920's for a marketing reason. Engine manufacture and petroleum production is a partnership. This thing would have screamed, making four stroke engines look like dogs. So would have the Kawasaki square 4.
That would have been a fun machine
Some lament the demise of what was shaping up in the early eighties as the six cylinder era, not me (well, not that much), those bikes were never going to overcome the burden of bulk and weight, but to think of what might have been when I look at this and the Kawasaki square four 750, the potential four cylinder two stroke era, dear God!! It's enough to bring a grown man to tears!!!
@@quietknight8250 there was one 6-cyl prototype from Suzuki which I have also covered that did overcome the size problem you mentioned but due to world circumstances at the time it was canned too.
You can see the TZ 750 in that engine.
absolutely yes
A lot of the running gear wound up on the TX750. The whole fork assembly, wheels, mudguards, headlight and instruments minus the temp gauge included. I believe the bike does still exist along with many more rare and concept bikes in the warehouse of the Yamaha Communications Plaza in Iwata.
I believe it was Dick Mann who tested a 4 cylinder 2 stroke Yamaha at Lime Rock. He said on the straightaway that the front wheel never touched the ground.
I still have a TX 750 from new. It was my Dad’s. Still have the Vetter fairing.
@@jefferywylie4456that is excellent. Those bikes were notorious for reliability issues. I hope your dads is a good one.
Gorgeous bike!
Don’t forget that in the early 70’s 2-stroke snowmobiles with fuel injection was available. The step to a road bike may not have been so difficult. But then, it never did happen on any other 2-stroke road bike either, so anybodys guess is as good as any ....
Such modesty, it was, as usual a very good video😊. As you say, it was a good looking bike except for the hideous silencers. I was never a real 2 stroke fan but always liked the Suzuki gt 750.
@@jeremyharris5102 the 750 Suzuki was a great bike those 3 cyl Suzuki engines were a bit different to a normal 2-stroke because they actually pulled really good down at low revs.
I am 72 years young. Back in 1973, I owned a Suzuki GT750J. The model before the front disc brakes. Later that year, I traded it in for a brand new GT550K triple. Rode it from Sydney to Perth and back. Met 2 guys at Ceduna. One on a Yamaha 650 twin and the other on a Yamaha 750 twin. The 750 twin was renowned for overheating. Back in those days there was 350 miles of dirt road from Ceduna to the WA border.
Still got some old home movies of that trip.
It looks awesome 👍
would have been a collector bike now for sure
It might have been a tourer when it came out of the dealer's showroom, but I suspect it would have been fairly easy to get another 10 or 15bhp out of it - step forward people like a young Stan Stephens 😁 The white seat and the Japanese 'ray-gun' silencers looked like pure West Coast but an easy fix for the Euro version. Given the lifecycle of bikes back in the early 70's - 5 to 7 years saw a lot of bikes come and go - I'm sure Yamaha could have got a good product run out of the GL. It might have had a bit of a problem a year or two down the road in California but there were plenty of other places that would have put up with the smoke for a decade or so. There must have been some other reason it was canned.
Want to see and hear big two-stroke blocks you have to look at the snowmobile scene and yamaha before moving to the 4-stroke sled has produced some not so bad ones.
Short but very good video. Right call by Yamaha even though I was fascinated by it and was really disappointed they didn't take it into production. Mufflers apart it was a cracking looking bike. I'd put it on a par or just slighyly ahead of the Suzuki GT 750 but no match for the KH 750, but I'm biased being a Kawasaki nut.
Thanks buddy. No point making the video any longer than needed. I don't bother milking videos to make them longer than necessary like some channels do. I imagine they do it just for the $. Cheers
And the “GL” name went on to become the fabulous Honda GL Goldwing!
@@Supernaut2000 it did, there's a video specifically on Goldwings on the channel.
Wrong, if I may > Uh, are We Forgetting the Suzuki GT 750 that Yamaha was way to late for street. True Tell, the reedvalve/ watercooled TZ 750 was Awesome with Crazy Kenny Roberts riding that Beast! 😉✌
@@lawrenceolds8392 I owned a 750 Water Bottle myself. That bike is covered elsewhere in the channel. This video is about a Yamaha prototype nothing else.
This yamaha GL 750 was never fitted with carbs & infact the engine was later used in a different form in snow mobiles .
Had they ever put carbs on it ...wow it would have out sold the honda cb750/4 & the suzuki Gt750 aswell.
You have to remember that in the 1970s ( my time for bikes) power / speed was all we cared about & this Yamaha would have been both.
Could you imagine it with expansion chambers fitted omg it music to my ears😂
Honda don t go int that competiton CB 750 totaly dieferent motorcycle. Unique to be precise.
What a Bike that would have been.
The tree-hugging lentil-eating yogurt-knitters put paid to the great 2-stroke motorcycle
this is why i grow a crop of castor every year.
extract castor oil, careful of the ricin... deadly stuff ;)
shove all the stems, leaves, roots, and various grass clippings in a pressure vessel, pyrolytic breakdown to woodgas, distil for methanol... i tried fermenting the stuff first one year, ethanol... maybe worth revisiting when the sugarcane gets a bit more established?
100% eco friendly and renewable, carbon neutral clouds of beautiful smelling exhaust smoke...
I love 2 strokes but I love clean air also . 2 strokes are fun . Clean air makes that fun longer . So I also have to be a tree hugger first .
Aeroplanes produce huge quantities of emissions. Don’t ban those bastards
2 strokes not coming to an end in 1971, they were just starting. TZ750 came out 3 years later, I wonder if there were similarities in the 2 engines?
@@daverees9344 Suzuki stopped making all their triples... Kawasaki canned the 750 etc. Once the 80s came there wasn't many left. A couple 500s, 350s, and 250s. They all focused mainly on 4-strokes.
Have to admit the smoke trail left behind by my 2 stroke once I opened it up was ridiculous......
@@GlobalWarmingFraud in those days yes it was lol
Outbourd big capacity motors offer an insight of what could have beenha
Yeah mate .
Would have been great if this was made then give kawasaki triples a run to see who was faster 😂😂😂
Well that would have been good news. I have dreamed about a road version of the TZ750. But I'd rather se a version more like the TZ rather than the pedestrian looking GL... like the RD500LC and RG500 Gamma in the 80s . Apparently they were possible to produce and sell in the mid late 80s... sold decent around here I think (Sweden). Saw them quite often (same bikes?). 95hp for the Gamma. 88hp for the RD. The tz had 112-130hp in the early production versions. not imposssile in the 80s and a 160kg weight.
@@impalaSS65 500cc 2-stroke road bikes were as big as they got after the mid 70's. Both the Yam & Suzuki you mention were insane bikes in the 80's.
@@motorcyclecafe yeah I know, and I lament it. The tuning level of those 4-cylinder 500 at mid 80s, would have made a gp-light 750 110hp bike possible at least before 1983.
Pity it' wasn't put in to production. looks brilliant apart from ridiculous looking exhausts. great informative video. 🇬🇧
@@allanfoster5418 thank you !
considering the voice...
hows about something about the brief and early history of australian motorbike manufacturing?
@@paradiselost9946 Not a bad idea. Most probably wouldn't realize but there were a few. Cheers
Lets get something right about 2 strokes engines and exspansion chambers . This was not invented or even thought of until late 1930's . But those was what to be tuned exhaust . The tuned exhaust developed much latter around the end of 1950s by an East German man named Walter Kaaden that worked for MZ . The concept is to gain as much HP as the cc of the engine could allow . The other thing with 2 strokes there is what is called Acoustic waves from each pulse of the exhausted gases . In the pipe that needs to move back and out for the the next pulse of gases not pushed but free flow out . To do ths chambers in the exhuast have to in the exhaust in order for the waves to freely flow in the correct direction for the next next wave . So the exhuast have to match the cc wave from the engine exhaust gases in each chamber . This is where black art becomes Science . Later the tuned pipe can be ajustable to where you want your peak turq to be at a give RPM . Getting on the pipe . In GP racing the 2 strokers run at top RPM to stay on the pipe That is the black art comes from .
A bloke in the pub reckons his mate's cobber told him his sister's boyfriend had a yarn with a stock agent who saw one out of the corner of his eye, pass him going the other way along the Nullarbor in a dust storm around midnight back in the day. I reckon he might have been onto something. I'll let him know you were asking. 👍
@@tomobedlam297 how fast was it going I couldn't find out top speed 😉
@@motorcyclecafe He wasn't mucking around by all accounts. When he got to the next pub he was onto his third jug before his shadow caught up with him.
That bike looks like... A beast
J ai vu cette moto au salon dans les années 72 moto élancée fine réservoir rouge pailleté si mes souvenirs sont bons 4 pots séparés dommage jamais commercialisée en france
In its place we got the TX750.....
Only Suzuki will have dared with the GT750 to create a large liquid cooled 2-stroke.
A 750 H2 does not exceed 55hp (the real ones).
The GL750's engine was wooden, just a prototype.
@@fabbri4497 there was a 1000cc liquid cooled 2-stroke 30 years before the GT750
@@motorcyclecafe Scott, but here we are with the ancestors.
They decided to make the racing TZ750 out of this.
Cb 500 4 because I'm a bollix.
@@VickersV its on my list buddy 😉
Drove h2's. Never knew this existed nor the kawi square 4. Thought I knew my shit. Obviously not.
@@AndrewC.McPherson-xf5zw Neither did I until a while back.
Not with the AMA favouring HD.
i'd love to ride Allen Millyard 1000cc Kawasaki four cylinder two stroke or his five cylinder two stroke....
Pity it wasn't made for sale much like the triumph quadrent
@@PaulEvemy bloody hell buddy what the hell was the Triumph Quadrant? I know shit but that one is a new one to me 🤔
@@motorcyclecafe 1000ccfour triumph quadrent prototype made in the seventys I think similar to two a pair of Bonneville twins would have been a game changer for the British bike maker
@@PaulEvemy I will look into that one, cheers!
@@motorcyclecafe cool 😎 imagine that yam four cyl 2stroke would sound like a eight cylinder four stroke and been so smooth running
Too bad. Could have been a "civilized" H2
Yamaha would have smoked the kawa
Mean. I have a 72 RD350a in those same colours.
This would have been twice as amazing of an engine.
I barely survived on their twins. I would have ported one and died 😂
@@bobrogers7004 yep those 2 stroke Yamahas were great ay
I think Yamaha would have completely Dominated both the Road and the Dirt.
Its a transverse 4!