25 Years Ago March, 1973
25 YEARS AGO MARCH, 1973
What were the “Big Berthas” of motorcycling, circa 1973? The Munch 1200 TTY and Kawasaki Z-1, of course. Described as luxuriously heavy and astonishingly fleet, the TTY, powered by an 1177cc, four-cylinder NSU car engine, was a highly specialized machine handcrafted at Friedl Munch’s 35-employee German factory. “To own one,” the editors said of the $4750 behemoth, “you put your love for motorcycling on the line. The TTY is a dream that tears your heart out. And ravishes your bank account.”
• Conversely, the 82-horse, dohc Z-1 sold for a more pedestrian $1895. It, too, was powered by an inline-Four, and it opened a whole new era for Kawasaki. Earlier H-1 and H-2 two-strokes may have been quicker stoplight-to-stoplight, but the smooth-running Z-1 was more versatile.
• On the dragstrip, T.C. Christenson’s twin-engine Norton became the quickest motorcycle in history at the ’72 Ontario Nationals, posting a record 8.52-second pass at 165 mph. Designed and built by Christenson’s cohort John Gregory, the half-faired, Hilborn-injected dragster produced an estimated 260 horsepower, and consumed more than a gallon of nitro-heavy fuel in a single run.
• Off-road, Sweden’s Ake Jonsson swept the ’72 Trans-AMA Motocross Series with an unprecedented nine-straight victories. Reigning 500 MX World Champion Roger DeCoster finished second in the title chase, with American Brad Lackey a distant sixth. -Matthew Miles
