FAT BOY?

I just read Frank Westworth’s excellent article on the Commando in RC194; a bike I have never ridden and probably never will. There was a comment on the weight of the 850, and that got me thinking of the weight of my Kawasaki 750 twin. Depending on the spec sheet you find, it’s shown as being anything from 60 to 80lb heavier than the Norton, that’s a massive difference. John Hunter, member

There’s a theory that the second / subsequent generations of Japanese 1970s superbikes went over the top in beefing up frame and suspension components which weren’t up to the task of handling the horsepower when the models were first launched. Perhaps that’s part of the excess mass? The geeks among us might now scurry to calculate the relative power-to-weight ratios of the final swathe of British bikes and their Oriental opposition…