Wellll, the drum brakes work much better if properly adjusted and tuned up. Maybe scuff the iron-like pads. At least I found that to be the case for the 1973 R75/5 I restored.
Biggest drawback I felt about mine was the overall agricultural feel of all the controls compared to a modern bike. Things like the firm clutch pull and fast engagement, the way it shifted, throttle response, and all that. Compared to my FJR1300 at the time you had to, um, plan ahead.
But with the forks properly tweaked (lol, tweak to straighten) it rode fine all the way up the ton, with none of the common instabilities even with big replica Krauser bags.
The darn Bing carbs never worked well so a set of Mikuni’s fixed that. Cosmetically they’re crap though. Ignition worked fine but I swapped a Boyer electronic in there. Enduralast generator system prevented charging issues. Palo Alto Speedometer fixed mine (a traditional weak part) but that was expensive.
Love these bikes for personal reasons. They’re what my dad rode when I was a kid.
