Bike with biggest effect on motorcycling

[blackiedog]

Originally Posted by ImpactG

Course I had to take a look at your profile and check your age. We're not too far off, but I guess eight years makes all the difference.

Sure, it never was the prettiest bike out there, but it sure impressed us young rebels with it's power. Heck, even today it's power and speed is still impressive! But even today, you're right, it sure isn't much of a handler.

I rode a 900 eliminator around those times. As awesome a bike as it was, I wouldn't have challanged a V in a straight line...

Eight years isn't much..but at that time when Japanese bikes where comming alive a lot happened. We all ran Z-1's and were modified as much as we could. There was a pack of 12 of us at the time and most of our 900's were bored to 1100+ along with 29 smooth bores, yoshimura frame kits and so on. Yes we were impressed with the V's out of box pulling power but we could out pull it and of course out handle it too. This was on Vancouver Island which was all twisties..so handling was important. It was the ara of the "Cafe Racer"...

[Drifter]

The very first one!

[atomic47]

The one you currently ride.

[JimmyD]

Definitely agreeing with the CB750. It essentially started the sport bike movement and perfected the UJM.

And Harley. As much as I hate to admit it they're what every v-twin cruiser on the market today is imitating. They must have done something right to cause all that hoopla. (hint: it wasn't reliability lol)

[Joekawasaki]

Harley has sold America a bill of goods. People will pay three times what a bike is worth for a bike thats worth half as much.

[Jeff.saunders]

There are a number of very key motorcycles in the evolution of the motorcycle.

The CB750 put a reliable, smooth machine in the hands of everyday people. It wasn't particularly fast, and it didn't handle as well as most of the British/European bikes. But more importantly, it didn't leak oil - and you didn't have to be a mechanic to ride one. Although the Japanese had some success with smaller motorcycles prior to this, Honda really established the credibility of the Japanese companies as makers of motorcycles.

The Z1 ushered in the modern performance bike era. kawasaki milked the design of the Z1 engine all the way up to 2005 with the last of the police bikes. Not only was the Z1 fast out of the box, but the engine is incredibly overengineered. Go to the local drag strips on a Saturday night and you still see old 2-valve Z1's hanging with modern bikes... Being able to punch a 900cc engine out to 1500cc AND still run a stock crank (albeit welded) is unreal.

The GL1000 is really the first bike designed as a touring bike. Water cooled and shaft drive - super smooth riding. Really the first motorcycle to deviate from the UJM design and open up a whole new area of design for the future.

In a similar sense the Z1R (KZ1000-D1) moved in the industry in the sportbike direction - with the early Ninja, VF750's and GSX's kicking open the sportbike door fully.

The V-Fours from Honda could have been far more influential - sadly many of them suffered cam failures due to a poor oiling system - the early VF750 in particular was notorious as a cam-eater.

There are certainly a number of bikes that failed to be influential - even though they were revolutionary at the time. The Suzuki RE5 rotary engined bike is a great example. The CB750 Automatic is another - but how long before an automatic is mainstream - probably not too long now with the bloated cruisers now in production.

[A2rider]

Like this one, Jeff?

[Jeff.saunders]

Yup, simple to work on and incredibly reliable.

[r2kool4u]

THat bike looks good to me. I like the KZ series as thats what me dad has with over 80K on the clock and not one engine bolt turned.

[JimmyD]

Originally Posted by Joekawasaki

Harley has sold America a bill of goods. People will pay three times what a bike is worth for a bike thats worth half as much.

Hate on them all you want, the modern Harley's are dependable well engineered bikes and the only reason the Japanese cruiser market still exists is because they copied their design almost to the tee.

It really says something when the efficient Japanese motorcycle manufacturers chose to use an inferior design in their v-twins, the single crankpin. Then copy the fenders and classic design Harley made famous, so much so that most people can't tell the two apart.

There's a business plan for you. "Throw 40 years of progress out the door to copy an inferior engine Harley's had for years." But that's what sells and that's what every cruiser owner on this forum is sitting on.

Save for the BUBF vulcans. But look how those turned out.

[mrblanche]

No doubt the Honda 50 brought motorcycling to the masses, pushed hard by the "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" advertising campaign. That brought in a lot of people. The Honda Hawk (305?) then made it possible to have a fairly serious bike, and the CB750 clinched the Honda line as capable of meeting the needs of virtually every motorcyclist.

Virtually every new bike has its niche appeal and its devotees, but very few bikes can claim the numbers of adherents as those 3 Hondas.

[honestlyinsane]

Originally Posted by JimmyD

Hate on them all you want, the modern Harley's are dependable well engineered bikes and the only reason the Japanese cruiser market still exists is because they copied their design almost to the tee.

It really says something when the efficient Japanese motorcycle manufacturers chose to use an inferior design in their v-twins, the single crankpin. Then copy the fenders and classic design Harley made famous, so much so that most people can't tell the two apart.

There's a business plan for you. "Throw 40 years of progress out the door to copy an inferior engine Harley's had for years." But that's what sells and that's what every cruiser owner on this forum is sitting on.

Save for the BUBF vulcans. But look how those turned out.

without question Harleys are more reliable than years past , but only thing they copied is the look. Last I checked Harley big twins still don't have Liquid cooling. I also do believe that alot of the Metric cruisers had F.I. before HD offered it. They don't run shaft drives on anything which I actually prefer.

[sdbrit68]

Originally Posted by mrblanche

No doubt the Honda 50 brought motorcycling to the masses, pushed hard by the "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" advertising campaign. That brought in a lot of people. The Honda Hawk (305?) then made it possible to have a fairly serious bike, and the CB750 clinched the Honda line as capable of meeting the needs of virtually every motorcyclist.

Virtually every new bike has its niche appeal and its devotees, but very few bikes can claim the numbers of adherents as those 3 Hondas.

now a days with all the custom Hondas on the market..........they should go real hard core in their advertising.

sell a off the rack custom with the television ads similar to the big dog choppers and some half naked girls

" This aint yo daddys honda no mo, beatch"

I think it will go over well

[sdbrit68]

Originally Posted by Joekawasaki

Harley has sold America a bill of goods. People will pay three times what a bike is worth for a bike thats worth half as much.

do the math.............a Harley IS NOT 3 times the price of a comparable metric motorcycle

And I dont believe they have sold america any more of a bill of goods than any other company sells here. It is an american Icon, same as coke or the yankees.

yes, they sell an image, so what ?

Motorcycling for the most part is still a hobby, many of us do use them for work every day...............but how many on here wear leather instead of textile which from my understanding is a better material ?

how many wear half helmets instead of FF

how many put on after market pipes or chrome ?

so that bill of goods pretty much extends to the metric bikes as well

[elr658]

There is a motorcycle I forgot that NOBODY mentioned. The 1969 Yamaha DT-1.
It CREATED the dirt movement in the US. It's last descendant was the YZ-490.

Most significant streetbike, First superbike. 1969 Honda CB750
Most significant dirtbike, Yamaha DT-1
Most significant cruiser, Yamaha XV750H Virago
Most significant Barge, 1975 Honda GL1000
Last great step forward, 1987 Yamaha FZR1000
Most significant engine, 1936 Harley Davidson EL Knucklehead.

[sdbrit68]

was the dt-1 the dirt bike that weighed about a half ton ?

I think I remember it

[Slo'Poke]

Originally Posted by NCDave

I think the Suzuki GS450T has had the greatest impact on motorcycling throughout the world, because that's what I started riding first!

I like your thinking! I add in the Vulcan 500 LTD.