Looking back from today, it’s hard to appreciate the effect of the Honda CB750 when it first appeared in 1969. Honda already offered buyers a lot to choose from though it was all from the smaller displacement range, topping out with their biggest 450cc parallel twins, but in the 1960s, if you wanted performance, the Harley Davidson Sportster might be your choice, maybe a Triumph or a Norton. These were motorcycles for the guy looking for speed, blue jeans, leather jacket bikes. Sure, they were a little rough, they might leak a little oil but, hey, you were a little rough, too, and compromises must be made.
Hondas, on the other hand, were a nice bike, well built, a great value, smooth, something you could ride in your button down Madras shirt, khakis and penny loafers. They handled well, they were fun, but it was hard to pull off the tough guy image on a Honda, especially when “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” set the tone.
Then, the CB750 rolls out. A smooth 4 cylinder engine, powerful, 68 hp, fast, 120+ mph top speed, quick, 13 sec. 1/4 miles and all of a sudden, Honda had the whole market covered. They were overhead cam machines with hydraulic disc brakes when cable operation was the norm. No fuss, reliable operation, nice wide flat seat for 2 up riding, great handling, reviewers of the day ran out of superlatives describing this new motorcycle. You can only imagine what was going through the heads of engineers and marketing departments in companies from the U.S. and Europe, other Japanese companies, too.
The Honda CB750 marked the beginning of the end for the British performance bike and the Sportster has likewise fallen from grace. The Honda gave you comfort and reliability plus top of the line performance, now you didn’t need to compromise, it still didn’t have the bad boy image of those other bikes, that would take a little time and some work in a few garages and sheds.
When I look over all of the changes since then, all of the new motorcycles that have come and gone, it’s hard to identify another with an equivalent impact. It’s no wonder that good clean CB750s are rising in price as collectors want to have at least one example of the bike that changed everything.
Verbal says
I nearly bought a 1978 CB750 when I was shopping for my first full-size machine … in 2005. It was impeccably maintained but had nearly 100,000 miles on it, and would have cost me less than $2000. I eventually decided to get something with more modern brakes and handling, leaving the vintage to the collectors, but *wow* was that a beautiful machine. Those four exhaust pipes, just to show people how many cylinders you had!
Hopkins says
Nothing sounds like a sohc-4
davidabl says
It’d be fun to go back to Hunter S. Thompson’s side by side
reviews of the Vincent Black Shadow v.s the Honda, which he
called “the young Republican’s motorcycle” IIRC. Reviews
were in the “Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail” book I think.
I’ve seen “the Sausage Creature” and his Ducati review reprinted
many times, but not the Honda and Vincent piece.
zipidachimp says
I can remember a year or two before the cb750 came out, some guy from toronto put a 600cc honda car engine, 4 cylinders, in a bike frame and raced it.
it looked and sounded phenomenal, and the engine was a small jewel, really nice. wish I could remember his name, a really smart mechanic.( and visionary!)
PaulN says
When I was a little kid, I had two cousins who were brohters that owned a CB750 and a KZ1000. They would store them up on their center stands and I would sit on them and pretend I was riding. One time I went to visit and the KZ had some rash on it. The next time they were both gone. I was heartbroken! Great bikes, and great memories.
Steve says
I remember me and my friends ogling and checking out the CB750 up close when they were THE latest thing in bikes.
WOW, awesome fire breathing monsters to our teenage two-wheeler-eyes!
When I examine them now they appear petite and kinda’ fragile with narrow little wire rims, skinny fork downtubes that would look right today on a 250 maybe… they sure seemed larger than life to us back then!
Just picked up a copy of Motorcycle Classics Magazine containing an article on the 250cc ’68 Yamaha DT-1 the groundbreaking machine from the other end of the spectrum.
Street legal and all, it allowed a good pilot to outdo riders on exotic purpose-built European enduro machines.
Back then “Made In Japan” still carried the connotation ‘chintzy’, but
these two (and thereafter the myriad models in between) were responsible for the TOTAL revolution in motorcycling brought to us all by the engineers from The Land of The Rising Sun.
hoyt says
Bring back the bench-seat bikes! I need a ride my sweetie can ride behind me in style and comfort.
OMMAG says
I will never forget the first time I heard one coming up the street!
There were lot’s of OTHER Japanese bike around and the usual Brit’s ….. BUT NOTHING sounded like that CB750….!
By 1972 when I was ready to buy a “brand new” bike there were so many of the things around I couldn’t bring myself to do it!
Got on a Ducati GT750 instead …. no regrets!
Tim says
hoyt, my partner still says that the CB750F1 I had back in the day (I was young and it was all I could afford) is the most comfortable pillion seat she has ever been on.
FWIW I think the CB750F1 is the underappreciated and undervalued jewel of that range: you can pick up a really good F1 for a couple of grand, whereas anything earlier is at least five times that, or more. And this is a market where there were no “sandcast” bikes, the first ones here were K2’s I believe. There a few K0’s around now, all bought off ebay it looks like.
Walt says
I recall reading that when the cafe racers in GB started riding with a few Honda 750s in the pack, they found they had to wring out their Bonnies and Atlases like never before just to keep up. The twins started to break. It was a portent. A few years later, the whole British motorcycle industry blew a rod.
motoxyogi says
The Kawasaki Gpz900r was probably the only other really revolutionary bike. The fireblade really just took the same concept pushed it further an put more modern running gear on it
Brandon White says
The 70’s Honda inline 4’s are bulletproof. Got a chopped 78′ in the garage right now.
todd says
Funny how people wax over a 68HP bike now-a-days. An SV650 has even more power, quality, and agility but it won’t likely be as appreciated as much 30 years from now. Granted I’ve never owner a bike with more than 50HP…
To think that Honda and the rest insist that people need at least 100hp to keep up with traffic. If the CB750 or Z1 or R90S returned it would be shunned as a “beginner bike” even though they sold ship loads of them when they were new. What happened?
-todd
kneeslider says
todd,
The SV650 is better like so many other later bikes, but the SV650 didn’t redefine performance or offer innovative engineering the way the Honda did. Yes the Honda had only 68 hp but that engine was a leap ahead of the performance twins of the day, if the 750 inline 4 had only delivered 38 hp, it would have been ignored as an idea that didn’t work. Even then, horsepower was a big deal. The Honda just combined so many things in one package and could be used in so many ways that everyone else was left in the dust as they either gave up or began building something similar.
tom says
A senior Honda engineer was quoted once as saying the Honda company had only had a handful of original ideas, and they owed their success to superior execution of the ideas of others.
The CB750 transverse four layout was based on the MV Augusta bikes that dominated the Gran Prix races in the 1960s (and the MV Augusta bikes were an advancement on the earlier Gilera transverse fours….). What Honda did was put the idea on the street in a reliable, affordable package.
Honda’s true genius was in the boring, tedious, unglamorus sweat equity of manufacturing, and that’s why they are huge and revered today while the companies that actually pioneered innovative designs are forgotten.
tom
tom says
“To think that Honda and the rest insist that people need at least 100hp to keep up with traffic.”
The 1970s were the seminal CB750’s decade. And at the end of that decade, Honda’s best seller totaled up to be the CB350/360 twin!
tom
todd says
Tom, thanks for finding that tid-bit of information. If it wasn’t for motorcycle magazines with professional testers I believe a CB350 (or 400) would sell just as well today or better than they did through the ’70’s. Someone, somewhere has convinced the American public that they wouldn’t be happy on that bike when so many people were.
I can’t wait for a company with enough gumption (and clout) to offer a 400 road bike. Of course they couldn’t depend on the magazines to promote it.
-todd
Sean says
Todd, there are an awful lot of 400cc sports bikes out there. They’re an almost impossible market to sell in New Zealand, a friend of mine is asking $3500 for his GSX-R400 and isn’t getting any attention. A ZXR250 another friend of mine is selling is going for $5500, and getting a lot of attention. In New Zealand, as soon as you get your full licence, it seems to be the norm to either jump on a 600cc Jap 4, an SV650, or go for the 1000cc Jap 4, Ducati sportsbike, or an HD.
As for the CB750, it really is fantastic. Racebike technology with lights. It was the Desmosedici RR of it’s time.
todd says
Sean, no 400’s here in the States other than the DR-Z “dirt” bike. Only one 250 worth mention also, the Ninja 250R.
I’d hazzard a guess that 400’s would do well here (as they did through the ’70’s) because we do not have a tiered license structure. They are also desired in tight, twisty areas like in California. The CB750 wasn’t as popular in California because it was so large and heavy and the extra power wasn’t necessary.
-todd
kim scholer says
Nice bike in its own civilized way, but the CB750 still was just the opening act. Then the mighty and fearsome Z1 came….
Steve says
I have owned my ’70 model 750 KO since ’78. I still use it as an everyday rider. I have enjoyed making a few changes over the years and have taken the bike cross country several times with no problems but coming up with gas money. Ah the good old days! I am beginning to realize the popularity of these vintage bikes and could share comments with readers if you would like. The early model 750’s like mine definetly ran stronger than the later de-tuned models after government regs. were instituted and had gearing for 70 mph hwy speed limits of its day. I may buy a modern bike one day but I will never sell my Vintage 750 Four (actually 811 cc displacement after the wisco pistons).
Steve
JOHNNY CATTELL MN. says
I am buying and selling and restoring the 1969′ and early’1970 cb750 honda’s.It’s good therapy,
and relaxment for me. If it wasn’t for the CB750 Honda, I’d be driving my wife crazy. She’s glad
that I have something to occupy my time. So if anyone needs a restoration, look me up in Isanti
Minnesota. Johnny