There are lots of memorable motorcycles that created waves over the years, many people have their own favorites, but it was the Honda CB750 that rearranged the entire motorcycle market as soon as it came out. They offered comfort, reliability and performance, all combined into a single package at a great price. Competitors stood there, slack-jawed, as they watched their own product mix get stale overnight. I wrote about the dramatic transition of the Harley Sportster from performance king to bar hopper and Harley’s decision to immediately forfeit the performance title, pretty much without a fight. Kawasaki responded with the Z1 and the market took off, but it was the CB750 that made it happen.
In recent weeks the price of pristine early CB750s has been moving up rapidly, probably helped a bit as word of the magazine’s choice got out, but the Honda has always been a great bike to own and ride and if you have the room, it’s a good one to put in the garage along with anything else you might have. The aura seems to have transferred to other classic bikes of the period, too, and quite a few models are selling at a premium to what they were bringing only a short time ago. They’ve been once again identified as “collectible” and money is rolling in, trying to find the next big thing in an otherwise stagnant market. I had a few things to say on the subject some years back and it’s worth thinking about again.
So, congratulations to Motorcyclist magazine for 100 years and congratulations to Honda, too, for the CB750, the bike that changed everything.
marc says
right as rain the cb750 introduced me to riding,bought it from my friend when he moved. rode it , tinkered with it , learned from it,enjoyed it. have owned several cb 750 over the years along with other cbs 400 500 550 everyone of them a mechanics dream to work on, but you never really had to work on them , just farkle them. RIDE EM LIKE YOU LOVE THEM not like your stole it !
B50 Jim says
The bike that sank England. Honda looked at the best English bikes of the time and found their weak spots: Bothersome kickstarting? Put on an electric starter. Troublesome oil leaks? Split the cases horizontally and pay attention to machining mating faces. Hellish vibration? Add two cylinders and balance it. Failure-prone electrics? Nippondenso, not Lucas. Weak brakes? Use a front disk. Questionable reliability? All of the above. Fixed. Honda did nothing earth-shaking with the CB750; they merely incorporated technology that had been around for years in the automotive market, added attractive styling that was a slightly Japanese take on traditional English bikes, and sent them to dealers. Honda already had a reputation for solid, reliable smaller bikes, as well as a positive image thanks to its “Nicest People” ad campaign from a few years before. While the English motorcycle industry imploded by doing everything wrong in response to the Japanese threat, Japan, Inc. got its act together in a big way and never looked back. Granted, they had a lot of help in the form of government assistance and by dumping bikes on the American market, but they had a superior product that sold itself. The rest is history.
micky c says
USA showed them how to do it after WW2(came back to bit them in the ass)
john smith says
people like W Edwards Deming offered their services to American companies, but the Japanese were more receptive. American companies didn’t need quality: they were making all the money they needed or wanted.
Rick says
Really? Japan was manufacturing motorcycles before we “showed” them how to do it. If anyone “showed” them how to do it, it would be the british bikes of the period. The japanese produced small, lite, affordable for almost anyone motorcycles, very similar in design and ergonaomics to the brit bikes of the era. American bikes at that time were huge leaky behemoths, and were too costly for most people. The only thing that America may have “showed” them was mass production manufacturing techniques. Bite us in the ass?, no—sorry, the japanese didnt bite us in the ass, the American made bikes became stagnant to the point of being a world joke, while the japanese mc industry embraced technology and innovation advanced manufacturing techniques the american mc motto became “keep the legend alive”.
lostinoz says
Bikes that I have owned that I will never forget for reasons listed:
67 kawasaki A-1 250 (first street bike)
93 HD softtail (worst_Bike_ever)
73 honda 750 (indestructible, comfortable, good looking, not enough good i can type, bought to replace HD)
99 Ducati 750 (performance perfection for my riding style)
Motorcycle of the Century? oh yes, totally agree. Sometimes, no, all the time, I wish I STILL had that bike. No it wasnt the fastest bike ive had or the best performing, but honestly the best all around bike for EVERYTHING i could ever imagine. It did it all, without having a pretentious persona. it was accepted by people and non-threatening around non-motorcyclists, and it was admired by those that WERE motorcyclists. congrats honda, you did it right with the CB, perhaps its time to look at those roots and do it again in the NEXT century.
todd says
Sure, it changed everything but for everyday riding on a CB I’d rather have the CB500-550. Such a better bike but that’s not the point. I’m sure all those crusty CB’s are going to get rolled out of garages all across the US; “No, your clapped out ’81 CB750C is not worth 10 grand…”
-todd
Jon says
A cb500? With its weak clutch? At least the 550 fixed that but you still had to grab 2 handfuls of throttle to get moving. The cb400F is a much better bike than the 500/550.
Tom Lyons says
I can see how the magazine came to that conclusion.
That was the bike that changed everything.
The only question remaining is if you think it changed everything for the better, or for the worse?
Racetrack Style says
Interesting question Tom that I think will have different answers based on the myriad of roads history has gone down since then. That would make a good conversation over a pint.
Another interesting half-pager in Motorcyclist was the flat 4 motor from MV mounted longitudinally. Somewhat related because MV was trying to combat the rising 2 strokes from Japan
B50 Jim says
In response to Tom, I’d say for the better. Before the CB750, riders had to carry tools and parts if they wanted to ride any distance. The CB 750 simply ran — no muss, no fuss. Tune it up each Spring, change the oil and adjust the chain, new tires if necessary, and off you go. Pretty much like operating a car. No yearly teardowns and rebuilds, no mysterious electrical gremlins, no cracked frames, no 1930s-era clutches, no breakdowns in the middle of nowhere. What’s not to like? Touring riders soon discovered that a Vetter fairing and Corbin-Gentry seat turned the CB into a decent road machine at a reasonable price. Sporting riders learned how to improve so-so handling, boost power reliably, and go fast. Everyday riders discovered the joys of motorcycling unencumbered by all that wrenching and tinkering. OK, so I enjoy wrenching and tinkering (or I wouldn’t own a BSA), but most riders would rather ride than work on their bikes. The CB 750 delivered in spades and dragged the industry, kicking and screaming, into the modern era.
Tom Lyons says
Thanks Jim.
No doubt that will be the majority reply.
I have always found it curious that people seem to think “better” means “never having to touch it”.
Thank God that people don’t think that way about their girlfriends!
LOL.
B50 Jim says
My girlfriend certainly isn’t the “never have to touch it” type. My wife, on the other hand…
THAT’S A JOKE, SON! My longest-term relationship IS my bike.
Carolynne says
My husband has a boat, I call it “the mistress” because he spends all his time rubbing and buffing that thing. If I got half the touching that boat got I would be one very very happy woman
B50 Jim says
Carolynne —
My reply to your comment got misplaced — it’s at the end of the posts. Your predicament is one shared by women everywhere.
BTW: The B50 is running again! With help from the excellent folks at Baxter Cycle, I obtained all the parts needed to build a new clutch, and the bike is back on the road, running better than ever. Now, if I could only fix that small oil leak at the rocker box, but it seems to be built in at the factory. All attempts to seal it over the years have failed. I just carry a shop rag and wipe it off when I stop.
Jon says
People like to work on bikes on their own terms, not because they have to just to ride a bit. My CB needs new seals, when I do that, it will get slightly bored(once over) and the head will be ported. Those 2 things I will not do as I do not have the tools and I am not spending hundreds on a flow bench to make sure the port flows properly.
Point is, I like tinkering with my bike and doing regular work on it. I would not like to constantly fix issues that shouldn’t exist, such as lucas electrics.
HigherRPM says
I remember the first time I saw & heard a CB750. I was riding a 305 Super Hawk at the time (BTW B50 Jim the 305 was quite a reliable bike). A friends roommate showed up riding a new (sand cast engine) CB750. It was so awesome I was totally blown away. The bike made aural music and was incredibly fast. Honda really made a historical statement with that bike and it changed motorcycling (IMHO for the good) forever.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
Already, some of you question whether it was “better” however you want to define the word, but the point is really the impact the CB750 had. As I noted above and in the earlier article linked, the CB750 was a bike that influenced the market like just about no other bike. As B50 notes, it brought the industry into the modern era.
There have been many bikes since that have outdone the CB in every way, as should be expected, but they were responding to the CB750, they had to, their offerings came up short and business as usual wasn’t enough. The British bikes were the most obvious casualties, they had nothing to come back with and became relics overnight. The Sportster lost its performance image and never got it back. I don’t know if the Honda folks knew how transformational it was going to be, but I’m sure they were extremely pleased after the fact.
Leo Speedwagon says
This bike is to the motorcycle industry what the 747 is to the tourist industry.
B50 Jim says
Perhaps the folks at Honda said, “The beat us 24 years ago; this will even the score.”
Just kidding! The Japanese are known for looking ahead, not back, as opposed to the English — their entire system, from manufacturing to afternoon tea right down to their tax structure, was geared toward doing things they way they always had. When their bikes were among the best in the world (the best of a bad lot, I’d say) they could get away with it. However, their system was the exact opposite of what was needed to counter Japanese competition. They saw what the Japanese were doing from the early 60s on and still did nothing about it. Then a series of spectacularly bad business decisions (3-wheel scooters, for one) drained the resources they needed to modernize, if they had been constitutionally able to do so, and by the time they figured out what they had to do, it was far too late.
Tin Man says
For maybe the 1st time, I AGREE with Todd. I still see the 750 as a oversize Whale, the 1st of the bigger is better Bikes that are oh so popular today. Four Carbs, Really?? Four exhaust pipes, Why?? Id be more inclined to go all the way back to the 350 Scrambler, If it wasnt so darn heavy. My favorite Asian bike was the RD Yamaha, fast and Good handling, A rare combo from back in the day.
Leo Speedwagon says
You’re not supposed to intellectualize it’s considerable shortcomings or advantages. There are many bikes that make more sense, this is the bike that perverted our motorcycle minds, I think it’s called marketing.
dannyb278 says
32 years ago my dad parked his 1974 honda cb750 with 8000 miles on the clock, in our family barn when his first son (me) was born. Now, 32 years later, I’m having my first kid and his first grandchild and we both felt it was the perfect time to bring the bike back out. Time has been hard on the bike, but the restoration has begun.
Tom says
I had been looking for an old cb750 or similar four cylinder honda for awhile now. I had noticed that they are indeed getting scarcer, as more people are trying to sell them at higher prices. I just wanted a simple engine to build a bike around. Seems like a lot of other people are wanting the same.
Leo Speedwagon says
American magazine, American taste and opinion. I’m sure no one but an Anglo Saxon will agree…
Nicolas says
Europeans agree too, this bike changed it all, everywhere it was sold. Game changer.
jack says
Ah. Those racist Americans. So unaware of other cultures. I can’t believe they showed this much favouritism and chose an American bike.
OMMAG says
When the bike first came to market there were at least 3 or 4 in our little town. The first one was bought by a guy who owned a bike shop, and sold Triumphs, Beezers, Ossas and Maicos. I remember very well the first time a heard that bikes sound … those early Honda pipes wer not real quiet.
By 1972 Honda fours were about the only street bikes being bought in our area. Yes …. the Honda inline four was the most game changing bike of the last century.
The only other possible choice was another Honda … the C100 which started the motorcyle boom ….
Johnny Ro says
Agree. To the consumer of large recreational motorcycles in the West, it was a game changer.
The thing did not come from nowhere though. The Brit bike makers were already dead men walking in 1969. I read a Harvard Business School case on motorcycle industry 25 years ago. Japanese had built up a modern industrial base after the war, with machine made bikes, cranking out millions of tiddlers and perfecting their processes. High quality control baked into the automated processes. Brits saw this very clearly and did not want to invest while it was happening. Case closed, game over.
All the Japanese companies were capable of making this bike, but Honda had the clearest marketing vision.
Harley was very lucky to survive. Competing on image was very very smart, although I myself do not personally subscribe to the Harley image yet, after 40 years of riding. ?1930s Kansas, half horse and half steam engine, plus bad boy who ran away from the farm? I still can’t quite say what Harley stands for.
My image is 1950-70s boy racer although I am starting to trend towards 2 wheel motor home (ST1300 or FJR next?).
Tim says
No question that the CB750 revolutionized motorcycling. It’s influences can still be directly seen in every modern sport bike. Of course the components have been updated, but the basic layout of a laterally mounted 4 cylinder had remained the preferred performance layout since. Sure other engines were built to compete, the very high end Twins and complex V-Fours spring to mind, but the proof is in the showroom, and on the race tracks. I-4 bikes are incredibly common now, and are still providing the performance benchmark.
I was talking to a Professor of mine about motorcycles. He had been riding a 50’s Triumph, and had been for years, when the CB750 came out. He said it was nothing short of incredible. It’s power, handling, comfort, and reliability, were simply years ahead of any other bike. He bought one new, and rode it for the next 30 years. He still has the bike, and only stopped riding it because his age.
I can’t think of any other bike that single-handedly changed the industry more.
joe says
The CB750 was certainly a revalution in its day, but I would disagree about its incredable handling.Compared to it’s competiters it was very reliable bike, but it did have a few quirk’s, like leaky head gaskets and timing chain slippers shredding and fouling the oil passage to the cam shaft.The first multi cylinder superbike that inspired the Honda design was the 4cly Munch Mammut .Of course it was way too expensive for mass production and Honda came out with the perfect motorcycle in price, design and real reliability .The rest is history.
B50 Jim says
Dream on, Carolynne. A woman is a woman, but a boat is a BOAT.
On the other hand, you know where his “mistress” is, even if he spends more money on it than he would a regular mistress.
mattg says
The CB is the authentic prototypical bike as imprinted on my 5 year old self:)
Japanese industry seems to get frequently accused of being “unoriginal”. If radically improving manufacturing standards is copycat – who are they copying exactly? Not sure how much weight the award has but I think it’s fairly earned.
B50 Jim says
Nobody had seen anything like it. The closest you could come at the time in terms of reliability was BMW, and their bikes were rather stodgy and priced out of reach for most riders. The CB 750 delivered decent performance, good (not great) handling and solid reliability at an affordable price. I knew a fellow who bought a new one in ’74 — parked next to my B50 (yes, I had it then), and it made my still-newish, leaking Beeza look like a relic from the Industrial Revolution. He was amazed with its smooth power, steady handling and total lack of drama. “I just push a button and ride!” he crowed, while I went through the multi-step starting sequence on the BSA — several times before successfully starting it and keeping it running. That was the CB experience for riders everywhere, and most of them decided they wanted one.
Jon says
you must be mistaken. The head gasket on my cb is the original and barely weeps any oil, a light dirty dusting is all. Still on my original can chain and hardware for it. My oil passages are fine. Sounds like a lot of old wives tales you have heard.
OMMAG says
Another thing the CB750 and its family created was a boom in the aftermarket and performence parts and service business. Bigger shops with better equipment and service providing a better selection of parts
John F says
The CB750 was the first in the line of the motorcycle revolution, I’m lucky enough to have what is arguably the last of that line, the Suzuki GSX1400 which is like a CB750 on steroids. It’s an amazing bike that I will never sell. It was a mistake on Suzuki’s part for never selling it in the US, you guys don’t know what your missing.
wesley says
glad I bought one on Ebay years ago on a MOMENT’S WHIM and then had to scramble to AZ to pick it up. AND it’s heavy enough to keep my in shape.