Motorcycle of the Century

[montmil]

Motorcyclist magazine has been celebrating their 100th year of publication with numerous vintage and historical motorcycling articles during 2012. Motorcyclist is the longest continuously published motorcycle magazine in the world.

In this month's issue, they have selected their choice of Motorcycle of the Century- the Honda CB750. Runner-up is the 1960 Triumph T120 Bonneville. The 1923 BMW R-32 also shared the podium.

Motorcyclist of the Century nominees included Kenny Roberts, Harley and Davidson, Max Fritz, Joey Dunlop, Edward Turner and, the Motorcyclist magazine's selection, Malcolm Smith.

Unless something convinces me otherwise, I'm good with the selections. The CB750 truly changed everything about motorcycles; their design, production quality, performance, the whole enchilada. And Malcolm Smith has been a personal hero even before On Any Sunday debuted. "That was fun!"

Talk among yourselves. Let's share opinions.  

[2dogs1cat]

I'm a bit nostalgic and would consider the following a strong contender:




;^)

[wilcom]

I subscribed to Motorcyclist just to read Gordon Jennings. Hope they gave him an award

Damn,  I miss that guy............................

[Lucky_Lou]

The CB750 was a watershed moment i remember that the UK manufacturers panned it at the time Jap Crap and all that, boy did they end up eating their words.
Was this a response from BSA??
 
I spotted it at Squires recently

Lou

[Barry]

I think the reason that British and maybe other motorcycle manufacturers didn't take the early Japanese seriously enough was they looked at the the quality of materials and finish on a Jap bike. Frankly compared to a contemporary Triumph or BSA the alloy was poor, the stick welded frames were atrocious and the seam welded silencers looked cheap. Just look at that BSA in the picture above. The material quality and finish is fabulous. When I bought a brand new Triumph 750 in 1975 I knew I what I was getting - an outdated design built from quality materials. I only rode it for 12 months then traded it for a Z900. What a revelation. Wish I still had them both now.

The Japs had used cheap materials and construction methods where they could get away with it but for the most part the internal engine design, precision and construction methods were in another league.

BMW survived didn't they. They were also using quality materials in a dated design. The difference was that design was fundamentally much better than a Triumph or BSA.

[Ed Miller]

The CB750 was a watershed moment i remember that the UK manufacturers panned it at the time Jap Crap and all that, boy did they end up eating their words.
Was this a response from BSA??
 
I spotted it at Squires recently

Lou

Why didn't they run the CB750 in the Isle of Man?  If they did, Triumph beat them.  They did run R75s to no avail.  Starting in 1970 a Trident won the production class mountain course every year until the late 70s.  

Triumph:  the parts that fall off were probably slowing me down anyway.

[Lucky_Lou]

I think Suzuki got the drop on them, followed by Kawasaki i pass Mick grants old House (where is he now?) almost every day its just a couple of miles down the road.
Lou

[nhmaf]

So many possibilities in my opinion - Im not sure about the other selections, but I would agree that the Honda 750 K0 was a major game changer for all of motorcycle-land.

[Motu]

Was this a response from BSA??
 

No, the Rocket III/Trident was introduced before the CB750, and the Commando before the triples. Royal Enfield had a 750 in the late '60's too.

Yes, the CB750 was a watershed moment, but to me started a trend that went on for some decades. Whereas the triples had Girling shocks and Dunlop tyres made specifically for them, the CB750 was sent out with atrocious suspension and dangerous tyres.  This led to people accepting poor handling and taking engine performance as the sole reason to own a bike. It was a long time before Japan turned their handling around with good frames, suspension and tyres. The British and Europeans already had it - but 1/4 mile times and top speed figures were  what sold bikes back then.

And yes, I can criticise the CB750 because I owned one -  oh, very fast, but not handling I liked.

[trips]

Ha, when I read the thread title, I thought CB750 immediately. I love mine

[interiorak]

I still have my Triumph Daytona that i bought new in 1971.  It has always been a maintenance nightmare (8-<) . . . but love dies hard.  I rode the Alcan in the late 1970s with a friend who had a CB750.  At the end of the day he could just sit back and slap mosquitos.  I had to tinker for at least an hour duct taping and bale wiring the triumph back together.  She made the round trip . . . but i wouldn't buy another one.  New ones are probably better.  I'll stick with my 86 R65 . .  unless the 81 r80gs i just bought wins out after my ride back to AK in August (8->)

[Bengt_Phorqs]

I'm going to step out here and suggest another bike that was a significant game changer.  The Yamaha DT-1.  That bike probably did more to get people riding than the CB750 did.  It was a good entry level bike, affordable at under $1,000 and pretty much bullet proof.  Guys would ride them for a few years then move on to the more expensive and bigger bikes.

[suecanada]

Hey Bengt....my former husband Rick was passing my 1957 Volkswagen out in Winnipeg one morning in 1970 when both of us were off to MA courses at the U. of Manitoba. I fell in love with the bike...the guy was quite a bit later!!!! The bike was gold with a white wee stripe on the gas tank. I later bought a used RT1, the 360 version Yammie enduro and regretted it immediately; too hard to kick over. I'd like to have a DT1 now. It could do it all and deserves recognition in the dual purpose category, all around bike. The CB750 Honda is hard to dispute in its category even though we all said "there goes a sewing machine". But they were going!. The Brits we loved were probably sitting in the driveway getting oil over the pavement as we were having to keep fixing them a lot. I suppose it is easy to criticize from the back of our workshops