Motorcycle of the Century

[George Ryals]

I missed aquiring a 600 Panther by procrastinating (muddling) a little too long. I would love to have another chance. I need another classic sidecae tug.

[Sibbo]

As part of their celebration of their 100 year anniversary, "Motorcyclist" magazine has just named the Honda 750 as their pick for Motorcycle of the Century. Can't argue; I believe it would have been my pick as well. They also named the 1923 R32 in the second tier, calling it an "engineering masterpiece" with high praise for Max Friz.

Ah, I didn't know it had to be a sport bike , just a bike .

Der Panther .



There's a nice slightly ratty one for sale here but I haven't got the ready .... a serious pity !

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/PANTHER-1961 ... 500wt_1196

[Zombie Master]

Yes, no question that the /5 series handled better and were head and shoulders above the 750 in their overall feel of
quality and solid engineering. I still remember my first ride on one - - the paint, the castings, the welds, the mechanical sounds, the toolkit, the ergos, just everything about it oozed care and quality. I was hooked and I owned one within a month. Still have it. Never even considered a Honda 750 at the time. But the /5 was not, IMO, the milestone bike that the Honda was in terms of mass-marketing this level of motorcycling high tech (for 1969) in such a reliable and affordable package.[/quote]


I was coming off good handling light British bikes at the time I bought the CB750. Was I ever disappointed in the way it handled. I had to look past the fugly seamed mufflers and shite frame welding. For a couple of hundred more I got into a R75/5. A quality machine with good performance. Shaft drive when chains were a major PIA for distance riders. Just because Macdonalds sold a lot of boigers, don't make it a good boiger.

CB750 was a crap bike, it deserves no prize IMO. Now the Z1 at least had some panache. I never bought another Honda.

[Major Softie]

Could the fact that Motorcyclist Magazine is based in the USA be a part of it? We have developed the ability to ignore the rest of the world, sort of.

Duane's point is an excellent one: Motorcyclist has a very American perspective, and, from that perspective, their choice is undeniable. Those opposed to the choice of the Honda 750 are ignoring the issue: what one model had the most impact on modern motorcycling? It certainly wasn't the Airhead, nor the Brit bikes it pushed out of the business. The CB750 established that Japan could build a full-size motorcycle that out performed every bike on the market in the only way Americans care about: horsepower, reliability, and price. It set an engineering and manufacturing standard that destroyed the Brits, and nearly destroyed Harley and the Italians, and even cut deeply into BMW. The next 30 years were ruled exclusively by the Japanese and the UJM, and no manufacturer in the world has recovered (save Harley and their established niche in the retro-jingoist market). BMW has always been a niche market machine and really was not even trying to compete in the mass market with the big sellers. It is only in the last 20 years that BMW has tried to make anything other than the light tourer niche. The Japanese have owned the American market since the CB moved in along with all the copies and improvements that the other Japanese manufacturers came out with (the Z1 and the Suzuki GS being primary examples). I know the Z1 was already in the works (but as a 750) when Honda put out the CB, but they were first, and they were years faster from concept to showroom floor than Kawasaki could even dream of. They set the Z1 project back 4 years - longer than the the entire CB project took from start to finish. The CB revolutionized even Japanese motorcycling manufacturing, and wiped out virtually all the competition outside Japan in the process.

[Sibbo]

From an American point of view you are correct, from an international point of view the Honda 50 wins hands down.

[Sibbo]

When the Honda 750 came out I was riding a Velo Venom, less power , a lot better handling and it sure was finding a Honda on a set of twisties .

[ME 109]

When the Honda 750 came out I was riding a Velo Venom, less power , a lot better handling and it sure was finding a Honda on a set of twisties .

Excuse me Sibbo, you seem to have misplaced a comma. I hope I haven't taken the fun out of your post.

Damn, it looks like I did.

[Sibbo]

When the Honda 750 came out I was riding a Velo Venom, less power , a lot better handling and it sure was finding a Honda on a set of twisties .

Ah wot? I have a degree in applied dyslexia !

I'm glad anyone can understand any of my posts !

[CVA-42]

"What one model had the most impact on modern motorcycling?" That's it exactly. The cheap welds, stampings, and sub-par handling hardly matter in this regard. Nor do the millions of step-throughs that Honda sold worldwide. The Japanese changed the face of performance motorcycling and the 750 was their quantum leap, in my view.

[Zombie Master]

"What one model had the most impact on modern motorcycling?" That's it exactly. The cheap welds, stampings, and sub-par handling hardly matter in this regard. Nor do the millions of step-throughs that Honda sold worldwide. The Japanese changed the face of performance motorcycling and the 750 was their quantum leap, in my view.

So now it's the country of origin that determines the motorcycle of century? I thought we were taking about the CB 750, originally well know for cracking its crankcase with a loose drive chain. This hunk-O-junk with its massive lump of a motor would be shown the tail lights of proper motorcycles for the last 40 years or so. The shame.