All hail the Honda CB750…

A better motorcycle journalist than I (aren’t they all?) once told me that he thought that the Honda CB750 was the most important two-wheeler of the 20th Century. He figured that Honda’s move to large capacity, multi-cylinder motorcycles at the end of 1968 was a seismic change that led to the domination of Japanese motorcycle manufacturers and that it was the CB750 – not the humble, multi-million selling Honda C90 – that showed the way to the future. The same journalist says that we should look again to the Far East – albeit China and Korea this time – for the next revolution. With these manufacturers either producing singles, twins or old-spec four-cylinder motors, will we see them move into other, larger capacity formats? And if so, what machines will grace CMM’S cover in another 50 years’ time? Me? Being born in 1971 I kinda missed out on the furore behind the bike itself, but it had ramifications with my older male family members – most of whom were bikers. Pretty soon the old Nortons, Triumphs and BSAS that I was sat on as a nipper for pictures were replaced by Japanese machines, two-strokes, four-strokes and – ultimately – big-bore four strokes, Kawasakis and Yamahas mainly. Along with the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the Honda CB750 in this issue, we are also looking back at the first 15 years of the World Superbike championship, which is 30 this year. The spectacle of Jap four-cylinder 750s battling dominant V-twin Ducatis will never be forgotten. We hope you enjoy the issue.