HONDA CB750
John Nutting says happy 50th!
It’s hard to imagine now just how huge was the impact created by the launch of Honda’s CB750 at the Tokyo Automobile Show in October 1968. Fifty years on we’re accustomed to four-cylinder motorcycles, but back then they were extreme rarities, and no more than novelties that few, usually well-off, riders had experience of. But the CB750 was much more than that, because it would offer the everyday rider access to a new era of exotic motorcycles with phenomenal performance at a price that was not much more than the new crop of high-performance machine. We’d been primed with the 750cc triples from Bsa-triumph, and Norton’s refined Commando 750, both appearing in 1968, but the CB750 took motorcycle technology to a new level. A year or so earlier, Honda had been winning world road-racing championships with works-entered fours and sixes, yet here was a bike with four exhaust pipes that captured the sound and the glory. It breathed performance, yet offered sophistication with overhead camshafts, a five-speed gearbox, press-button starting, huge instruments, a hydraulically operated disc brake and the promise of the same Honda reliability as its smaller twins such as the CB72 and CB450. The CB750 was a game changer, and within a decade the British machines were history, the other three Japanese factories had upped the ante with their own even quicker machines and fours were the norm. I was reminded just how advanced the CB750 was for its time with a ride on an early example that emerged from the factory in September 1969, less than a year after the model’s launch. Owned by Chris Rushton, this CB750 with just over 16,000 miles on the clock and untouched
Candy Ruby Red paintwork is in original condition apart from its Continental tyres. With a frame number 1008054, it has a die-cast engine and was made six months after production started in Japan. Chris imported it from America in 2009 and is determined to maintain its patina, even carefully repairing the cracked airbox rather than replacing it. He is meticulous with the servicing of his bikes and it shows. I’ve ridden some modern retro-styled machines of late, and despite its 49 years this CB750 didn’t feel a lot different in its preparation with taut suspension, responsive engine and smooth controls. It looked gorgeous, with bright chrome, a shine on the seat cover and just a few tiny nicks in the paint to show this hadn’t been restored, as many have been. Up front there were the two huge five-inch dials reading to 150mph and 11,000rpm with the red line starting at 8500rpm: lovely. In fact, it’s so authentic that it even behaved just as magazine testers reported back when the bikes first arrived in the UK. It fired up promptly on the button after the choke lever on the carbs was closed, but being cold-blooded the engine need a bit of coaxing by juggling the lever. Once up to temperature it idled smoothly and after a clonk into bottom gear pulled away cleanly without any need to rev the engine. At about 500lb (227kg) tanked up, the CB750 can be awkward to manhandle but once on the move the steering lightened and bend swinging became second nature. I particularly liked the riding position: the high handlebar provides a natural feel and the footrests are positioned just behind the nose of the comfortable seat, so you feel like you’re grasping the machine with your whole body. And you could sit astride the bike with both boots on the ground, which is always a good test. Until the CB750, British bikes suffered from footrests that were positioned adjacent to the gear lever, which was too far forward, and the pegs weren’t even symmetrical. The Honda just felt right. Winding the four up from 2000rpm it felt smooth, but not as vibrationless as some said when it was launched. This CB750 delivered an engaging rhythm that at between 60 and 70mph offered a pleasant balance between throttle response, comfort and sound. Along for the ride, Chris was on his earlier CB750, a so-called ‘sand-cast’ model dating from August 1969 that he bought in 1990, since when he’s clocked more than 100,000 miles on it. I stayed
behind him as we cruised along the rolling open roads of the Trent valley just to hear the fruity burble from the four exhaust pipes. Also being a very early model, the bike I was riding had four cables from the carbs connected at a junction box and then to the twistgrip. The action was much smoother than I’d expected and accelerating through the gears to the 8000 redline brought back heady memories. The CB750 was one of the first big production bikes with a five-speed gearbox and while the ratio from bottom to second was wide, the upper gears were much closer, enabling clean clutchless changes up and down. You couldn’t be faint hearted though... The photo sessions involve lots of back and forth with clutch slipping during U-turns, so the familiar loss of adjustment at the lever appeared but once the plates had cooled everything returned to normal. Until I’d done a few miles on the CB750 I hadn’t even thought about the suspension: compliant is the best description, with the front fork and rear shocks soaking up the road surface silently and undramatically as we carved through open sweepers at speed. Dealing with surfaces left unrepaired on tight bends presented more of a challenge, but no more than you’d have on a modern bike. Likewise the front brake, which was an innovation when the bike was launched, properly maintained, the hydraulically operated 300mm disc offers enough power and feel at the lever, but being made from stainless steel was never much cop in the rain. Push harder and the CB750 would wriggle in response as the classically styled Continental tyres maintained their surprising grip but altogether this CB750 was a great experience. It was the combination of a throaty roar from the pipes and intake with the whine from the gearbox as you wound the CB750 out of bends that made the day so very memorable for me.