Brighton ROCK!
British bike fans got their first look at Honda’s fabulous CB750 Four at the Brighton Show 50 years ago this month.
It was a momentous occasion, with anticipation fuelled by reports from Japan and America that the machine would establish the superbike era with a combination of performance and reliability previously thought unattainable.
A few months earlier, BSA-Triumph’s 750cc triples and Norton’s 750cc Commando twin had made their debut. The CB750, however, a prototype of which had appeared at the Tokyo Show six months earlier, was in a different league, featuring an overhead-camshaft four-cylinder five speed engine, self-starting and a hydraulic disc brake, all of which made the British bikes seem ancient in comparison. Talk was that the new Honda had a top speed of 125mph and unparalleled refinement.
By the time the CB750 appeared at Brighton, demand for it was almost at fever pitch.
