BOMBER COMMAND
The Japanese firm had been extremely successful in the early 1960s with their complex racing machines, but the roadsters were limited to small capacity motorcycles, the 305cc sohc Super Hawk being the biggest. Tremendous though it was, its 90-plus mph top speed and pressed steel frame hardly threatened the impressive sporting twins from Triumph and Norton.
A factory visit in 1964 changed all that when a prototype was spotted being tested at the Suzuka track. Honda had to admit to developing a large capacity road bike. The subsequent 1965 release of the 444cc twin sent shock waves through the established bike industry, dealing the British manufacturers a body blow from which they never recovered. Their antiquated manufacturing equipment was wholly unable to respond
