A HALF-CENTURY OF PERFORMANCE
The road-going Superbike was born 50 years ago, when Honda released the CB750 onto an unsuspecting public. It would change motorcycling forever, ushering in a new era of multi-cylinder bikes, starting a performance war that would destroy the British bike industry and change the way everyone thought of motorcycles.
The first of what became known as the Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM), the CB750 was bigger, faster, more powerful and handled better than any Japanese bike before it.
There may have been larger-capacity British, Italian and American bikes, but none could come close to matching the handling, price and performance of the CB750 — and, crucially, the reliability.
The CB750, for its time, was bulletproof and easier to work on than most other bikes, too. They sold in droves.
"BIGGER, FASTER, MORE POWERFUL AND HANDLED BETTER…"
1969: CB750
The first-model CB750 featured an across-the-frame air-cooled engine. Its single overhead camshaft was cutting-edge technology for the day, as were the four Keihin carburettors feeding the machine.
In earlier years, Honda had tried to gain market share with smaller bikes, most notably the CB450, a twin-cylinder bike with double overhead camshafts and solid performance, but it really didn’t capture the hearts of motorcyclists, and when Honda got wind of a new British three-cylinder 750, the company decided it
