Soichiro Honda moved a nation out of the ruins of WWII with his small and reliable motorbikes that got better and better through the following decades. The ‘60s and early ’70s saw the nicest people riding Hondas as the marque infiltrated the dominance of the British and American brands. Honda produced road bikes with nothing larger than the 450cc ”black bomber” until they rocked the world with the mighty CB750 in 1969.
Hands up who hasn’t ridden a Honda? Just as I thought. Only a few diehards. In my young and stupid days, from bush bashing a beatenup 305cc Dream to graduating to my first road bike, a ’71 CB350 twin, the small-capacity Hondas hold fond memories. Yes, I still have one (make that three if you count the bits and pieces in the shed).
While all those famous 1960s-1980s machines were twins, Honda kept producing singles as