20 Fastest 500cc Motorcycles of the 60's and 70's 

IMPORTANT Dakar have hit me with a copyright strike so ive had to delist some of the videos just in case i guess they got pissed that mine were better because of the MOTOGP one before xmas that means im really vulnerable now and the channel could be removed at any time I have set up this backup channel so please go and follow it NOW, this could all be removed at any moment now so it is critical to stay in touch via the backup channel here ru-vid.com/show-UCCSl6i-tZJNC5DQ38vgCtvw sorry for this if i get another strike it wipes out all my work all my old videos will be removed I wont be posting anything much on the new channel unless this goes down but this is a just in case because it really could go down at any point the videos are still visible if you have a link so if you have problems message me for links so you can still watch them, if you follow the channel and this one gets taken down you will be able to find me there sorry if thats a bit garbled ive just woken to this but i guess i could have had the channel taken down already so i should be thankful ride free everyone

In my 76 years I’ve only been in jail once, due to an “incident” involving my 1971 Mach 3. It was blue like the example in your video. I was young, it was fast, and well….. charges were dropped, but I was left with a good stories. Hunter S. Thompson wrote of crippled old men whispering about the terrifying Kawasaki triples.

what a buzz those years were, a quite moment for absent friends that shared that wonderful time with, tks

As a 69yo retired geezer and lifelong biker the '60's and 70's represents my misspent youth. I loved this vid. Not only was it well researched and accurate, it listed nearly every bike I lusted after but could not afford...although I did manage to ride a few of them. I fairly drooled at the pristine Suzuki Titan. Talk about a concours level restoration. In fact every one appeared almost brand new. The CB 500 had me weeping with envy. Anyhow, fantastic vid and keep up the good work. Cracking effort❤💯💥👍

I owned two of these motorcycles, 69 H1 Kawasaki triple & 77 RD 400 Yamaha. While it was a thrill to grab full throttle on the H1, the RD was the better of the two. Better all around handling & fast enough to stay ahead of the H1 on a twisty mountain road.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. You just made an old man very happy. What a list of glorious motorcycles ! By the time you got to the Gold star and the Matchless I was almost in tears. I sat with my head in hands in appreciation.

Amazed that you found such beautiful examples of each bike. It's like you took a time machine and went to the showrooms!

Only came across this channel two days ago - great recommendation. I've watched maybe 8 videos so far and I'm massively impressed. Fantastic.

As always barebones, another superbly knowledgeable video. I salute your time spent on researching and compiling this video into yet another 10/10 narration. Live too ride ride too live. Be free brother 🙏

Loved the video, thank you for doing it. It brought back a lot of memories from my 1970s when I first started riding bikes. Never looked back since, still on them

My brother!! I always enjoy your videos for so many reasons. The biggest being that you truly love all things motorcycle related and I love your objectivity. You call things as you see them whether "On Point" or "BS"... I love everything about the history and evolution of our passion!! Thanks for sharing your experience and enthusiasm! Thanks for helping to keep the soul of motorcycling alive!! If you're ever in the Pacific Northwest of the US, please reach out so we can go for a ride 👍🏍🛣

The BSA Gold Star ended production in 1963, not 1968. Output was 41 BHP not 48 BHP. Available in four versions in the mid 1950s as Trials, Scrambles, Touring and Clubman's trim. The Clubman's trim was the most popular and was essentially a racing motorcycle with lights. Close ratio gearbox and Amal 1 1/2" GP carburettor with no provision for tick over, hence the necessity to blip the throttle at low revs. Made in both 350 and 500 cc sizes, in later years the 350cc to special order. Easy to start IF you followed the correct procedure. 115 MPH out of my 1956 DB34.

The AJS Porcupine is a stunning bike ,saw one in the flesh at Sammy Millar's . What surprised me was the Suzuki T 500 what a lovely looking bike, in my view one of the best designed ever. Brilliant video, always learn something from yours, keep them coming.

Great video showing some fantastic 500s from each era although including the RD 400 threw me somewhat. Thank you really enjoyed watching 👍

Just found your channel and subscribed. Sure does bring back fond memories of the 70's and 80's. Thanks for the great content. Cheers

Very good trip down memory lane for this retiree. I remember fondly owning and riding a new Suzuki T500 in 1972. Then riding a mates Honda CB500 and later in 1980 the Ducati 500 V twin. Agree that the Yamaha two stokes changed the game for teenagers/ single men in the late 60s, early 70s. I just loved two stokes back then. Currently riding a 2023 Kymco AK550 maxi scooter which goes like a cut snake straight out of the box. I'd say it is as fast as the Honda CB750 USP2 I owned in 1974. Kymco twin lies forward like that early AJS twin of the fifties and has double overhead cams like it too. Thanks for the memories.

I remember sending my 1977 rd400 barrels and pistons to Mr Terry beckett to get tuned. He also supplies his own expansion Chambers .when they arrived back there was nothing on the roads that would live with it.

Such wonderful memories yet again ! Congratulations on your fantastic channel ! Made my day 😊

I owned a brand new 1969 Kawasaki Mach 1 in the spring of 69. Before I picked the bike up I had the dealer install the optional lower gearing that was meant for drag racing. It was tough to keep the front wheel on the pavement in the first three gears, and four gears with a passenger. In a straight line nothing could keep up with it, even another 69 Mach 1. In the corners everything passed me by!

My God you got another old geezer as a subscriber! Pushing 80 really hard, I've had a few of the bikes mentioned and I have to say that the Suzuki Titan was one of my favorites, as it's reliability was superb, unlike the BSA 500cc A7 standard I had before, I eventually became a dedicated BMW fellow, but I greatly enjoyed this review and your presentation. Thank you!

After only 2 watched videos from your channel, ive decided to subscribe. This 500cc video was brilliant, sir!

I had a 72 CB450 K5 Twin Cam and it would run sustained speeds of the nearly empty Canadian Rockies that I wouldn't want to ride my modern CB 500F now. 7000 rpm in forth over the Kootenay Skyway became nearly 90 mph heading into Creston in fifth on the other side. I was shocked at how effortless it all seemed and it did so for the 30,000 miles I had it.

Fabulous video! Just as well I held off on my shout out for the Laverda 500 Montjuic, because there she was, at the end. 👍🏻

I found your channel recently and I'm loving going through your videos. A suggestion if you fancy it - strangest motorcycles made over the last few decades? Things like the BMW C1, Honda PC800, you've already mentioned the Quasar before, the list goes on. You could go through strangest looking or even expand to weird concepts introduced on bikes that never took off? All the best mate.

TX/XS 500 was totally different to the XS650,though on first look they seemed very alike. I had both. The 500s had a twin cam 4 valve per cylinder motor ,which was way ahead of it's time,the 650 was a bog standard 2 valve single cam. The 650 was massively popular worldwide and very reliable,the 500 wasn't either. I had the later coffin tank 500 with mag wheels and the whole thing looked and sounded really nice.....in between mechanical meltdowns. The first time mine broke down was about 5 miles from the dealer after I picked it up,they ended up rebuilding the whole top end,6 months later it went again and covered my leg in oil in the process,my how I laughed.worse part is I'd traded in my beloved RD400 for the poxy thing. After the horrible XS I got a GT550 Suzuki which was lovely and very,very fast, remember I'd had an RD400 so I knew what fast was. Massively under-rated bike. Traded that in for the XS650 which had gutted "silencers",sounded like Armageddon and while all my Bonny-owning mates slagged it off they couldn't keep up with it. I think it's largely forgotten these days what hooligan tools the original GPZ 550s were, so good that Yamaha blagged the styling for Fazer years later. Then there were the RD and RG500s.................. I had something like 30 bikes in my first 10 years on 2 wheels,it was so bad at one point that I'd pick up my "latest" from a dealer somewhere and would see it's replacement on the way out of the door. I think a drug habit would have been cheaper.

I loved my 71 Suzuki 500 Titan, I bought it in 74 for $650 USD. Rode it everywhere for 5 years, sold it to a friend, and got a Honda 550. I didn't like it. It sounded nice and didn't smoke, but it was slow, even with 4 into 1 pipes. it had a head gasket leak, the hivo chain between the crank and transmission was stretched to the point of jerkiness, and I lost 3rd gear, because the shift fork bent, (no, I didn't abuse it) anyway, I sold it after splitting the cases and replacing it. Now I have a 85 Honda 650sc Nighthawk. It's fast enough, and has dual discs in the front, and my favorite feature, 16 hydraulic valves! I will never need to adjust them. Great channel, keep it up.

Somewhere between the 250 tonners and the onslaught of the 500s lies the Bridgestone gtr350. It was arguabĺy the fastest bike of 67, but obviously superceded by the Suzuki 500 Cobra in 68. With the introduction of the Honda CB750 Bridgestone recognized they would have to spend hundreds of millions in development to compete in the motorcycle industry. They dropped their motorcycle division by 72

Great video mate! What an adventure!

Great Video thanks, all the Bikes of my era, owned, still own, and raced quite a few, if not me then my mate I built and tuned for. Your comment regarding the Kawasaki 500cc H1 in Britain was spot on, my mate who raced the Bikes had a Kawasaki S2 or S3 350cc we had tuned for the Track and the 500 for the road, He was a Bloody lunatic, on that thing, still not sure how he ever managed to stay alive. Funnily more conservative on the Track and not a crasher, but he did get sick of the two strokes when tuned in those days seizing. We switched to a highly done 400/4 for the next season, with a full Yosh 498 kit, which was a fast little bike. My favourite of all those shown was Laverada's Motojuich, I loved those Bikes but moved back to Canada the year they were released. I also remember the early success of Someone & Son's Ducati of Chadwell Heath with those early Pantath Ducatis, he was quite well known so I hope someone can remember his name?

thanks m8, some of these like the Benelli I have not seen for over 30+ years, my m8 had 2 and one was built like a tank, never had a problem, used every day for work and bike packing, but the other one was a total headache and broke down at every opportunity, great machines and great to see them so looked after

Hmmmm, memories... I had two of these, both modified but not ridiculously so, and both were bulletproof! First was a Suzuki Titan, which got Akront rims and good Dunlops and Fontana brakes, an alloy tank (polished, of course), expansion chambers, fiberglass fenders, flat bars and rear-sets and a solo seat. This thing always started on one kick and never let me down (it was fitted with later electronic ignition) and it surprised a LOT of TR/BSA big twin riders. i was younger then, but I rode it great distances once I got the seat configured properly. This is one of the very few older bikes I'd love to have today. Second was a modded CB450, a 1971 I seem to remember. Anyway, it had the front disc...which really didn't stop any better than a good drum (and not NEARLY as well as the Suzuki's Fontana 4-shoe). This was a very civilized bike for its day, with an electric starter and lots of clever features, many of which I discarded to save weight. You see, the CB was a bit porky..so I got rid of the stock mufflers/tank/seat/fenders/steel rims/turn signals...well, you get the idea. It never approached the Suzuki (its immediate predescessor) in performance, but it was a NICE bike, not a hooligan, and I put over 40,000 miles on it. I saw it may years later, in the 1990s, and it had been sympathetically owned (no youngsters) and still looked and sounded good. Not much you could do about the handling, which was average...but it was a HONDA, and handling was never the reason for buying one. I've ridden many RD Yammies, and still think they were the BEST beginner bikes ever made. Never had much use for their 4-stroke twin brethren except for the 650, and the 500s in particular seemed to have more than their share of troubles. WAY back when (when I was younger and fearless), I threw a leg over a modded Kwacker 500 3 that had been ported and fitted with crazy-loud chambers and different carbs. Scared the sh*t out of me, even back then...like it had a big hinge under the seat. Ghastly thing. Good video, though!

Great show Just subscribed. Thanks for the show.

I was happy to see you included the TX500 Yamaha in your list. I owned a '73 and took it on several long distance camping trips. Now at 75 years old, I keep looking at smaller and lighter motorcycles. I currently own three very special bikes; a 2010 VFR1200F Honda, a 2014 CB1100 Honda and now my little 2023 Honda GROM. Although I would still love to have a Kenny Roberts limited edition RZ350, I am interested in the Kawasaki ZX-4-rr little 400cc inline four cylinder. My days for riding 600lb bikes are over as I traded in my '94 Yamaha V-Max to get the GROM

Well done great video, as always. My favourite is the H1, but as a multip!e owner of Kawadaki's KR1-Ss and mouner of the lovely screaming 2 strokes it was always going to be.

Great stuff! Takes me back.

Great video! Thank you.

I love your wonderful English accent and diction. You talk with emotion, in the subdued voice of a motorcycle veteran. I could listen to this for hours. AJS 95 it's a work of art, just like the Velocette. However, my dream has always been a Rudge 500 Sport Special or Ulster.

Well done! Great informative video! 👍

Great video much enjoyed that thank you

I can only imagine how long it took to do all the reseach for this video and locate the film clips. Well done and thank you.

Fantastic video! Fond memories!

Love the video.late mate had a 550 4 was lucky to do a ton.watching that kawa 500 brought a smile to my face.two strokes foreva😊hi from New Zealand 🇳🇿

Absolutely brilliant, especially as I'm a VELOCETTE lover

I had a 1978 Ducati 500 Sport Desmo with grey mag wheels, same as the ones mounted on Guzzi's Le Mans I. The golden ones shown in this video were a too costly option for my pocket then, it was my first real bike. Excellent braking and frame, so the handling was way better and more than all less challenging compared to the following Pantah's 500 and 600. I had the chance to test them thoroughly, each being owned by two friends of mine. Both had a boring waving tendency already at medium speed cornering, possibly caused by the fairing aerodynamics, while the 500 Sport Desmo was firm as a block of steel, any speed. Pantah's were more powerful and (way) faster than the 500 Sport Desmo, but also their higher price was simply unmatchable with the economic Sport Desmo, that at the time was the most affordable 500 on the Italian market (did they try desperately to get rid of them?). Despite the Desmo distribution and the excellent claimed characteristics, the 500 SD engine was awful, firstly for vibrations, simply unbearable beyond 6000 rpm. Reliable sources in Italy used to say that it was a students project of an English college of mechanics... Who knows. With the first equipment's exhaust pipes there were unsolvable carburation problems, so I mounted a pair of Conti exhausts, empty and noisy, but what a difference! Standing at three meters or so when the engine was running, you could feel the real Ducati wind! At the time Conti exhausts where mandatory to savor the real behaviour of any Ducati. They were original equipment on the 750-900 SS and MHR. Anyway I had too a con rod broken, luckily at low speed, first gear. It happened in a summer night, immediately after a refueling when I was traveling at maybe 140 kph for two hours or so. Ducati refused to warrant the engine so the bike was repaired, at my expense and high cost. Soon after I sold it, as the engine behaviour was not the same anymore. Maybe it needed only some more mileage to break-in again. I gave it back to the local dealer and purchased a black and beautiful second series Ducati 900 SD Darmah with golden Speedline wheels and rounded backseat tail. It was the envy of the place where I lived: Ducati's then weren't by any measure as widespread as today, meeting one was quite an event and its black painting shone like a star. Its noise, with Conti exhausts, was simply fantastic, deep and powerful: the belt distribution modern Ducati engines sound like toys in comparison, put apart their rattling clutch... (LOL)

Excellent video

I had a red Ducati 500 GTL. After owning Japanese motorcycles in the 60's & early 70's it was nice to learn what REAL handling and stopping were about. Thanks for the nice memories!

Lovely video again, Barebones! Thanks for mentioning that Laverda 500. In the past, I got the chance (but didn't have the money!) of purchasing a Laverda Formula 500. It was taken over by my boss back then when the owner bought a brandnew Suzuki in the motorcycle shop where I worked. My boss would let me have it for the same price he took it which was about £500 but I was just anxious to save on buying my first Ducati (which was to be a Pantah 600) so I let it pass me buy to my shame. However... today, I pride myself being owning both a '99 Laverda 750S and a '96 Laverda 668 which indeed got their engine designs from that first Laverda 500 Montjuich ;-)

Great video it’s nice to see and hear where all the bikes of my youth came from and development that went into them nice to know that I’m not the only person with two wheels in my blood

Awesome. Thank you for sharing. Ride safe. Peace 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

At 18 I had Triumpgh 5TA with a Todd twin carb head 600 overbore cafe racered in a feather bed frame, oh I didnt get on with it being brought up on Japanese steads. Walking along one night I passed a terrace house that was a Brit bike shop but in the window a vision...A nickle plated framed metalic red Kawasaki 500 H1B fitted with double discs, alloy rims, rearsets, half fairing and beautiful Tomaselli alloy clip ons. Amazingly a swap was arranged and rocking up at the pub it was "you did what"..."how the hell"....What a fast fast bike, I loved it, rode it for years what a machine...it handled, it braked (the B had the Z1 forks and discs) it would stand on its nose...dont mention fuel consumption.

EXCELLENT VIDEO.WONDERFUL VOICE. SUBBED. I read every comment.

another great video , Laverda , triumph daytona and suzy being my top 3

very good and unbiased video...subscibed.

♥️🇬🇧😀 that is one of the best produced vids I've ever seen...anywhere. cheers.

Did i counterspeak you in the 250 video: now i praise you for this one. I rode all bikes mentioned exept the ajs. I rode all 250s as well... so i do have some inpressions. What you stated on the beuatiful and rare ducati 500 sport desmo is absolutely spot on.

I was the a proud owner of a Velocette Thruxton Veeline. in 1971 reg. HOF 92D which I bought from Stevens of Shepherds Bush. Unfortunately I did abuse it a lot against Bonevilles and ruined the crankshaft and a few clutches because of the long first. I sold it back to them ,but they said it was never the same bike when repaired. I never needed to decompress to start it just tickle the carb. It was a great machine but a pain with the bolts always coming loose . I got offered their TT bike but couldn’t afford to make it legal. So built my Triton Thruxton Boneville slimline 👌

I'm not even a biker but love your channel,maybe one day soon I will try pass the test

I owned several of the bikes shown, including a much loved H1, GOLD Star DBD34. ONE machine which did not sell too well and had a very short manufacturing life was the Suzuki GSX 450 EX, DOHC twin with Mag Wheels etc. It was quickly replaced by the GS 500, a totally different machine. The 450EX was somewhat similar to my H1 to ride, narrow power band coming alive about 6500 rpm with a real rush of power up to around 9,500 rpm. Good handling, gearbox 6 speeds, good brakes etc. I was a Suzuki agent way back then and this is one machine I really loved, only sold one. The Katana 550 came out about then and that was the one lads went for .

That was most informative and enjoyable. Did the Suzuki T500 go on to be the GT500? I used to ride one in the 80's. The GT500 that is. I've subscribed, great presentation and thank's for your effort, best regards. 🙃

My 1st performance bike was a 1973 H1D modified with DENCO exhaust & expansion chambers and a steering dampener which helped with the well known head shaking. The only bike at the time that could even stay close in the 1/4 mile was my brothers-in law's Z1 903's from Kawasaki. All 3 of my wife's brothers purchased Z1's on the same day at Grayboy's Kawasaki located in Chilicothie, Illinois. I think I put more mile on those Z1's than they did, they were like brothers to me!

You left out my favorite 70s 500cc machine the BSA B50. I have owned mine for 42 years I have used it on the road and have raced it. It has surprised a few bigger newer bikes over the years both on the track and on our winding mountain roads here in NZ and it has proved to be very reliable .

Hi great work loved it ,have you or would you do a video of Kawasaki 250,s twin a1 and a1r,I had a a1 in mid 70,s ,thanks mate cheers

Loved my 70’s Honda CB500 Four ❤️.

What a great list. I was riding 250s back in the '70s, and later didn't go bigger than the Kawasaki Z400 which my wife and I rode down to Cornwall for our honeymoon.

Surprised they Suzi gt550 doesn't get a mention with 50bhp and 110mph top end in 1972, but a great video all the same, always a joy to watch and listen to.

I was the lucky owner of a suzuki T500 2 stroke beautiful looking and fast bike but carbs kept going out kilter, then had a honda cb500t, my memory of that bike is that I rode it as fast as it would go, then I had a cb550 simply lovely bike. Big thanks for this

Brought back awesome memories while growing in the UK, H1 was something else, CB would keep up with bigger faster bikes, too much fun

When I was a kid, the CB750 came to my local Zambian race track - then known as the "4-pipe" because it was the first 4 cyl ever seen in a bike - followed by the H1 which no one could ride at any speed around the track except down the straight. Both were creamed (way out-classed) by the TD1Cs and TD2 Yamaha race bikes, even the street RD350s in race trim. I could only pine and wish. I almost had a CB300 "Dream" that many amateurs were racing at the time but my father stopped me, saying "get an education first, then go racing". Well that didn't work well - all I did was some track days on a much-modified Gixxer K1 which was tremendous fun but way too little, far too late. I had the privilege of riding a 'friend's' Ariel Square 4 in the early 70s in Rhodesia. That was interesting if a little boring, very smooth and quiet though. Great memories.

I owned in order 1. Kawasaki 500 triple 2. Kawasaki Z1 900 3. YAMAHA RD 400 so much fun

This was my era. Lot of good memories here. I had a 71 CB750 and it wouldn't really do more than 115 MPH. Another 10MPH would be hard to achieve. I also had an XS500 Yamaha. Very reliable and I road it everyday when I was in college rain or shine which in San Francisco was usually not shine.

Nicely done!

pleased to see the CB500 i've owned a CB 550f1 super sport for almost 40 years (rose tinted goggles:) younger days i spent summers going from bike rally to bike rally M.C.C. riding with friends bigger bikes i clocked over 120mph once or twice (scary) It's forte was superb comparable handling and not slowing for corners, I rode it throttle to the stop all day getting 18 to the gallon. I'd drop it in and lift my foot for the pegs to fold up, I also ground a long hole in the original 4into one exhaust and surprised with the ability to rear wheel steer. My major gripe was a piss poor single disc brake with one active piston against a slave brake pad. If you have read all this thankyou, The video and reminiscing has been great fun. the bike is in my garage awaiting a refurb. My regards to all Bikers from what i term the Golden age of Biking and all OGRI fans.

Thank You Sir, Greetings from Austria

Of course I enjoyed your video, I ride a 2014 Honda CB500X, and it was preceded by a 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD. cheers from Canada 🇨🇦🏍️

Here in LA in the early 60's my older brother had a Matchless 500 cc that was a cool bike it was a single and a bear to time but hauled ass ! CHEERS !!

I bought a CB500/4 in 1974 .An amazing bike and at the same time a mate bought a Mach 3 .Only swapped rides once and his bike scared the shit out of me especially the frame in cornering and the appalling braking.

Hi great vid had a Goldie in the early sixties tried to break your ankle if you let it. It was a dog at low speed mopeds would leave you at traffic lights ,but once it got going just hang on great ride. sadly lost mine in a bad accident still riding at 79

Inthe 70s, I had the street version of Suzy's two stroke 500. Real top speed 110. Built simple - built like a tank.

What a nice video presentation. Thank you! Aaaaargh! Where is the beautiful jelly mould 450 Desmo? I had one for a while along with a Morini 3½. They both went so that I could pay something towards a Guzzi T3 and Ducati 900ss. Guzzi's are lovely bikes but suffered with rather poor electrics. I often had to ride over towards Cambridge to get parts for the Duke and the Guzzi. Good ole Mick Walker and being excited to collect long awaited parts only to be told, they are still on the Lorry from Italy! My T3 was my tourer and it had Dunstall very loud exhaust pipes that appeared to have no baffles inside them... and Norton straight handlebars as well as all Japanese electrics. The Italian electrics were supplied with a single leaf contact spring pressing against the chrome of the Guzzi bars and they were driving the well named Veglia instruments. Something about Italian iron eh? I also owned an R80 BMW in touring trim with fancy stainless exhausts. Several Hondas including two CX500 plastic pigs and a CB550f. A very top - heavy Yamaha 750S triple and a Kwacker 900 Z1. I spent many happy years biking (around 30 all told) including taking local kids (who were keen to get a bike) around the Star Rider course and of course enjoying competing in the annual RAC/ACU round UK rally. Interestingly, back then one could get a Norwich Union Rider policy which covered all insurance needs for one rider. My love affair was primarily a V twin engine configuration with the typical lazy power delivery that was just great for touring.

i had to pack up and rewire my surround stereo just for this video. damn thats awsome

Brilliant..top drawer👍

Mr. Barebonesmc, you must be an older gent & worked/raced to know so much about all these bikes. I'm absolutely floored at each video I've watched, they're chalked full of info about these bikes & I've got to say I'll be referencing your videos as I'm out looking at bikes.... there's always bikes around that people could not bear to get rid of so they sit idle. I hope I find one of these gems. Watching your stuff in the middle of the night..... yup, peace

Imagine this. I've been on the road & track for about two decades. It wasn't till I rode dirt that I seen the amazing performance of a two stroke. There much more prevalent in dirt. I've been on million valves/moving parts 4T's for more than 15 years and all I can think about is the two stroke, multi cylinder monsters. Love to rebuild one When I seen the specs for a modern 450 compared to the old CR500 I was absolutely shook. It's wild to think that 30 plus years have passed and that thing was making more power than a modern bike all the way back then. My buddy just inherited the $200 claptrap with an absolutely flawless Big boar 250 2-stroke. It's makes almost 40 damn HP's from the 80's. Can't even ride behind him because of the roost. Love the vids

Excellent video, thanks. I was 18 in 1970 and rode my first true bike, a Yamaha YDS5. Kawasaki had just introduced the H1 and H2. Fast but lousy in almost all other aspects. That cemented the image I have from Kawasaki, even to this day. I love Japanese bikes, yet it will never ever be a Kawasaki... My loss, no doubt.

Hope you get this Daz,remember I mentioned the Bridgestone, it was a bit special . .

I bought a new honda cb450 1966 from long beach california dealer. would go 105mph all day long. tuned by the dealer for me 46 hp. ran perfect. paid 460 dollars out the door new price. what a great price.

Really great subject and I rode a few of them, had the Mach 3 for example, bloody fast but a deathtrap on the twisties and it chucked me down the road more than once. As I said elsewhere, I love the T500 its my favourite bike of them all. However, apropos of two strokes, one engine that never seems to get a mention is the Villiers 2T which was really good when you had a good 'un but all too often its was quirky mainly down to the crankshaft seals IMHO I think modern seals and maybe some reed valves and a bit of exhaust tuning and better coil and condenser you could own a real scorcher, for its time. It showed up in all sorts of ride to work bikes like the Fanny Barnett but also there were Greeves, Cotton, Norman to name a few. I had a Cotton that was terrific fun and bloody quick too. Just a thought but maybe you covered it and I missed it?

I never knew how a workmate of mine never killed himself on his H1. Every week he would get fresh scars on his leather jacket after dropping it. I think his front wheel spent more time in the air than on the tarmac.

The picture of the white and red yam 400 brought back great memories,had a 250 in the same colours and is still 20? bikes later one of my favourites.

Owned TX 500. Constant oil leak on the head gasket the Yamaha dealer said they had multiple part numbers for but none of them would fix it for long and the cam chain did not have a tensioner so need replacing at 5000 km (motor pull down as it was between the cylinders) and most often just jumped a tooth and bent the valves before the replacement. Other than that, it could run with a Honda 4. You could buy then real cheap!

Riding has always been the totality of the ride for me. Over the decades I've owned around a dozen motorcycles. Ranging from a Honda 90 to a fully chopped Kawi 900. My two favorites are the Triumph Daytona and the Suzuki 650 Savage. I appreciate that my personal tastes are not the benchmark.

While all this was going on, I rode my faithful BSA Victor Special back and forth eight miles to classes at Montana State University, autumns, winters, and springs, a feat not for the faint of heart.

Mate of mine put T bars on his H1 500 . Stupid but it made you smile with the way it lifted . The Laverda Montjuic wins for looks though that is a gorgeous bike

you do not list the manx Norton but i would have thought it in the ajs category, is there a reason for that as it too was very fast with great handling.

What about the Matchless G50 and the Norton Manx?

Good video, mate. Really enjoyed it as I don't know much about Japanese or Italian bikes. Too old and too poor for them to register with me!!!

I still have my Kawasaki 400 two stroke triple.When the new z900rs came out in nearly the same color scheme , I now have a new favorite bike . Had a custom color match café, fairing made.I could sit and look at them for hours……

Yet to another excellent video! Kawasaki mach III was 12.4 sec in the quarter, claimed. Probably high 12s in fact as confirmed by tests. The 750 Mach IV was a 12 sec bike (Cycle World tested on at 11.95 sec!

In 1981 a gentleman by the name of Damon Hill was racing a CB 500 in the ACU production class at Croft Autodrome. I have seen the programme online.

I was given the opportunity to take a Leverda Montjuic for a test ride by my local dealer, which I turned down, telling him there was no point as I couldn't see myself ever buying one. Still regret that decision to this day.