Some truly great motorcycles can seem lost to time being overshadowed by either by their predecessors or the bikes that replaced them. So this time we shine a light on some less remembered Classics.
And either of them had enough grunt to rip your arms out of their sockets, if my memory serves me correctly. Not much to be said for the handling and brakes though.
For the times both the CB 750 and the CB 900 was fairly decent handlers. They were a dominent factor in the stock races of these years. Obviously times was working fast then, and it didn’t take long before the competition was handling better. But for the time and era, they weren’t that bad.
@@mollyfilms No, I didn't. A mate of mine did, however. I remember being thoroughly surprised with how torquey the engines were. They really got up and went with very little effort. The 750 had no right to be that powerful. It felt like a litre bike, to me.
Great series. I love the sounds of an inline 4 cylinder engine with a 4 into 1 Kerker, Vance and Heinz exhaust. Music to my ears. Thanks for sharing. Ride safe guys. Cheers
I have a 1981 cb900 C and it has been a great bike. It has the 5 speed with a hi/lo range selector. My dad bought it new and gave it to me. I took it to the shop for the first time ever in 2009 to have the valves checked and it only needed one valve shimmed, 42,000 miles
@@bikerdood1100 it was a shaft drive CB 900 in typical american style but with an extra high / low gearbox added after the engine. Obviously it gave a quite long wheel base. I don’t think that it was imported to Europe.
I'm a huge fan of the 900 Daytona, I've had 4 of them. Big, heavy bruiser of a bike, but fast and handled well despite them being a bit top heavy. The sound of the triple even with stock pipes was awesome. I'd be more than happy to own any of the bikes shown!
I have a '98 Sprint Sport, same as the Daytona but with a half fairing. I have converted it to a Speed Triple clone. These are awesome bikes -- perfect power for a street bike. You don't have to rev it to the moon to enjoy the power. And yes, nothing else sounds like a Triple. Mine only seems top heavy right after I fill it up with gas. Only takes a second to get used to that. My favorite bike. I take it on rides with the local Triumph riders group, has no problems hanging with the new bikes. I can't see myself ever getting rid of it.
A buddy of mine worked at Mic Mac Cycle and assembled a bunch of those Concours from the crate.he had one as a demonstrator and loved it!!! A fan from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia….what a small world!
A very enjoyable and interesting channel to watch. 👍 Seeing the GS850 reminds me in 1984 ish when I put 850 barrels on my 1979 GS750EN. I had it rebored with new pistons and rings. I rejetted the carbs, up graded the forks and with a shiny pair of red Marzocchi shocks with the remote reservoirs it looked the dogs...and went like a train, no Z900 or Z1000 was safe...😅
I went for the Wiseco 844 kit, raised the compression to 10:1, gas flowed head and 29mm Smoothbore carbs on my GS750, and sounded awesome with a Harris 4 into 1, No idea what it could and couldn't keep up with, but it was rapid enough for the time, although not as rapid as some other modified bikes in the area, especially the Z1 with an after market Turbo fitted.
Those were the days, when all the Japanese manufacturers offered a selection of bikes with user friendly shaft drive. Today there is only the Goldwing left, everything else is just miserable chain drive.
The seventies through the early nineties had some terrific bikes. One aspect was comfort and less specialization. Lots of aftermarket support and the machines were very affordable. The CB750/900 and the 1100 were the last of the heavy weight screaming air cooled fours before liquid cooling and a move towards better handling became the norm. Great video, brings back all the memories. New subscriber
Are modern bikes Too specialised 🤔 Either a ridiculous litre sports bike or a two wheel armchair complete with music system Or tank masquerading as a dirt bike Sometimes you just want a bike
The CB750/900 were outstanding machines. At the 82 TT, the CB900 was the bike to be seen on. In spite of that, nobody I knew had either. The FZR1000 was phenomenal, several of my friends had them. They were comfortable too. Many of my friends had the GS850G, they all raved about them. I nearly bought a GTRR1000, but went for an FJ1200 instead, one friend of mine still rides one. I know plenty of people who still ride first generation Hinckley Triumphs.
I bought a brand new Silver and gold CB900FB in Australia in 1981, loved it!, never realized it was that heavy back then, but makes sense. My BMW F900XR I have now weighs less. The Honda was a zippy machine, and handled very well for its time.
i have a 1979 cb900fz in red with the blue stripe, a factory colour but quite rare, also a 1979 cb750kz, now thats a forgotten machine, even you skipped over it , in your brief description you jumped from the sohc 750 to the 750f ! loved the video , keep em coming.
Great video again. I was going to buy a CB900F, but I discovered that the Norwich Union rider policy covered up to 900cc, the 900 was over 900cc! I do own a 1988 FZR1000 Genesis, but it's under restoration at the moment.
Victoria Police used the 900F for a few years in Oz, complete with fairing, of course. The Suzuki GS 1000G was a very good, comfortable and relaxed tourer; I was also partial to the chain-driven version, the GS 1000S.
I recently retired from riding due to health issues BUT my son bought my bike. I used to ride all sorts of bikes but this one was a Suzuki 650 S which is remarkably faster and better handling than my old bikes
The first Honda 900 was the FZ and I had the next one, the FA with the air assisted forks. For the time they were impressively powerful and handled well. A friend had a 750 and it handled completely differently. That was down to the 750's high bars. The 900 having much lower clip-on style bars.
I had a GSXR-1100J bought new in 1988 & my mates had FZR100's. In truth there was very little difference if any in performance or handling. Both excellent bikes, from new my Suzuki had washers in the headers as power restrictors which were quickly removed....
Nope on a bike It’s a very long commute so most currently available electric bikes couldn’t make it 🤷🏼 Especially In cold weather In fact several electric cars would struggle I have to move between sites in all weathers Im not a Luddite but I’d a vehicle isn’t capable of effectively doing what I need of it it’s useless to be frank
@@bikerdood1100 Thinks are developing as we speak. I am actually waiting for the next generation of battery technology and concentrating on the chassis etc., for now taking a modular approach (big universal monocoque based on Nissan Leaf size cells but also usable for many more sizes. Having enough room in front of the clutch for a multitude of electric motor sizes. Etc.. And by the way: You are right. You do not come across as very lucid. 🤣
All technology reaches a natural limit due to economics or just plain physics and battery is nearing its natural limit And just like Fusion power huge leaps will always be 20years away And when consider the construction not only of the machine but also the massive infrastructure required to operate them effectively Just how clean are they Not very
I do recall the CB F's as having a reputation for problems with the cylinder heads. While the ancestor was always referred to as bullet proof. All the Suzuki GS where. From 400 to 1000ccm. Never heard anyone complain. Today there's a severe problem with finding piston rings for the GS750, though. A friend made his a 1000ccm. But that was just 6yrs ago. Mind the year of making of this bike!
Oddly I do remember reports of early 16v Suzukis having their valves sink into the head Believe it was more of problem in the smaller high reving motors
I dont know how you can say the 900 bol-dor and its 750 variant are unknown or forgotten, it has a huge cult following worldwide mainly due to it being raced by the likes of Freddie Spencer and Wayne Gardner, in Australia, you wont get much change from 15000au for a good one
I'm on my 3rd 1st generation Triumph now, a '98 Sprint Sport Special, started on a 900 Trident 30 years ago, followed by a Sprint Sport Special, had to change the sprag on the Trident at 45k, then ran it into the ground replaced it at 90k with 1st Sprint Sport Special which also did 90k, 2nd is on its way to same! All great mile eating used year-round bikes and still plenty of low mileage really good cheap ones still coming up for sale! get 1 while you can!
Well that is a thing really On realty most people didn’t buy the really big stuff because of cost Everyone forget ms the middle weight 400 and 550s But that’s what most of us actually brought
Thanks for bringing these bikes back to our attention. In 84/85 I brought a cb900f2b in grey/white my first big bike I enjoyed it but soon realized that RD350lc is always going to be far more fun so my inner hooligan won out. Why are these bikes so heavy or were the figures for previous generation bikes dodgy. 250-300kg these bikes had no abs or other things modern bikes come with and they were making use of more aluminium and plastic..... maybe carbs are 25kg each .
Well definitely more fun Not a touring bike but lots of fun As for the weight a look at the specs of modern bikes and there’s no doubt they are pretty heavy these days to be fair
GTR1000, I did a Performance Bikes Magazine track day in the 90s on a Padgetts ZXR750H2 at Cadwell, first Gary Rothwell came through the inters group on his stunt bike, bolt upright as if he were going down the shops, then someone, I presume a staffer on the magazine rode a GTR1000 complete with panniers passing us dragging panniers on the ground, they obviously handle.
I had a 1980 CB900FB lovely bike but was known to have a gearbox issue, I currently own its successor the CB1000 Big one which I bought new in 1995 one of the best bikes I've owned and I've owned a few, I also have a 1980 Suzuki GSX1100ET which I bought in 1986 and the comment about Suzuki reg recs is certainly correct
I will never understand why they fitted cheap regulators to Suzukis And it does seem to still be a thing, we recently had an SV 650 which blew its regulator and left us stranded the third Suzuki to do so. It’s just silly really they can’t be saving much money in manufacturing costs It’s strange really we have had quite a few Guzzis too over the years and have never had generator circuit failure The same for Honda although we did have a modern Triumph 600 and its generator and regulator were also poor 🤷🏻
@bikerdood1100 I have owned mostly Honda since I started riding in 69, never had any major issues with them, I've h ad a new Guzzi California and a new BMW R100RS both had charging problems, I bought the GSX when it was around 5 years old, it had been turned into a cafe racer (It looked good but wasn't I restored it back to original) it had a half fairing fitted with twin cibie halogen headlights and when you switched them on below 1500 rpm the engine stopped, because the weak reg rec couldn't keep up with the demand
Well what can I say 8 Guzzi’s so far in the last 30 odd years and no charging problems yet In my life, thus far we have had 7 Suzukis and 3 I’ve ended up pushing I’ve enjoyed all the Suzukis we have owned but I’m not going to sugar coat for effect. There is genuinely no such thing as the perfect motorcycle at the end of the day
@bikerdood1100 totally agree no bike or car come to that is perfect and everyone as their own preferences, the Guzzi California 850 that I owned was bought in 1979 and I enjoyed riding it, the alternator packed up after a month and I was told by the dealer that it was a common fault and they usually sent them out for a rewind, to be honest it fairly reliable after that but the chrome and paint work was pretty dismal
I loved my FZR 1000 Exup not only was it a pretty quick bike in the day but for a short arse like myself I could touch the floor to, plus I found it to be a pretty comfortable ride to so good for touring so maybe that was down to my height I don't know. The main weak point was the fork oil seals going frequently but other than that a very reliable bike. Hmm as for another series of bikes how about 125 twins? I remember a few of those throughout the years & I did own a Honda for quite some time even though my mate rode it more than me.
At one of my old "locals", there used to be a motorcycle courier that popped in for a beer every night, on his way home. Of all bikes, his was an FZR 750. It had 150k km. on the clock and still ran like a Swiss watch, with plenty of power. My housemate had the FZR250 following on from owning an RD. You could hear him from a mile away, and it was not a slow bike.
@@bikerdood1100 I agree my best friend bought a GSXR 600 & I could barely touch the floor, that was in the late 90's so I've no idea what they're like now.
I loved my 1996 Triumph Sprint which I bought new. I would still be riding it if a mechanic had not wrecked it while "road testing" it during its state inspection in Virginia.
Thank you for mentioning the Thunderace! Available only for 1997 in USA, (mine's in black and silver) I literally lusted after this bike! Now, no one (over here) has even heard of them..
I have one, in red and white. Bought it in California. Rode the crap out of it. It started burning oil by the quart. Yamaha fixed it under warranty at around the seventy thousand mark. Got to love those extended warranties, having a great dealer didn’t hurt as well. She has got over 80 thousand on her now, I turned it into a super sport tourer.
@@paultruesdale7680 Awesome to hear! The only one I ever had apart as a dealership mechanic was in Red and White. The guy had exploded the clutch so bad the engine top case was cracked. I've never had mine above 146 myself, because my eyeglasses would jump on my face and blur my vision.
@@bikerdood1100 Will you be covering any issues that could potentially involve serious cash outlay? Sprag clutch failures were often mooted which put me off although I still have a soft spot for the earlier Hinkley triples.
@tommyedwards2762 is that another common issue with the early Triumphs? I did come close a couple of times to buying a Triumph in the mid-90s, but something stopped me.
People tend to remember benchmark bikes that moved the game on, for one reason or another and none of these really did that. The first CB750, Z1, Z1300, CBX, GPZ900R, the first slab sided GRXR1100, the first Fireblade, the first R1 etc all certainly did which is why people lust after them today and pay inflated prices for them. Don't lump the first FZR in with the later EXUP versions, completely different bikes to ride. The FZR1000RU (with the upside down forks) came out in ,91, not '94, I had one. It handled better than the GSXR but didn't have the grunt of the 1127cc motor in the big Gixer. I had a GRXR1100L which was the first one with the upside down forks. I also had a '93 Fireblade and a '98 R1, both of which were a bit if a revelation after previous bikes. Believe it or not, my first bike after passing my test on a 250 in 1982, was a Z1300! Yes, you could do that back then and get insurance!😂 The Z13 is the only bike I have a bit of a nostalgic soft spot for but I wouldn't buy one at the prices they go for because I know it would be a crap ride by today's standards.
Well I could not afford insurance for Z13 after passing my test Bit of a big old bus, never really my thing to be honest I do like a nimble bike I think where the older bikes win out is flexibility as the power has gone up it’s moved up the rev range. Hate waiting for the engine to wake up
@@bikerdood1100 The next bike after the Z13 was a Harris Magnum 2 I built up from a rolling chassis with a Z1000A1 engine, a bike at the opposite end of the handling spectrum to the big 6cyl Z😂 The power of bike engines has gone up as technology had improved but some still have flexibility. My current ZZR1400 has the sort of power and torque not even thought possible back then and it's there from just off tickover. Fantastic machine!👍
Great vid, but wasn't it the Speed Triple, not Street triple that were gen 1 Hinkley Triumphs? I bought 2 second gen speed triples! When they downsized the Daytona, the Street was the naked version of that one, wasn't it?
Suzuki GS850 regulator problem.....I did 5 of them, tried to make an air scoop to direct cold air over the top of it as it was at the bottom of the battery box behind the engine so it was getting all the heat from the motor, didn't work. Ended up being supplied an after market one from my dealer, never blew it again. I brought it in1986 and still have it, its in the Que to be restored, one of nine bikes with number ten on its way from japan .
Wouldn't exactly call the Ninja a "forgotten" classic though. If any bikes that were not half bad, but overshadowed by being on the market at a similar time as the brilliant, and hugely successful GPz900R, I would go with the original Yamaha FZ750, and the Yamaha FJ1100 as true forgotten classics.
@@13thdukeofwybourne69 You'd have to throw in the Yammie XS/XJ range of shafties too, wouldn't you? They were everywhere, where I lived, back in the day. Couriers loved them and they were a staple amongst the hardcore that didn't own a car, too. Some of them had a heap of miles on the clock, too.
@@davidbrayshaw3529 Great bikes the XS and XJ's! although they should probably deserve their own category of "workhorses" along with that other couriers trusty dobbin, the Honda CX500 plastic maggot! and how could you leave out the other dispatch riders delight, the Kawasaki GT550!
@@13thdukeofwybourne69 The XJ is the only one of those that I've ridden which is a bit surprising because I had friends who had the others. They were all bullet proof, that's for sure.
I well remember these bikes on the roads; they all looked and sounded great compared to modern bikes. You mispronounced Speed Triple as Street Triple at the end. I'm bikeless at the moment; modern life woes demanding all time and money but maybe I'll have to take a look at these suggestions in the future.
Back in 1980 I traded my cx500 for the cb900F, Left the dealership and immediately set off from the 1st set of traffic lights, well that was the plan unfortunately I dropped the clutch spun the back wheel and ended up sideways, Ok this is no cx500 I quickly learnt. I can honestly say this is the only bike that strikes fear into me, the front used to have instability at high speed and I always struggled to get the power down at the back wheel. Needless to say I only lasted 6 months before writing the bike off and eventually buying a Kawasaki Z650, a much more controllable and fun bike to own and ride. The cb900 will always be the bike I don't want to revisit, although for most people I'm sure it would make an affordable, nice classic to own, just not me, too many bad memories.
Had a CB900F in blue back in the day & had the first Harris replica 1100R tank/seat/fairing conversion done later. Wonderful bike. Unfortunately after a slow speed crash, I decided to completely strip the bike to start a full nut & bolt restoration, which due to the usual marriage/kids/moving house malarky, was never completed. Gave it away in boxes to a friend of a friend about 30 years ago, who didn't rebuilt it & eventually passed away. I never found out what happened to the bike after that. If I knew then what I know now....
@@bikerdood1100Never stopped, always had a running bike. The current stable consists of a Tiger, Street Twin, XJ600 & a Lexmoto, the wife is still my regular pillion. At the time of disposing of the CB900, we had just moved with the 4 kids to a 2 bed bungalow (with loads of potential) & the boxed bike had to go as we were somewhat limited on storage space. I was running around on a Suzuki 600 Bandit at the time.
Had both 750 and 900 honda both pretty slow and nothing to write home about, I had the exup, didn't have GS850 or 1000G but had a GS1000E lovely bike, also had triumph 900 sprint I had a Kawasaki 1100 spectre seems you charted much of my 80s and 90s bike history 🤣 Have you done a video on Kawasaki 1300 6 cylinder? Seems like lots of honda but haven't seen much on Kawasaki?
I had the Suzuki 850G a great tourer to put miles away in Australia. Very reliable hard to fault but I wanted a faster bike so got the GSX1100 after it
@@bikerdood1100 The GS850G the better all round bike bit heavy in the city but comfy the GSX1100 well FAST is what I wanted and got of course be careful of what you want. It would get to 200k FAST and roll on past 220k and I got to see 240k the end of the speedo but it was all but uncontrollable over around 210 you had to watch it. The GS850G never encouraged that sort of riding it would cruise on 160k all day every day and if you wanted to give some tin top hero a go it would wind up to 200k but was steady and stable.
@@gbone7581 I wasnt talking about the CB1000. I was referring to the CB1100F. A bike that is nesrly identical to the cb750/900 only cooler. The CB1000 is not in the lineage of the 4 cylinder aircooled bikes from the 70s and 80s. It is a retro bike styled to.look like an old bike. That cb1100 actually IS an old bike that was built at the exact same time as the bikes he spoke about..the 750 and 900.
Ah yes the 900/750F 900 went went handling just ok, 750 heavy and a bit slow by contemporary standards. Both cursed with two camchains and a weak tensioner, clatter clatter clatter. What was Mr Honda thinking. Now how about the Honda CBX 750? well sorted and nice handling properly solid engine (finally Honda) over shadowed by the CB's GPZ's GSX's etc. A good choice for those wanting a more modern UJM.
CbX is Always worth a mention but is essential the same machine All be it with a number of improvements GSX is similar overshadowed by later more sporty machines
It doesn’t mean forgotten by everyone it means largely and undeservingly disregarded by many today, it’s not a comment on the bike itself Not sure I’d upgrade to a CBX to be honest
@@bikerdood1100 Only bike I've ever seen where the magnetic part of the generator failed, even though it was still magnetic. Found 40 wires that went nowhere, used in different countries for self cancelling indicators and running lights. Wires that would change colour in the harness randomly. Nightmare electrics, worse than old ducati's.
No I have heard of demagnetisation occurring It’s rare. Suzukis usually blow their regulator rectifiers Had that twice. In general a lot of Japanese machines use fairly cheap alternators and they definitely have a shelf life
'Forgotten Classic' is so wrong. If it's a classic it can't be forgotten. Also the reason why most of these are 'forgotten' is becauce they are NOT classics!!!
The CB750s were pretty rubbish. Overweight, over-complex and still significantly poorer than the Kawasaki and Suzuki competition. The 900s performed better (well duh) but drank fuel so greedily that it was unusual to get 100 miles from a tankful. Both were overweight into the bargain. I think that the 900 could have been a proper classic if they hadn't made the engine a 901. That capacity meant that these weird machines couldn't even be used. in any competiton of renown. At the time endurance racing classes were, IIRC, up to 900 street based machines or up to 1000 for full fat machines. That 901 wouldn't take theb extra bore for the full fat factory efforts, and it couldn't be sleeved down to confrom to street spec. The FZR 1000 was a victim of falling between generations. The GS850? You what? I can only think that Suzuki thought that the extra 100cc would compensate for the added weight of the shaft. It didn't. By the time the 850 was launched, it's 750 sister was already showing its age against newer, lighter, better performing competition, so the heavier, slower 850 was simply a barge. I had a 750 while a mate had an 850. My 750 was dog slow by then, the 850 even managed to make my 750 seem sprightly.
The 850 was to fatten the talk curve in my experience shaft drive does not sap as much power as many believe Indeed the Fzr is a matter of timing but it was the best available for several years and so should be better remember really
@@bikerdood1100 It's not what I think, it's what I experienced. I'm pretty sure that the engine was "detuned" (ie made rubbish) because it was never envisioned as a sport bike.
Well it wasn’t seen as a sport bike that’s pretty obvious but not everyone is looking for the fastest thing available, which is why it sold pretty well
@@bikerdood1100 Actually, at least in the UK, it WAS promoted as a "sporting" shaft drivren bike. I even have road tests from the time that point to that fact.
I have a request for you. What happened to the Van Veen motorcycle in the 70s? As I recall it was a 1000cc rotary engine? Would love to see a story about it!
