As someone who has owned all sizes of bikes, from Honda C90s, to a Triumph Rocket 3 over my decades of riding, I have to agree with the little Honda Cubs being included on this list. I've owned 3 of them over the years as hack bikes for commuting, and riding in crap weather. They are wonderful, reliable and virtually indestructable little bikes that I enjoyed riding as much as I've enjoyed my larger bikes. Despite ragging the guts out of them, they never let me down, and were cheap as chips to run.
I nearly forget it to be honest, it was originally a 5 bike list. Thankfully I quickly realised my error. Miss out the best selling vehicle in history, unforgivable
My grandfather, unlike my mother, was delighted when I took up motorcycling. He had owned a Scott and said it had been a terrific machine for him. He loved my bevel Ducati Darmah. The pantah proved to be great engineering for a competitive price, but I still love the bevels. I think Grandad would approve of my V7 as well.
Great video. The Scott segment was utterly fascinating. Even though I'm a two stroke fanatic I knew very little about the Scott and didn't realize just how pioneering it was.
The Three (3) motorbikes in my life were the 72 Suzuki 750k water cooled, Suzuki GSX 1100 Katana which I still have and the Yamaha XS 400 RK which my son still has, even tho he now rides a Ducati Monster.
I watched many a "Most Important", "Most Influential" and "Top Ten" video on bikes, none of which have mentioned the Honda (Super) Cub (it was up to us rabble in the comments section to remind them of their glaring mistake). Thank you for setting the record straight. IMO without the success of the Cub, Honda would probably not have gone on to make the road and race bikes we all know.
To not mention the best selling vehicle in history is a disgrace Even saw them in a list of worst bikes in history in an on line list. Really pissed me off clearly written by a Superbike magazine or something, what stupidity
Royal Enfield’s swinging arm rear suspension was revealed in 1948 on the prototype 350 Bullet trials. Its success in competitions ensured it was then used on road-going 350 Bullets and 500 Twins, making them the first full production motorcycles to feature this design anywhere in the world. Within a few years, virtually all manufacturers had adopted this Royal Enfield design and most still use it today.
Thanks for the fun and informative video. I think you hit the nail on the head for the most influencial motorcycles of all time. My connection with motorcycles is a bit different since I have owned about 10 motorcycles and all of them 125cc or under and all of them Japanese. In the early 80s I developed a relationship with Ottawa Goodtime Centre where I would buy a small motorcycle, use it for several years, then trade it in for another refurbished bike. Most of these were 2 strokes from Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Some street bikes and some trail bikes. But my favourite was the Honda S90 because the 4 stroke engine sounded so much more civilized. The main purpose was to use them to go to work, shopping and adventuring. In the last decade or so I have switched to electric bikes with my favourite being the Emmo Urban because of the relatively low cost and motorcycle-like handling. Cheers from Canada :-)
Honda kept the original CB750 in production for a long time but Honda was not only living on there laurels. During that decade they also introduced the CB1000 flat four Gold Wing, the CBX 1000 inline six cylinder, the V65 V4 Sabre that was at the time the fastest motorcycle in the World, and the Moto Guzi like 650 V twin Silver Wing. There was the 400 Super Sport that was very popular and inexpensive. There was a lot going in the Honda Dealership.
I can only agree with this selection! But because there is still space in a top 10 selection, I add the following machines as pioneers of a technology, an entire category or motorcycle philosophy: the Yamaha XT 500 (as the founder of the worldwide enduro movement, even if there existed already dual-purpose motorcycles before), the boxers from BMW and Zündapp (the very first boxer motorbike came from Douglas in Bristol), the Harley-Davidson Easy Rider Chopper from the movie.
XT wax definitely not the first in class for sure, possibly the best of its time though. ABC made boxers with the BMW configuration so I’d have gone with that I think Easy rider chopper is an interesting thought 🤔
I think the XT kind of did for enduro bikes what the Ford model T or the VW Beetle did for cars. I rode an SR500 for a coupe of years - it was an XT reformatted for on street use only and was a flawed but likeable street bike. The two UJMs I owned - an XJ550 and later a Katana 650 - were probably two of the very best few bikes I ever owned. For a top quartet, I add my CB250RS and my 'pipe and slippers' R1150RT.
Honda was dependable and fast back in 69 ! The 750 was the one everyone was trying to beat. Kawasaki 900 and the Suzuki 1000, 1100 all came after the Honda 750 and everyone scrambled to produce their own Super Bike and they did fast , smooth and dependable. Wonderful Bikes and some of the older bikes ride and drive better today !
@@kevinclayton4491 not sure that’s strictly accurate, it’s one of those common misconceptions, they new Honda had the CB in development. Part of this rumour stems from the fact that Kawasaki dressed the bike to look like a Honda during development. I believe the decision to go bigger was made before Honda even hit the market. Incidentally the Honda was never at any point the fastest bike on the market either in terms of top speed or acceleration, didn’t like corners too much either 😂
@@bikerdood1100 Kawasaki found out Honda had the CB750 in development whilst they were developing their 750 so started from scratch for the Z1 as Honda were ahead of them and would beat them to the market. The Honda had not been released at that point. Kawasaki Motorcycle division was not large enough to compete directly with Honda so they needed something special hence the decision to scrap the 750 and develop the Z1.
Great content as ever and an interesting set of bikes. Agreed the elastic band' Pantah was the forerunner of the later Ducatis, just never really loved them (I had a 600 Pantah) compared with the earlier GTS, SS, Darmah bevel drive bikes
This is a superb list and compulsive viewing - I'll only add an honourable mention to this list of the Suzuki GSXR750 back in 1985, which kind of kick-started the race-rep boom of the late eighties and possibly influenced Honda to come up with the excellent Fireblade just a few years later
The Kawasaki GPZ900R predated the GSX-R750 by a year. It was the first production water-cooled 16V bike engine, the first production bike to break 150mph, and brought into the mainstream the benefits of lightweight and compact design that the FireBlade (itself an incredibly influential bike) then took to the next level. The GSX-R was important, sure, but I'd say the GPZ had more of a lasting impact.
If I was to go boxer I’d probably go ABC because it predated the BMW For their DOHC the Honda and the Kawasaki would seem to qualify. Norton had their rubber mounts of course but Sunbeam had already done that, it was influential with a number of companies using similar systems
At least here in North America, UJM stands for Universal Japanese Motorcycle, though UJMs were certainly ubiquitous. It's impossible to argue that the CB750 was anything but a very important motorcycle. Not only was it the first UJM, but IMO it was also the bike that planted the final nail in the coffin of the British motorcycle industry. After the CB750, it was impossible to look at any British bike (yes, including the Triumph Trident) as anything but antiquated. The Cub is more than an important motorcycle, it perhaps, one of the most important vehicles of any type presented in the last 60ish years.
The phrase is very much interchangeable, I’ve seen universal used too Depends which magazine you read. I don’t like it personally because there’s mote to Japanese motorcycles than across the frame 4s
@@wymple09 Those T500s were epic machines but a bit of a dead end, when emission laws killed off two strokes. Flat twins and flat fours and flat sixes did not get any mention here, but our host seems to be more of a scratcher than a tourer. By which I mean I hope I'm more likely to see him up on Denbigh Moor than at some autobahn services halfway across Germany.
Very interesting content. I must admit, I had never heard of a Scott, let alone seen one; really quite striking from both an engineering and appearance point of view. Good stuff! Many thanks.
In mid-1963 I sat on a nice late-model Birmingham-built Scott Flying Squirrel in Pride & Clark's Stockwell Road showroom, but the 250cc 'learner law' had recently (July 1961) come in, so I bought a new 250 Jawa from them instead; it was a comfortable and completely reliable bike for the 75-mile commute to my military base. A later development of the Scott engine was the Silk 700S; with a dry weight of just 140 kg, it was quite tasty in it's day!
I think you have missed out on another most important motorcycle family. The BSA 250cc side vale family started out as the round tank, morphed into the wedge tank. Then into the B 10 series. Finishing up in 1938 as the C series C10 & after the War coming back as the C10 with the same girder fork then with telescopic fork & eventually finishing up with the Bantam plunger frame & fork as the C10L. This was one of the most important machines BSA ever produced. A humble ride to work bike with a low price & a better performance than you would expect. If there is a motorcycle that can claim to be the predecessor of the Honda Cub, in Britain, then this has to be it. With a true lineage dating back to the early 1920s & the B1 running from 1933 running through to the C10L finishing in 1957.
Did cover the round tank in a previous video on commuter bikes, it being the first bike into what we would think of as the Honda Cub role today Certainly kept those telegram boys on the move. C10 is a strange hangover bike from a previous generation to me it seemed out of step, I wonder who would buy one in preference to a C11. The range is definitely a proposition for a later video though
The 1958 cub was the 49cc (iron head ohv) C100 there was a 198cc version but only as the motorcycle shaped C200. At the end of the 60s Honda developer the new super-cub -the ohc C50. At first they were less reliable than the C100 becuse as the cam bearings were holes in the alloy head they actually needed occasional ail changes! Nowadays the C/50/70/90/110 are as reliable as an axe
Interesting but not quite right, C200 was 89cc, effectively the first C90. You got confused buy the Honda naming system. It’s not so supposed the be an exhaustive history of the cub hence the abridged history, that would be in a video on the cub exclusively. Incidentally they employed the Super cub name before the introduction of the OHC engine. Easy to skip bits isn’t it 😂😂
Damnit,the 'umble Honda 'bog seat'! Kicked off my career on a C50,managing to wreck the poor little sod through teenaged exuberance and lack of maintenance,RIP GRE 6N!
True,true. If I could communicate with my younger self,down some freak wormhole in the space/time continuum,I'd yell 'for Pete's sake,look after it properly,lad!' 😁
An honourable mention? I had a GS750, the story of this bike is very interesting, while you are quite correct to claim that the CB750 was an important bike, the scramble to produce a similar bike lead to Suzuki smashing together a 750/4 four stroke that was nothing short of disastrous, they took the idea they had come up with to their racing god the late great Barry Sheen and asked for his input, the result was the GS750, a bike that not only went like a rocket but handled superbly and by virtue of twin discs front and single disc rear, actually stopped. I would argue that this bike and not the soft and top heavy CB that lead the charge for the UJM for the next 10 years. Happy to hear your thoughts. Cheers.
I think the GS was the first time they produced a four with truly competent handling If I was in the market for a 70s Japanese four it would be that one
I think the CB750 was a true game changer and the harbinger of doom for the overly complacent UK industry. But the GS750 and then the GS1000 showed that Suzuki were not going to roll over and let Honda have it all their own way. I only ever worked my way up to a GS650 Katana but that was awesome enough for me and my lass at the time. (It was her bike really and I was just left with our POS V50-II when we separated.)
I suspect the Honda 750 Four was the first four cylinder produced in great numbers, rather than the first mass-produced. Mass production refers to assembly-line, specialised work stations methods of production, not the number produced. (Although mass production makes producing in large numbers cheaper, faster, and easier.) Almost all motorcycles are mass-produced, in particular post 1930s. I am aware a lot of sources state the 750 Four was the first mass-produced, but not understanding the term 'mass-production' is quite common.
Sorry I actually fell asleep before I finished reading More than a little pedantic The Honda was the first mass production because the first transverse because the Munch Mamutt Could not be in anyway be described as mass productised because 1 numbers produced were extremely low 2 it was hand built, not on an assembly line All previous 4s were in line rather than transverse ( road bikes , not GP ) Thank you for stating what I already knew 🙄
They are all there because of the CB750 I suppose The 400 did start the 400 market especially in Japan but it took a few more years to really become a thing
@@bikerdood1100 I had the bikes in that order, a CB750 first then a Z900 and then a 400F. They were all good bikes but the 400F is the bike that did it all. Easy to get out of storage where I lived and good on twisty Cheshire roads.
Good old Honda. I would say CB750 Four, Honda Super Cub, Honda Elsinore, Harley (basically the same engine in all of them), Penton ISDT, and my Yamaha SR500 because it's mine.
Both Vespa and Lambretta were of enormous influence after the Second World War, with sales so high that all the major motorcycle manufacturers tried to get on the bandwagon, but you could argue that they are scooters not motorcycles.
@@bikerdood1100 And again an extra thumbs up for this statement! In Germany, some motorcyclists cut off their hands if they accidentally greeted a scooter rider...
For me it had to be the CX500 mk2 (with the bikini screen) I raced this bike, used it for touring, rides out & O yes to on to work on. but the Honda cub must be of of the most important bikes, 3 gears a bit of weather protection, rain (macintosh) coat Alan would appear at all our camping adventures on his 90! plus narrow days the Cub is in the expensive department!! prohaps this might be a furture vlog cheap bikes that now cost a leg & arm
I had several Bantams back in the early 60s when I was learning to ride. I paid ten bob, 50p in new money, for an old rat which I rode over a course made by some sadistic barstewards out on Boston Manor, which trained me to fall off well. I was 14 after all, an age where I just bounced. Soon I found myself paying out a fiver for a road-legal version and getting out onto the tarmac. I knew of the DKW in later years, when I had graduated to 4 strokes, and thanked the Germans for setting me on two wheels.
I think for me the most influenual were the Suzuki's AP-50, GT250, GT750, GS850 and Yamaha's RD400 & FJ1100. Well they were to me being my first six bikes.
Honda 750 4, so many were made they are now common as muck and can be cheap as chips. My mate over the road had one, he said the triumphs and Nortons of the day would catch you up on the bends then fall behind on the straights, if Honda had just made it handle, what then!
While I can't disagree with any of the bikes in your list IMO the Fireblade should be on it as showed sports bikes didn't have to be heavyweights limited by their weight, though the CB750 was the first modern super bike.
Disagree based on ? Not being sport bike🙄 Fire blade was a next step not a game changer Except for Honda replacing the lardy cbr1000 Wasn’t the first light weight race rep Great bit of repackaging though Like too many modern bikes however it’s rather 1 dimensional
I used to own a Honda vf 400f back in the 80`s, probably the most comfortable bike I`ve ever ridden. It was not the fastest nor was it the biggest but most defiantly the most comfortable. I`d be interested in your opinions on the V four range of bikes...
We had a vf400 for a while found it pretty good if not too rapid The smaller early V4s are definitely the best with few o& 5he top end problems at the top end Cam chains and oil supply. By Honda Standards the V4s had bags of character but the bigger bikes let them down.
Correct the C100 before the switch. Not a great numbers of OHV engines left out there. They had a habit of snapping their kick star shaft, speaking from expensive there
The Japanese U.J.M was a culmination of ideas from many European manufactures brought together by Mr Honda and made to work in a consistent and reliable way. I believe their innovation was in the manufacturing process, as far as original concept of design this can mainly be attributed to the engineering genius of the Europeans.
I watched the first two and a half minutes of the video four or five times just to look at those beautiful CB750s. I liked the SOHC models- not the SuperSport, though.
I'm always surprised how fresh and modern the design of Japanese motorcycles from the 70s still looks today, whether it's the CB 750, the Z 1 and Z 900, the GS 750 or the XS 750/850.
It’s a lot to do with the very traditional styling. They didn’t get clever with looks which were not really greatly different from late 60s bikes. They kept the evolutionary stuff mechanical
I always thought the U in UJM referred to Universal, not Ubiquitous. I like ubiquitous better but, perhaps “Unappreciated” better reflects the attitude of those who take Umbrage with the value, quality and historical impact of Japanese bikes?
I guess a Norton big single or a BMW boxer would also be reasonable choices too.. I do like the American Henderson police bikes of the 20s/30s... though..🤔
Had the cb750 Honda gold colour just like one in your video , passed test then rode my old triumph 350 (built from bags of parts when I was 16) then got year old cb 750 nailed it everywhere like you do when just turned 17 , god knows how i survived , dropped it couple of times . Got Suzuki GS 550 because it looked good and handled better but it was gutless compared to Honda then GS 750 ,great bike pulled like honda but more top end and handled (Honda could be handful pushed hard and single disc not that good )
Well there’s no substitute for Cubes as they say, a smaller engine will always be working harder. Early discs were pretty terrible really, little better than the better drum systems. The discs were just plain too small
Nice bike, Geoffrey, no doubt, but didn't the Yamaha RD LCs rather mark the end of an era of water-cooled two-stroke engines started in the 1920's by Scott and DKW?
@@bikerdood1100 Hooligan bike, ha ha 🙂 I was thinking of a video "The most notorious bikes called widowmaker". Learned from the internet that the name was not only used for the Kawasaki H2 Mach IV worldwide...
No doubt in my mind about 2, Honda cub... and CB 750. I owned bot, the CB from 1970 and the cub later as a commuter, with actually a very long commute. You cannot kill a Honda50.. mine was pushrod iron head, and just went on... and on.... and on. No oil leaks, easy maintenance.. and withstood a lot of abuse. The CB was obtained when everyone else here has 'Brit' bikes... and of course, at the time, none could match it... maybe a Bonny could marginally out accellerate it , and outhandle it.. but in no way were any of them as comfortable for long distance cruising. It did leak oil... but not what you would expect, as this was actually due to a feature on it.. a chain oiler metered through the centre of the sprocket driveshaft. Having owned a variety of 'Brit' bikes before it, I understood immediately how this bike was going to kill the British bike industry unless they changed, which unfortunately they did not.
The idea that it killed the British industry is more sound bite than historical fact to be honest The collapse of the home market was far more significant In a world sense the Cub is by far the most significant Honda with the CB really aimed at the US big bike market which is relatively small by numbers, the Asian small bike market is were Honda made their money
@@bikerdood1100 I agree, but still think the Japanese multi cylinder flood was enough to accelerate the death. I actually owned the Honda 50after the CB, and used it for a much longer period.
when I was a kid 🙂 there was 2 cool older on the same street 1 have cb750 and the other guy had a Triumph 3 cyl and we kids argument for weeks which bike how was the best 🙂
Great selection, and I agreed with every one of them! Obviously there are many many more you could have included given infinite time - the Yamaha RD250/350 twins line, the Kawasaki triples etc etc etc. One thing though - from what I remember, when the term 'UJM' was coined by 'Bike' magazine in the late 70s I remember it standing for 'Universal Japanese Motorcycle' rather than 'Ubiquitous'. The point was that with virtually everyone producing across the frame fours, it had got to the stage that the only difference was styling - and even then not by much. If the whole bike was covered up in a sheet, you wouldn't be able to tell whether it was a Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki/Yamaha by riding the thing..... Good job, keep up the good work! 👍
I have heard both universal and ubiquitous used over the years but in recent years I’ve heard the later more often. It’s a common term but I’m not sure I like it personally because it sort of suggests all the bikes are the same which they clearly aren’t
@@bikerdood1100 True but I was raised in the 1970's and started biking in the 1980s and it was always "universal" back then, even in the magazines. As I said, ubiquitous is probably more accurate though :D
Did really change the market though, except in the UK where they were so fast they changed the law so that learners could no longer ride 250s we got stuck with plodding 12hp 125s because of those two 🤦
Honda was the Boomers bike of choice. My first ride was on passport 50 I was hooked. Now imagine this guy's talking the cb 750 engine out of the bike to build a chopper! Talk about bad financial moves 🤣
Hi Warren, nice of you to mention rotary engine bikes! I had briefly thought of them too (btw: the first production motorcycle with a Wankel engine was the Hercules W 2000 in 1974, a year before the Suzuki RE 5). But in the end the technology didn't catch on, neither in cars nor on motorcycles, so it's not a real milestone IMO. But stop! The brand new Mazda MX-30 R-EV has a rotary engine as a range extender. Felix is dead, but Wankel is alive 🙂
@@Volker_GR hi ! From South Africa my take is it was influential due to its innovativeness yes, shure, may not have been influential from a sales perspective, but IMHO there are other aspects to motorcycles, that where influential.. EG styling, engine handling ride comfort but to mention a few ? ---- food for more content ? Have a good one, I'm camping out this weekend ... already having a good one
The Goldwing perhaps because it started the big tourer thing, well apart from HD Honda 6 was amazing sounding but not influential in fact it was a very poor seller . The RE5 wasn’t the first production rotary by any means and was a commercial disaster. Love the Katana but the race replica soon came in and eased it aside( a shame )
@@Volker_GR hi there. Moving.into autumn 🍂, pleasant sitting under the trees, munching crisps and drinking coke.... a light breeze around 23 deg C cotton wool clouds above.... be jealous 😋. By.your weather standards. Here it's summer all.year round.... 8 deg C and we wrap up in winter woolies....
