Above : CB750 1969 model a Right : CB750 1969 model b
I n the last issue we looked at the ground breaking four-cylinder Ariel Square Four . It is intriguing that the man who invented it , Edward Turner , should then go on to develop the Triumph Speed Twin in 1937 , which influenced the dominance of twin rather than four-cylinder machines for the next thirty years . In 1968 Turner ’ s original concept of a four-cylinder motorcycle for mass consumption was re-born in the more refined shape of the Honda CB750 .
BIKE OF THE CENTURY In the year 2000 , motorcycle journalists from all over the world almost unanimously chose the Honda CB750 as the most significant bike of the 20th century . Launched in 1968 it shook the motorcycling
world with a series of innovative refinements that stunned the rest of the motorcycle industry . It was a serious blow for the British and European industries , who had been coming to terms with the fact that the Japanese had virtually taken over the small bike market , but this was a serious challenge in the large capacity market , and there was a strong feeling that this was just the beginning . The CB750 was shown to the world at the Tokyo Show in October 53-years ago . It had a SOCH , eight valve , four-cylinder air-cooled engine , with five gears , and an electric starter . It didn ’ t go unnoticed that Mike Hailwood had ridden a 500cc RC181 four-cylinder Honda into second place in the 500cc World Championship of 1966 and 1967 . On the same machine he had
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