The Honda CB750: How One Motorcycle Invented the Superbike

In the spring of 1969, big motorcycles still ran on drum brakes, kickstarters and a fair amount of faith. British twins ruled the top end of the market, American V-twins thundered along their own separate path, and real speed usually came bundled with oil leaks, vibration and electrics that quit without warning. Then Honda showed up with a 736cc inline four that had a front disc brake and an electric starter, and it outran, outbraked and outsold nearly everything else on the road. Dealers didn’t have a word for it. Motorcycle journalists did, within a few months: the superbike.

The World Before the CB750

Fast motorcycles existed before 1969, but they came with conditions attached. The Vincent Black Shadow had claimed the title of world’s fastest production motorcycle back in 1948, with a top speed of around 125 mph (201 km/h), yet Vincent built fewer than 1,800 of them across seven years. Getting one meant paying a premium and waiting, since the company that built them could barely keep pace with its own orders.