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Eduardo Zepeda·
Motorcycle History
··5 min read

The Honda CB750: How One Motorcycle Invented the Superbike

Credit: Bonhams Cars
Last updated:

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

Credit: Honda

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.

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