Monday, 20 February 2017

Honda CB750 (1969) Specification, Review, HD Photos

Posted By: ygshhd 00:34 Leave a Reply

Honda CB750

With a top speed of over 120mph (193km/h) and a standing quarter-mile time of under 13 seconds, Honda’s original CB750 four was one of the fastest and hardest-accelerating bikes on the roads in the early 1970s. But it was not sheer speed alone that made the Honda such a huge success back then; nor that caused it to be widely regarded as the most important machine that the motorcycle industry has yet produced.

More than simply sheer performance, it was the CB750’s unmatched sophistication that made it special. When it arrived in 1969, the Honda was the first mass-produced four, and it incorporated refinements including an electric starter, disc front brake and five-speed gearbox. As well as being competitively priced, it was also impressively well built. By this time, a generation of motorcyclists had grown up on smaller Hondas, and were confident that the Japanese firm’s bikes would be mechanically reliable, and would have good electrics and no oil leaks. They would not be disappointed by the glamorous four.

Influenced by racebikes

Of all the Honda’s attributes, that powerful, smooth-running engine was the most important.

The 736cc unit’s design was influenced by Honda’s multi-cylinder racebikes of the 1960s, although the roadster relied on a single overhead camshaft and two valves per cylinder, in contrast to the racers with their twin cams and four valves per pot. The Honda’s capacity of 736cc came from its relatively long-stroke dimensions of 61 x 63mm, which helped reduce width.

The original CB750 had conventional styling and fairly high handlebars, but its disc front brake and especially its four-cylinder engine brought a new level of sophistication and performance to motorcycling. More than three decades later, its influence is still clear in the design of modern super bikes.

Most of the first fours to be produced were sold in America, where the model went on sale in mid- 1969. This bike, built in October of that year, was the first to be sold in Britain and was registered in January 1970.

Tuned For Speed - The CB750F2

Honda was slow to update the CB750 in the 1970s, despite the arrival of rivals including Kawasaki's more powerful 900cc Z1. In fact the CB was detuned over the years to reduce emissions. Even the 1976 model CB750F1, which looked sporty with flat handlebars and bright yellow paint, could manage only 115mph (185km/h). But a year later came the CB750F2. Its black-painted engine had bigger valves, high-lift camshaft, redesigned combustion chamber and produced 73bhp, an extra 6bhp. Chassis improvements included a strengthened frame, new suspension and triple disc brakes. With top speed of over 120mph (193km/h) and excellent handling, the F2 was the last and best of Honda's single-cam 750s.

The motor was angled slightly forward in a steel, twin cradle frame, which held gaitered front forks and twin rear shock absorbers. Honda created the initial CB750 as an all-rounder, aiming it primarily at the US market. It was a physically large machine with a wide seat. It also had fairly high handlebars, but the wind-blown riding position did not prevent it from being well suited to cruising at speed.

Chassis performance did not quite match that of the engine, with the flex-prone steel frame causing a few wobbles under very hard riding. But by early 1970s standards the Honda’s handling was good. Although quite heavy, the four carried its weight well, thanks partly to firm suspension. Its disc front brake gave an edge in both image and performance over rival firms’ drums, too.

Demand for the CB750 was huge, notably in America, where most of the early production was sold. Honda even got a barely necessary marketing boost from competition success, when veteran ace Dick Mann won the 1970 Daytona 200 on a modified CB750. Cycle World introduced the Honda as ‘the ultimate weapon in one-upmanship - a magnificent, muscle-bound racer for the road’, and concluded in its road test that the CB750 was ‘the very best road bike in the world’.

Few who rode it at the time disagreed with that. And, as four-cylinder Japanese superbikes began to dominate the two-wheeled scene through the 1970s and ’80s, the Honda’s enormous influence became apparent. After the CB750, high-performance motorcycling would never be the same again.

Honda’s 736cc straight-four powerplant had a chain-driven single overhead camshaft and eight valves. Carburation and exhaust changes necessary to meet tightening emissions legislation meant that its 67bhp output was initially reduced, rather than increased, in subsequent years. Although the Honda had an electric starter, it was also fitted with a kick- starter as a back-up.

Specification Honda CB750 (1969)