Ah, I remember the good old days when this was a CB750 only site. Back in those days, we only argued about which CB750 was the best, and in the end, we all agreed that the CB750 was the best bike ever built, and we were happy.
Then "Political Correctness" reared it's ugly head. Political correctness dictates that all of the minorities out there (regardless of how distasteful their particular pastimes might be) get a bigger vote than the mainstream. Glenn, our founding father, eventually caved in to the incessant badgering of the SOHC4 "Others" demands for inclusion in our previously exclusive club, (because they couldn't make a fist of creating and maintaining interest in their own forums) and here we are, once again, actually entertaining the prospect that anything else but a CB750 can be the best bike ever built.
While nice enough little bikes, the 350/400/500/550/650 fours will only ever be seen as secondary to the iconic, world changing CB750. Read any article on the top 10 motorcycles of all time, and a CB750 will feature in it, but you won't see any other SOHC4 models, because they all came afterwards, and just don't have that place in motorcycling history.
To argue that any other SOHC4, being smaller and lighter, is therefore "better" than the mighty CB750 is weak, any smaller bike of the era is going to be lighter, and as the years rolled by, all motorcycles have become more sophisticated. My lawn mower is lighter than my CB750, and I can do a top end rebuild with the engine still in the frame, but at the end of the day, it's still only a lawnmower..........
Apart from the fact that it had 6 cylinders, the Benelli SEI was nothing special, and wasn't an Italian manufacturers first attempt at copying a Honda design anyway, the Laverda SF750 was a much better bike all round, I owned one, and while not a patch on the mighty CB750, was a much nicer attempt at copying a Honda design than the bulbous Benelli.
So, in conclusion, while the "SOHC4 Others" will argue vehemently against historical fact that somehow their choice of motorcycle is the penultimate SOHC4, the truth is that they will never be held in the same high regard as the mighty CB750, the bike that heralded the era of the multi cylinder Japanese Superbike revolution.
Superman is a hero, "Superb Man" is gay. Popcorn and beer is available in the lobby. Cheers, Terry.
