40 or 35 years ago, I would have agreed. But now you can get a newer, used bike for very little money that outperforms the Honda in every aspect (but dependability). Adding a second disc, getting better shocks, or installing an electronic ignition is all good and fine. But when you start to butcher the CB 750, is where I draw the line. It doesn't make sense to me. Follow that path, and you have to replace the engine, then the rear frame. It is simpler and cleaner to just buy another bike. By the way: the Goldwing suspension was atrocious at high speeds. There were numerous accidents reported with the first Goldwings, not few of them which ended deadly. I have vivid memories about this because a fellow soldier died in one of them back in the day. People can do what they want to their bikes, may it be tasteful or not. But I mind the fact that these slapped together bikes (everyone is an engineer these days), that would never pass a serious safety inspection, are sharing public roads with me.
What's to butcher? the GL uses the same steering head bearings as the CB750. Nothing you do in this conversion can't be undone to the cb750. So who is buthcering anything?
the goldwing "suspension" issue you talk about relates to the rear suspension more than the forks. The rear coil spring was too light and the rear shock was under dampned and when pushed would cause all sorts of weight transfer and jacking issues, usually at speed.
This isn't a modern slapped together mod, it's been around since the bikes were new and it's been tested and proven by many. Plus 40 years of progress has happened and if the forks really bother you, you can get better springs, cartridge emulators, and better fork oil for both the stock 35mm and the 37mm forks.
when the cb750 was new, the average car had four wheel drum brakes and a stopping distance well into 200 feet from 60mph if they were perfectly serviced (few were). There were few things the CB750 could outstop back then. Now a 10 year old minivan with worn pads can outstop you. There is nothing wrong with brake and suspension upgrades to compensate for modern traffic. And thicker forks help this as much as better brakes. BTW, we aren't talking about radically better brakes, just better than what was available stock. Ever see a cb750 lock up the front wheel? you can watch the fork vibrate back and forth as it tries to tuck under the bike.
Wobbly, I don't really care where you draw the line - but it would help if you knew what you were talking about before you drew one at all. I will agree that there are too many "kids" just throwing on sportbike front ends with no consideration to geometry and getting themselves in trouble, but there are also some things out there that have been evaluated both from an engineering standpoint and trial and error and actually work. I don't advocate sportbike front ends unless you feel like doing a year's worth of math homework (I put an fzr600 front end on my h1 and yes it took me a year to figure out safe geometry). If you look at the racing classes that have the SOHC cb750, there is a reason the fork size is limited to 38mm (with exceptions for Rickman 42mm forks). When the Rickman bros first designed their frame they used a 42mm home manufactured fork and then a 38mm betor fork - but they didn't go back to a 35mm even though there was one available from all the good manufacturers (Ceriani, Marzocchi, Betor, Showa).
