Topic: What Was The First Honda That Got YOUR Attention?

[bill440cars]

       Wasn't sure if this was the right place to put this or not. But, here goes. The very 1st Honda I ever saw and REALLY got my attention was the Benly 125 Super Sports. I don't remember the exact model designator, but Sam and some others know of it.

       Our family went to different Motorcycle Races in the State, now and then. On this occasion,  we had gone to New Port Arkansas and they had an asphalt track there. As we approached a high banked turn of the track and I heard what sounded like a well tuned sports car making laps. Imagine my surprise when we came up over the rise and there was this slightly small motorcycle making those laps. He spun out and killed the engine. He got up, grabbed the Benly and as he jumped on it, suddenly it was running and off he went! I was suddenly introduced to a motorcycle with an Electric Starter and as he wound through the gears, those megaphone mufflers sounded BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! That was my 1st reaction to a Honda and the CB77 305 Super Hawk was the 2nd and the CB750K0 was right Up There, just a little later on, that's all.     

That Benly would have been a CB92. It may be now one of the most sought after Hondas after the Sandcast.

    I thought it was something like that, but not being sure, I just left it open. Thanks for verifying the model. When I was in Japan, I also tried to find one of those, that I could pick up on and never found one. That was back in 1967-69 too. The only bike I found, even close to the Super Hawk, was the Hawk that I bought.

[bill440cars]

I always had Honda dirt bikes as a kid then my dad got me a Honda MB5 introduced me to street riding. I still look around for one of them to restore lol.



Matt

  I always thought those were pretty cool bikes.

[LesterPiglet]

There you go Bill. Honda S600

[krusty]

      "HJave to say that, when I was in Northern Japan, in the U.S.A.F., I saw a Honda convertible, an S something, I think and it was like a small MG Midget, in looks. I actually tried to do a trade with my Honda CB72, but couldn't make a deal.  That was a pretty slick looking ride too!"

Bill. What you saw could have been one of these, S600 Sport. They also had a coupe version and later it grew to 800.

[MoMo]

I always had Honda dirt bikes as a kid then my dad got me a Honda MB5 introduced me to street riding. I still look around for one of them to restore lol.



Matt

  I always thought those were pretty cool bikes.

Matt,  you have to get one for Vanora.   You know, "the family that rides together stays together"... Larry

[bill440cars]

There you go Bill. Honda S600

          That is the one, alright!  Really a very sharp looking car. Thanks for posting that. I really tried to make a deal for that one, but the seller just would not budge.

[Retro Rocket]

Welll, this is the first that got my attention.


And this is the bike that converted me.

That brings back memories mate. My partner and I went out to Windsor, west of Sydney for a long weekend with some friends way back in the 80's, One of the girls that came with us brought a friend who was a real tosser {hero}, anyway, on this large property they had 2 old cars {bush bashers}, one of those little Honda's and a HR holden 6 cylinder sedan, it took us a couple of hours to get them going, my mate Craig and I were in the old Holden, the tosser was in the Honda, after about 10 minutes of screwing around I decided to see how fast the Honda could go... So i cam up behind tosser and started pushing him, he wasn't screaming yet, we pushed him up to about 50 MPH and I gave the steering wheel a flick in the old holden and the Honda turned side on, we were still traveling at around 50 with this little Honda, now sideways and  2 rather large streams of dirt going straight over the roof off the tyres from the sideways Honda, and tosser boy screaming his lungs out....   He was real quiet for the rest of the weekend....

[Lost and Confused]

I always liked the naked Goldwings, 75-77 years. First bike was cl175. Do own a naked.



Bob

[Damfino]

My first bike in 1977...XL75 (The one in the picture is not mine)

[750cafe]

There you go Bill. Honda S600

Did the 600 designation refer to piston displacement?

Eric

[LesterPiglet]

Yes.

[krusty]

At the same time they were making these in 360 & 500cc. Except they were also DOHC, four carb, tuned exhaust, little haulers. A mate of mine has 3 of them.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=117776.0

[Ichiban 4]

Well..guess this will date me..but..the first Honda that caught my attention was the 50 cc Cub.  That was back in the late 50's (guess I don't need to post pic..as most well know what the cub looks like).

Honda opened their first dealership in So. Cal..which was where I grew-up..and the Cubs were the first Honda products in the U.S. I believe (maybe Bill knows more about that than I tho).  What we teenagers were riding at the time..was Whizzer motorbikes..some had scooters..Lambretta..Vespa.  So..seeing these Cubs with overhead valve engines..4-stroke..3 speed gear boxes..et al.  was quite an improvement in engineering..a lot of us felt.  I did at least.  BTW: shortly after Honda cubs became popular..Yamaha came out with their 50 cc 2-strokes to compete with the cubs.  But most of us felt they were just trying to ape Honda..and weren't as well built (especially with 2-stroke versus 4-stroke engines).

As some posted here already..the next Honda product that really caught my attention was the Honda automobile..which was introduced in California in about 1960 I believe.  It was a far cry from what Honda makes nowadays..chain drive with 4 cylinder air cooled engine..but I remember thinking at the time..that with Honda getting into the car business..they were probably going to be serious players in the vehicle market.  Was I right?

Which brings me to the next significant phase of my "Honda envy"..which was the introduction of the "Nannahan" or the SOHC-4 750 in 1968.  I was riding an Ariel Square Four around that time..and even though it was more powerful than the Nannahan..again the engineering far surpassed anything the Brits or Americans  were producing at the time I felt.  I ended-up getting a CB 450 (twin )tho..then considered a 500-4..which didn't actually get until 2000..as an act of nostalgia in part..I guess.

So..that's one rider's perspective on the Honda's that got my attention..

Cheers..

Ichi

[MoMo]

Ichiban,  I also remember the Honda car that had the chain drive.  I saw one at Eglin AFB and if my recollection is close I think it was two 450 motors put together with the chain driven rear.  Kind of looked like a VW bug...Larry

[dave the welder]

ok here goesback when I was 19(I'm 55 now)my friend bought a 72 cl350.he paid 450 bucks for it and we rode it all over.about sept that year we had a cold snap,and he did not have a car just the bike so I told him I would trade him one of my cars even for the bike.i had all of 100 bucks invested in the car.well we traded even.plus he gave me the proof of insurance and regrestration and told me not to transfer title till winter so I could continue riding.the biggest prob I had was convincing mom and dad to let me have a bike.they agreed to let me git one IF I paid for everything to put it on the road.they thought they had me because I was unemployed and broke at the time.well the next day I come home with it showed my dad all the current paper work and promrtly rode the snot out of it for the next 2 years.then I got my first used 750(love friends that need money bad)for 600 bucks.the rest is history

[bill440cars]

   About that Honda truck, never saw one of those, but I did see Suzuki 2 stroke cars and trucks, before Suzuki had their little Jeep over here in the states.
   And I also saw, Kawasaki Buses and I think Kawasaki was also into aircraft? Yamaha was into pianos, and other musical instruments, seems like. 

[dave500]

hondas first four wheeled vehicles were funny things?

[mark]

Q: What was the first Honda that got MY attention?

A: This one right here:



Vanishing Point 1971

okay so the nekkid chick got my attention but she was on a Honda.

 

[grepper]

It wasn't a bike, but a car.  Many Many years ago I had a 1987 Honda CRX.  Loved that car!  It was the base model, but it was real zippy, 5 speed, low, and tight on the turns.  Had to sell it when my wife got pregnant, can't really put a baby seat in a two seater.

[flybox1]

Welll, this is the first that got my attention.

haha...A high school friend had a 1970 Z600GT.  It was pea soup green.  As a joke late one night, me and 5 buddies lifted, bounced and slid it bumper-to-bumper between two trees at his work.
He had to borrow his employers fork lift to pick it out   
It was a miniature bullet proof turd, but it got some insane gas mileage  
He joked he spent $3 in gas his whole senior year.

[Stev-o]

It wasn't a bike, but a car.  Many Many years ago I had a 1987 Honda CRX.

+1, I also had a CRX, my first Honda.  Then an S2000...




Then, when I gained interest in vintage motorcycles, I bought and restored a '76 CB550F...

[Operator]

My Dad brought home a red one of these when I was 6 yrs old. We had it for about 3 weeks and then I unintentionally launched it across the railroad tracks and wiped it out. Pushed it home crying and bleeding....Mom and Dad had a long talk and when we came home from school that little Honda was gone....fortunately my love of Hondas wasn't.

Since then I've owned 11 bikes over the years and 9 of them were Hondas. The newest bike I've ever owned was a 1984 Interceptor 1000. The oldest is my 73 CB750 K3.

Great Thread Bill

[totty]

I used to go the the local bike shop as a kid and look at the cz100 they had up on a shelf. Nearly 30 years on it' still there and the owner still wont part with it. After that it was the sohc and air cooled 4's in general.

I now own a z50 and a CB550 so I guess my tastes didn't change much. I'm also tempted by a CB1300.

[bjatwood]

I was 9 years old when the CT-70 came out. And I pleaded/begged promised the moon to my folks for one. They got tired of the relentless begging and started taking my brother and myself over to the Honda shop on SUNDAYS to buy one. Of course after a couple of these SUNDAY drives I gave up on the idea of ever getting one until 37 years later. now it is an obessession with older Honda's. Riding one just takes me back to a time when life's worries were less, and our smiles were bigger. Here are a few pics of my bikes...I do have a hankering for a 1984 V65 tho...

[MoMo]

Nice groupings of little bikes operator and bjatwood