Allrighty, I held off replying to nickjtc's posting that the Brough, Trident or Vincent could be called the "Worlds' first Superbike" expecting someone to jump in but no one has.....
The Honda CB750 caused a huge stir on release, and here is what HondaMan had to say about it in an earlier post.
QUOTE
Well, I was there. I can tell you what I saw, but it was bigger than just Honda vs. Kaw (or anybody else). Like my avatar says, "If you remember the '60s, you weren't THERE...", the unenforced drugs, alcohol, smoking and escapism of every type has never reached the rampant levels it was back then.
The late '60s were a time like never before, nor since. We were testing all the things that had been sacrosanct to our parents, and things like the Vietnam War, city riots, campus riots and incredible crime everywhere were literally tearing the fabric of this country apart. The "hot summer of '68", when I was living in Chicago, was nightly riots and murder, Watts in L.A. wasn't any better, colleges were seeing students dying in riots every week. It was, quite literally, a rough time to be living, and at that time, I was living on the street myself. Not because I had to, but I wanted to "see what was up" in the "real" world.
We had tossed out many of our parent's ideals, like "the USA makes only the best things", and here came Honda, with the CB160, CB250/305, and the CB/CL450, which would run with almost no maintenance and take anyone long, long ways from home for pennies of gas. And, even Harley couldn't do that. Fords, Dodges and Chevies didn't even last as long. Honda became deeply entrenched in the average teenager's psyche as a result, and EVERYONE wanted to have one to ride. No matter where you looked, little Hondas were buzzing in every direction, day and night, year around.
Then, with no previous fanfare, came the 750. At it's debut, and in nearly stock street form, it blew away every bike in history at Daytona, in just one race. Honda didn't have to advertise it: it was whispered about in every gathering I knew, man or woman, old or young: this is the ticket AWAY from all that is going on. Enter Easy Rider, the movie (which is an excellent portrayal of mainstream teen-and-twentysomethings of the day), and the two made an explosive mix. Honda had hoped for sale of 10,000 units in the 1969-1970 seasons: they had 32,000 orders by the 3rd month after the intro, according to the Honda dealership where I worked at the time.
All you had to do to "shut Dad up" about his old Harley or Indian was to run through 1st and 2nd gear against him. No Ford, Chevy or Hemi could touch it in a 2-block race. You could ride for an entire weekend for $2 in gas, and if you laid off the throttle, you could sneak away in the night like a ghost afterward. EVERYONE talked about them, and most of us wanted one.
But, they were almost unobtainium for the first 2 years. Honda had no idea this was going to happen: they tried so hard to meet the demand that they sacrificed the quality quite a bit in the late K0 and all the K1 models, just to get them to a dealership. No one even cared what color it was: you would see people lined up at the sales counters every weekend, even BIDDING with cash in hand to get one. I laid down $250 in 1969 to "get in line" for my first one: this did NOT go toward the bike's price, either. And, I paid cash to get my K1 when it showed up, just to make sure I didn't lose my chance. It cost me a total of $1695 plus $250, which was 6 month's salary in 1970 when I got it. And, there were no loans in those days, like financing today. You gave everything up to get one.
And, it did not disappoint. In fact, it delivered an adrenalin rush of power that made my Ford with HP390 engine seem like a semi truck. I sold my car a month later, and hit the road, then the race track. It was 2 years before I even thought about owning a car again.
The 750 was so forgiving of owner mistakes that it set the standard for both bikes and cars from then on. Previously, bikes were on 600-800 mile oil changes, points at least twice a year, a battery every Spring, and kickstarters. Honda's little bike's electric starts didn't work well: this one started better than a car! And, in the first year, owners were hitting upwards of 50,000 miles on them without rebuilds or failures. ALL other motorcycles of the era (and a great many cars!) could not even do this. The legend was born.
Ironically, the very same day that Honda introduced the CB750 at the New York motor show, Kawasaki had their twin-cam 750 in the same hotel, to be debuted in the same show. The two companies were so quiet about it, they didn't even know about each other: Honda's team just had a more elaborate display, and started at about 2 AM or so setting it up. The Kaw guys saw it around 4 AM and called Japan: they were told to withdraw the "New York Steak", their code name for that bike, and return to Japan. Kaw did not wish to fight nor compete heads-up with Mr. Sochiro, a Bushido in high Japanese caste. So, Kaw spent 2 years developing a 900 on that chassis, the Z-1. It was too heavy, not smooth, handled like a tank, and was high maintenance, compared to the 750 by then.
It never mattered again, who developed what. Honda had changed motorcycling forever by 1971. Lawyers, bankers, accountants, college kids, even women were riding them, and everywhere. Not a day went past that one didn't purr by, stirring thoughts of a long trip on a lonely road to somewhere, anywhere that was away from the ruckus that American cities were then. And, the highways were empty! The RV had not yet appeared, trucks were 8-wheelers or 10-wheelers, and you could ride 90 MPH all day if you wanted to, on mostly brand-new cement Interstate highways.
UNQUOTE
To quote HondaMan again, "It never mattered again, who developed what. Honda had changed motorcycling forever by 1971".
I'm adamant that the CB750 was THE ONE. And this has been recognised down through the decades in the motorcycling press as they re-visited and re-rode the CB. I know, I have most of the reviews and vintage magazines that these road tests are in.
The bikes nickjtc quoted came before the CB, the VMax and Hyabusa and the others all came later, and there will be another biggest, bestest, fastest next year, but they will never be as iconic and memorable as the CB.
And I respect the opinions of you all and in this case Sandcastcb750 and techy5025. I respect their opinion that the K1 was a better bike than the K0. I can't argue because I have never owned or ridden a K1. However here is no getting past the fact that the K0 was the first Honda CB750. So in my opinion that model is "The Worlds first Superbike". The K1 wasn't, just as the K2 right up to the F series weren't.
