Kiwi Rider Magazine 2003.
The Most Significant Motorcycle.
It all came flooding back when I started researching Brian’s 1972 CB750K2. The first bikes I took on the road were a mate’s CB200 and the CB450 I bought off another.
‘Abbott’ had a K2 that was always in my driveway, way back then, and even earlier I used to lap the local park on a CL90. Now, there they all were, before me on the model charts online.
The CB450 cost me $300 and blew more blue smoke than a two stroke. I sold it for the same amount a few months later, but it did open up a brave new world of two wheeled road going freedom that I’ve loved ever since.
So it was with some fond memories that we pulled the immaculate – and I mean ‘as new’ K2 out of the ‘Classics’ display at Motomail for a comparison ride with AMPS new ‘03 CB900 Hornet demonstrator.
It seemed logical to compare what many of its enthusiasts describe as the most ‘significant motorcycle ever’ and follow its lineage to the most recent ‘descendant’.
Same yet different?
In purely engineering terms the two bikes share the ‘CB’ designation, ‘Naked’, 4 cylinders - and not much else.
Yet they remain quite ‘conceptually’ similar in that they offer excellent performance from machines with the latest mechanical sophistication (for their day) at what has become traditional Honda ‘4’ prices.
In ’72 the CB750 sold for $1,995, the new CB900 Hornet is $13,995 and what you got, and get, is good value for the money.
Before 1969 performance bikes were European or American and while Sochiro Honda’s work in commuter bikes was well regarded by commuters, 100mph machines were not mass produced in Japan.
Then Honda released the CB750 K1 and the centre of the motorcycle world changed hemispheres. There were many examples of multi cylinder designs before the K1 but none had been given the development or provided the reliability for commercial success.
The Brits stuck steadfastly to Twins and by the time Triumph got around to developing the Trident, too much ground had been lost to the CB750 and the Kawasaki Z900 that followed. The old industries withered. Even H-D went through the AMF phase in the aftershock.
Most significant motorcycle of all time?
Some would argue that Daimler’s first motorcycle ever, or Harley’s, maybe Agostini’s MV, the Speed Twin, or the Bonneville’s two decades of dominance could be contenders, but that’s a hard as it is trying to compare these two bikes’ outright performance.
The 750’s SOHC, normally aspirated, 8 valve, that is now 31 years old, against todays EFI rocket is a ‘no brainer’, the new one eats it – all departments. It’s had 31 years of evolution. But it in a context like: ‘At the traffic lights, the ’03 Hornet will ‘hose’ Dad’s brand new Commodore just as convincingly as the K2 did Grandads HQ’ and you get the picture. The 750 was very quick for its day.
The K2 has a more relaxed and upright riding position and the feel of the bike encourages you to ride it smoothly, it accelerates easily into traffic and overtaking, even at freeway speeds is pretty effortless.
The new 900 has a more aggressive seating position that puts the riders head almost directly over the front forks and the lightness and power of the bike makes it so rewarding to ‘chuck it around’. It’s really fun to ‘blip’ the throttle because everything is so rapid. It dares you to lift the front wheel every now and then or hang the back out a little, mainly just because it can.
Both bikes are well mannered on the road if you choose to ride them that way. Instruments are easy to read on both, brakes on the ’72 aren’t anywhere near today’s standard, they do stop the bike OK, it’s just that the same effort when jumping back to the Hornet’s lever nearly produced a huge stoppie as the extra bite kicked in.
Finding neutral before stopping on the 750 is difficult. I’d forgotten all about that. It’s really hard to select neutral once stopped – and the clutch lever is so heavy that a serious hand ache ensues from one good set of city traffic lights. No such dramas from the modern set up. One click and the light is on.
All in all the K2 is ‘lazier’, more ‘relaxed’. It rolls on quite long and strong, it feels like a real solid workhorse. More significantly, it has evolved into quite a thoroughbred.
The Hornet is great fun and probably the most significant motorcycle I ever rode…..that afternoon.
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-I had a F1 for a while, heavy pig of a thing it was. Also one thing you forgot is simlicity. SOHC honda fours are very easy to maintain/rebuild. The alloy is made of cheese and they usually also have a seeping head gasket.......... 
Originally Posted by Big Dave
will test ride one in 10 months... when I get my full
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