I like the idea of a Bike of the Century Award. The problem is that the use of the Motorcycle has changed radically through this century.
From 1900 to 1970, a Motorcycle was a necessity of life. My Dad owned one because a car was too expensive and a pushbike was too slow. During the last thirty years Motorcycles ownership as “sole means of transport” has become increasing rare.
The other problem is the New Zealand perspective. In terms of having real impact on New Zealand Society only one type of motorcycle would even register. The Farm Bike delivered the coup de grace to the working farm horse and put a sizable crimp in sales of Tractors. It made farmers more productive and therefore added to the growth in New Zealand’s economy.
However, because I’m an opinionated bastard, I won’t let this stand in the way of a good argument.
The Harley sounds like a good nomination at first, but consider this:
On the technological side, a vee configuration was one of the logical ways to get two cylinders in to a bike frame and keep it short and simple (only one crankshaft required). Harley were not the only ones doing it and may not have even been the first (if they were, I humbly apologise and realise I am not fit to choke on a Harley’s exhaust). The engine itself has importance only in hindsight, as the Harley is the only survivor from that era in the USA.
In terms of the whole century Harley Davidson’s impact was low from a New Zealand perspective until relatively recently – I don’t remember clapping eyes on one in New Zealand until well into the Lange Government.
I’m sorry to crap on about perspective, but the 430,000 members of HOG pale when placed next to 100,000,000 motorcycles produced by Honda since 1945.
In my opinion (and any death threats for the following comments should be kept to forty words or less) Harley Davidson disqualifies itself because it produces more (or maybe less) than a motorcycle. During the last third of the 20th Century Harley engineering entered a cul de sac and is now irrelevant to rest of the industry (a successful irrelevance, I hasten to add). At further risk to my life, I would suggest that as a result of its ability to sell the image, Harley has so far removed itself from the mainstream of motorcycling that it is now selling a different product entirely. Not a motorcycle but a range of life style accessories (I am now applying to become Salman Rushdie’s flatmate).
Other nominations that spring to mind are the BMW R Series (for longevity and engineering excellence), the Honda CB750 (the first superbike) or the Yamaha DT1 (for defining “dual purpose”), but in my humble opinion there is only one champion.
The Honda C50 Super Cub - A motorcycle that sold 25,0000,000 copies.
It was cheap, easy to ride and reliable. Even at the time its engineering wasn’t that revolutionary, but it was simple and cheap to produce and its social and economic impact was huge.
There were other Japanese and Italian step-thrus available at the time, but it was Honda’s clever marketing (particularly in the USA) that kicked off the motorcycle revolution of the late sixties and early seventies. Honda’s advertising for the Cub had a lot to do with making motorcycles more socially acceptable in the early sixties (“You meet the nicest people on a Honda”).
The Cub was the foundation of the Honda Empire and provided the financial and technological basis for motorcycles such as the CB750, Goldwing & CBX, to name a few.
Even though we in New Zealand have pretty much outgrown the step-thru, the Cub and Cub clones still move half of Asia every day. In New Zealand it also provided the basis of one our first farm bikes, the CT90. I don’t know how many bikes Honda have sold in NZ, but I doubt any other marque comes close.
I know the Cub is not sexy or powerful, but I struggle to imagine how Honda (and by extension, the rest of the Motorcycle Industry) would have managed without it.
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Originally Posted by onearmedbandit
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