1973 Superbike Shootout

[davidsargee_imp]

Yep, but in todays 415 pound, 180 horsepower, 9 second quarter mile times its a pussy cat lol.

I don't think anyone could have envisioned how far motorcycles would go, how light, how fast, how reliable. Simply amazing. I mean how far can we go from here?

I love at the end of the story where every mfg came and picked up their basket of parts and hauled them off but the Honda guys put the 750 back together in 2 hours, started it up and rode it home. That was great!

I was also surprised how far the mighty CB 750 had fallen in such a short time. Earth shattering in 1969. Also ran in 1973. Yet Honda continued with this same motor for another 5 years before bringing out a slightly better dohc model in 1979.

Back then we would have never dreamed that showroom stock superbikes would ever perform as they do now, not in a million years. However, I really believe that we may have seen the apex in performance, these new bikes are just too fast now, at least for the street. We ran our heavily modded bikes at the strip back then, (and on the occasional back road), but even then, the stock versions of a "superbike" were more than adequate for street use. I lost 3 friends to stupidity at triple digit speeds on the highways in the 70s and 80s.

I always saw the CB750 a lot the same way as I see the CB1100 now, there were faster bikes even when it first came out, (Kawi H1 500, Triumph Trident, etc.), but the CB750 was the most polished, most refined bike of it's day, it did all of the other things better than even the Kawi H2 750. It was easier to ride than the H1 or H2 by a long shot, and offered pretty good performance. I don't think the CB750 ever broke into the 12 second quarter mile, at least not stock, but that was the trade off for the refined character of the bike.

I felt that the Z-1 is the bike that relegated the CB750 to an also ran, in fact, when they finally chose to alter the CB it was with alterations that already existed in the Z-1, (dohc, etc.).

BTW, does anyone else see the resemblance of the CB1100 motor to that of the Z-1? Or is it just me?

Cheers