11 Most important motorcycles of all time

Pushrod

Pushrod

Well-known member
Skipped the Kawi Z-1.

The CB 750 was significant but there is no replacement for displacement and 903cc from the factory smoked rear tires and pumped adrenaline in big waves.

Z-1 was the genesis of the superbike era.
 
augustiron

augustiron

2fast 2live 2young 2die
Pushrod said:
Skipped the Kawi Z-1.

The CB 750 was significant but there is no replacement for displacement and 903cc from the factory smoked rear tires and pumped adrenaline in big waves.

Z-1 was the genesis of the superbike era.
Click to expand...

Great bike for sure, no argument there, but not groundbreaking as it was really just a cb750 (UJMI4) with more CCs and hp, nothing revolutionary or new per se, just an iteration step up.
 
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OldGuy

OldGuy

Been there, done that
Pushrod said:
Skipped the Kawi Z-1.

The CB 750 was significant but there is no replacement for displacement and 903cc from the factory smoked rear tires and pumped adrenaline in big waves.

Z-1 was the genesis of the superbike era.
Click to expand...

augustiron said:
Great bike for sure, no argument there, but not groundbreaking as it was really just a cb750 (UJMI4) with more CCs and hp, nothing revolutionary or new per se, just an iteration step up.
Click to expand...

This.

Quick for their time - good for mid-12s stock, if memory serves - but heavy and spindly.

"Of all time" is hard to pin down to 11 choices. Honda C100 (50cc step-through) was definitely revolutionary. The CR250 was groundbreaking for the Japanese, but the Europeans were already nailing it in 250 MX. The CR125 was more of a milestone... there was NOTHING in that class that was anywhere close. Kawasaki H1?
 
OaklandF4i

OaklandF4i

Darwin's exception
I'd replace the CR250 with the earlier Yamaha DT1. The CR250 wouldnt have even been penned on paper without the DT1 opening a new market for Japanese offroad bikes in the US of A due to its low price, relatively light weight, reliability, and ability to be easily modified. I think Gary Jones won two championships on some DT1s in 71 and 72 that were heavily modified/re engineered by his father Don and then became the basis for first YZ.

When the family was lured to Honda in 73, all the stories I read were of serious problems even though he successfully defended his 250 national title. One story I heard was that the factory preproduction CR450 (he was also racing the 500 class) was so bad, Gary actually rode a CZ or Husqvarna for one moto which led to the end of the Honda relationship. :laughing

This was just a few years before my dirtbike awareness as I didnt get my first bike until the late 70's, but I used to read everything moto before then. Anyways, I'd argue the DT1 was more influential to motorcross and dirtbikes in general in the US of A than the first CR even if it beat the YZ to market by a year.

As a side note, one of my bikes made the list. 83 Honda VF750 Intercepter! :party
 
SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
PENNEW.jpg


1968 Penton 125 Six-Day ...

“Husqvarna wasn’t interested in building smaller displacement machines,” says John Penton, who was a Husky dealer, “So I flew to Europe and dropped into KTM ... They didn’t have any interest in building dirt bikes.” But, John persevered, and Mr. Trunkenpolz, KTM’s CEO, agreed to build the first 10 prototypes. “I agreed to pay $6000 for them, and Mr. Trunkenpolz said, ‘Good luck. We’ll build them; you sell them!’”
Click to expand...

CLASSIC_IRON_10.jpg


1968 Yamaha DT1 ... :thumbup:party
 
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OldGuy

OldGuy

Been there, done that
Yeah, you guys are right... DT-1!

The Penton's cool, but I'm not sure how revolutionary it was.

If memory serves, Gary Jones never raced open class for Honda. The earliest I remember was late '70s with Brad Lackey on an RC450. Jones didn't stay with Honda long; he was one of the first, if not the first, factory riders for Can-Am.

Motocross was epic back then, at least from a teenager's perspective.
 
OaklandF4i

OaklandF4i

Darwin's exception
OldGuy said:
Yeah, you guys are right... DT-1!

The Penton's cool, but I'm not sure how revolutionary it was.

If memory serves, Gary Jones never raced open class for Honda. The earliest I remember was late '70s with Brad Lackey on an RC450. Jones didn't stay with Honda long; he was one of the first, if not the first, factory riders for Can-Am.

Motocross was epic back then, at least from a teenager's perspective.
Click to expand...

:thumbup Jones was only with Honda one year in 73 and jumped to Can Am for a lot of money in 74. The story I have heard was the Can Am money is what provided the Jones family with the capital to buy/start Ammex. It was a BIG contract.

I was just grom in the 70's, my teens were the 80's. :laughing But everybody on the coast of Oregon was moto crazy. Its what everyone followed, bigger than anything, even football or baseball. Thats all we talked about. Heck, I think I learned to read just to follow Moto in magazines.

Every year in the 70's dirt bikes were making HUGE jumps forward. A two year old bike would be a like a 20 yr old one now.

One of my neighbors was a local semi pro racing a CR250 in 78. He earned enough locally to buy a brand new Toyota 4x4 with cash and was the hero on our cul de sac in Waldport. That doesn't happen these days. :laughing

Gary definitely raced 250 Honda's in 73, the only year. For some reason the story sticks with me about another brand being ridden a moto after breaking another Honda frame, thought it was the open class, and Honda not being happy. Of course thats many years ago and I was just a primary school kid so its entirely possible I have it wrong... or my 50yr old brain is fading. :teeth

While I am only 50, these threads, articles, and memories sure are awesome! I was a rabid Hannah fan..... and yes I wore the lightning bolt jersey to school. :ride
 
Norcalslowpoke

Norcalslowpoke

Well-known member
Ok, am I reading this right? "..of all time"?

What about the crazy 1800s 1st steam powered machines that started it all, other pre ww1 machines that really had improved technology year to year.
1901 Indian, 1915 Triumph model H etc.

That list seems way too heavily weighted on 1970s-90s bikes. The list could be a part of the top 25 or 30 most important motorcycles.

What about the Honda 50 cub, Vespa? Both are more important to motorcycling generally as transportion than specific sport bikes (really a narrow hobby/use of motos) from the 1980s.

How about those kit minibikes with lawnmower engines? They might have a place as they introduced so many to 2 wheels. Ok maybe a stretch..:)

Leaving out a 1970s Ducati twin may be a miss, given how it changed Ducati forever, but debatable for sure.

The list needs less 70s-80s bikes or it needs to be a larger list. IMHO.
 
SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
Norcalslowpoke said:
Leaving out a 1970s Ducati twin may be a miss, given how it changed Ducati forever, but debatable for sure.

The list needs less 70s-80s bikes or it needs to be a larger list. IMHO.
Click to expand...

here’s more ‘70s bikes for the list ... :laughing:thumbup


youtu.be/Fkala1Z0lmQ

Mike Hailwood’s 1978 TT-winning Ducati

606px-Ducati_750_Paul_Smart_DM.JPG


To the Victor Go the Spoils: The Ducati Imola 750
“The Ducati Imola 750 and its victory at the 1972 Imola 200 paved the way for its company's success.”

“In Ducati folklore, the 1972 Imola 200-mile race is a defining event. Before Imola, Ducati was a minor Italian motorcycle manufacturer of esoteric 4-stroke singles with strange valve gear, but after Imola they could take on the world’s best and comprehensively beat them.

As Ducati’s great engineer Fabio Taglioni said in 1974, “When we won at Imola in 1972 we won the market, too.” It was the Imola victory that ostensibly set the stage for Ducati’s subsequent success.”

Ducati is still the only company ever to produce production Desmodromic valve-train engines ...? :dunno

regarding Penton’s place in history, we can wonder if KTM would have 18 straight Dakar victories if Mr. Penton had not dragged them into making dirt-bikes ...?
 
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bergmen

bergmen

Well-known member
The picture of what they say is a 1969 CB750 is actually a 1970 model. The 1969 model did not have fins on the oil filter cover, the 1970 model did.

I bought one of the first 1969 CB750s to arrive in Santa Clara County picking it up from House of Honda in Mountain View in mid-July of that year. It had the smooth finished oil filter cover as well as sand cast engine cases.

It got swiped two years later and I replaced it with a 1970 model, both were the blue/green color.

Dan
 
dangerzone02

dangerzone02

Well-known member
I feel like this should have been a top 10 and left the Ducati out. Sure it was a sweet bike but it didn't move the industry.
 
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