A short history of motorcycles

[jjdugen]

Ok, the forum is getting a bit dull so I'll fill a few minutes with this. The genus of the modern motorcycle and the highlights of the last 50 years.
1960. A drab time, Every manufacturer offering a leaky vibrating 650 twin and lots of single cylinder rubbish.
1962. Honda release the CB72. A 250 with OHC, electric start, 12volt electrics, 10000 rpm. It looked and went so well it scared the pants off at least one Brit manufactuer.
1963. Yamah give us the YDS3. Five speed gearbox, autolube. Went like a bat out of hell untill the points wore.
1965. Suzuki bring out the 'Super 6'. Six speed box, lovely lines, very high performance.
1968. Triumph/BSA release the 750 triple. It caught our attention, but was expensive, unreliable and anyway...
1969 Honda release the 750-4. We all collectively have involontary bowel movements (But, all we could afford was the sublime CB250K1 /2, the best of all the 250's. And, Kawasaki unlease the 500 triple, lethal handling, stupid fuel consumption, the stuff of legends
1971. Kawasaki trump everyone with the Z1 900. the basis of everything modern.
The 70's saw motorcycling enter a dolldrums period. Nothing really ground breaking, just revisions of what we already had. Suzuki copy Kawasaki and start making solid DOHC fours, Ducati become a big bike player, Moto Guzzi give us the LeMans, Triumph/Norton (NVT) shuffle inexorably to their deaths.
1979. The blind alley of the six's. Hondas CBX and then Kawasakis watercooled behomoth. Benelli made some pretty sixes too, overcomplex and wiiiiide.
1980 The decade of LC madness. Yamaha plonk a watercooled jacket on their ageing RD series (seriously, thats all an LC was) and kickstart a decade of quite revolutionary progress.
Honda finally retire the SOHC egine and make DOHC's that look pretty smart. They also release the first of their V-4's, oh dear, not quite the success they aticipated!
1986. Kawasaki introduce the GPX600. Starting a whole new class of motorcycle, followed by Honda and Yamaha with varying levels of success. Suzuki just make their aircooled things bigger and heavier, surprising us with the Katana, design over function unfortunately.
By the end of the decade we had watercooled engines, mono shock rear suspension and Yamaha's introduction of the beam perimiter frame, bikes actually started to look like a proper engineering excersise rather than ramshackle collections of bits.
1990. A decade of stunning progress, if only for the influence two motorcycles had on future developments. Also the decade of the rev n' go scooter.
1992. The Fireblade. Almost a perfect design (stupid but fashionable 16'' front wheel). And the Ducati 916. No-one had ever (arguably HAS ever) made a collection of metal and plastic look like this! Expensive and of doubtfull reliabilty it still became the icon of all motorcyles.
1998. Only Yamaha managed to finally de-throne the 'Blade. And the R1 did it with style and panache. The 600 class was a hotbed of development but it was the R6 that showed the way.
2000- A furore of ever faster and less relevant machines. The engineering has to be admired but road usefulness to be questioned. As the mainstream manufacturers become locked in a BHP race, sportsbike sales fall dramatically. However, the ageing riders are now turning to 'Adventure' type motorcycles. It becomes ever more difficult to get a full licence. Chinese manufacturers start mopping up sales of small capacity motorcycles.
Where it goes from here is anyones guess.
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The CBR900RR has been sold. Aprilia Falco worms its way into my heart.
Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[pepperami]

Pepperami`s history of the motorcycle :

Early last century man invents the modern bycycle, man has small engine lying around in his shed, man thinks Hmmmm?, man puts small engine into the frame of his bike , man thinks "whoa this is fecking good" and shows the world, at last there is something in the world to reduce the boredom of the common mans daily durge he calls life, man with clipboard from the Government turns up and sees bike, man from Government sees we are have way to much fun and decides to spoil said fun with restrictions and tax.

The rest is history
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[Suntan Sid]

I buy 250 LC.

The rest's history!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[sickpup]

Lets miss out a fair few important bits like....

1983 RG250WD. First Aluminium framed road bike.
1984 GPZ900R First true sports bike.
1985 GSXR750. First true sports bike that actually handled.
1985 V-max introduced.

Bored now.

[Walloper]

Cro-magnon man invents fire
Then Albert Einstein invents the speed of light.
Then the only vehicle capable of reaching near light-speed is invented.
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W-ireless A-rtificial L-ifeform L-imited to O-bservation P-eacekeeping and E-fficient R-epair