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What is the best motorcycle Honda ever made?

83K views 298 replies 196 participants last post by  Tinsnips 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
The only thing Ford ever made was the 65 Mustang. I think you know what I mean.The F-150 came close, but they didn't have to make it. Its just a box and a frame.

Other companies, such as Honda, have made a wise variety of good products, and we like them all. Is there one that stuck out in your mind?

What put Honda Motorcycles on the map, or what is the product they have that no one else has been able to offer?

My choice is for the Honda 50s. If you didn't ride one, you waited to long to start riding.
 
#3 ·
The CB700S Nighthawk.
Well, that's my favorite, anyway. You might be right on with the 50. My first ride ever was on an S65.
As for the most popular, I'd vote for the CB/CL 350. Honda sold more of those than any other motorcycle at the time, and possibly since. The CL was also my first motorcycle.
 
G
#4 ·
So wrong on Ford!

1950's......Hardtop convertibles
1950's......Crown Victoria with glass roof
1957-58...Thunderbird
1969........Shelby Mustang and BOSS
1973-76...Ranchero

As for Honda, they make too many MC in too many classes to single out one.

Ride safe & long,
Colorado Fats
 
G
#7 ·
Hey CoFats,

Heh-heh, hardly thought anyone ELSE out there even KNEW what a Ford Ranchero was?! :D Oh sure... EVERYBODY remembers the Chevy El Camino, But Ranchero (???).... forget it! :( I owned a 1973 Ranchero-500 (Gran-Tornino) w/400 Windsor, and still currently a 1978 Ranchero-GT (LTD-II) w/351MC. Poor old thing has sure seen better days, but still kickin'. :rolleyes:

As far as Honda (Bikes) are concerned (I've owned about a 1/2 dozen or so past ones) my vote would be for the original Gold-Wing Flat-Fours. They seriously were made to last and LAST some more! Surely GL's had to of finally dispelled the myth that Far Eastern Metrics were just 'throw-away' machines?! The Wings said otherwise far as I'm concerned! ;-)

LRG



1950's......Hardtop convertibles
1950's......Crown Victoria with glass roof
1957-58...Thunderbird
1969........Shelby Mustang and BOSS
1973-76...Ranchero

As for Honda, they make too many MC in too many classes to single out one.

Ride safe & long,
Colorado Fats
 
#13 ·
mrchjohnson said:
What put Honda Motorcycles on the map
The bikes they make now are high-tech marvels. They get astronomical amounts of hp from each cubic inch. But for sheer numbers of people having fun and great transportation, I think we need to look to the earlier small bikes, like the S90, the passport and the Cub.

The Honda 50 is a great choice. They also sold a bunch of the Honda 55's. The 70's were keepers too, the Passport 70 I think is the most common motorcyle in the world, going by the number produced. The Cub 90, which looks just like the Passport, is a big seller too. I may have these reversed, not 100% sure which was the biggest seller. I have owned a whole buncha Trail 90's. I like them too. SO durable. I had a Cub 90, rode it hundreds of miles, from Fresno CA down to Venice CA. 275 miles. I rode my Trail 90 from LA to almost the Canadian border in ID. 1400 miles. Great trip.

Currently I have one of the original Honda 50's, think a 1964 model. In original condition, too, un-restored because it doesn't need it. Also a Trail 90 in similar condition. I have a couple of knock-around CT70's too. 1969. One has a brand new engine in it, I got from a bud who worked for a Honda shop that went belly-up. It was still in the original packing. I fella just gave me a brand new 70cc engine from a Chinese import. It will fit, but I hafta squirrel around with the electrics. You can have a LOT of fun on a CT70.

The Honda 450 was never the world's favoite, but it was a significant motorcycle. It was Honda's first entry into the Big Motorcycle market. they really over-built in in some senses. They made it almost indestructible. Hot rod it or baby it, you could keep it forever cuz it never broke or wore out. It would blow off all but a handfull of the Big British twins. Don't raise your eyebrows at ME, son, I was there, I did it! I had two of them, a '65 and a '66. They first came out in 1965. People didn't like them because they turned such high rpm. The Harleys and the Limeys were all much lower rpm. I used to ride with the HD club hereabouts. Our runs were mostly in the foothills and mtns. I could out run them all. Most, I could take anywhere, some, I hadda take em from the light, or in the curves cuz some of the Sportsters could take me on the top end. But not the 'Glides, they couldn't stay with me. Once, coming north from Newport Beach on the Harbor Freeway, I was going right into the wind. The Santa Ana wind was REALLY kicking up. I was rocking back and forth between 3rd and 4th (they were four speeds till like 1970) trying to punch through the wind. It was also in a constructon zone. This bike cop had to call ahead to catch me. I was well into my ticket by the time the tired old Harley finally caught up to me where his bud had caught me. His bike was sitting there panting and creaking. And the cop wasn't too happy either. This was in 1969 I believe.

The accountants designed the Honda 350. It had lots of power and speed for a 350, but inside it was built SO cheaply. Nowhere near like the 450. But they sold a lot of them.

My vote, and my all-time favorite is the S90. It handles great, looks like a motorcycle, is easy to hop-up, is very durable, gets great mileage and is pretty fast. Easy to work on too. I had one almost completely restored. My bud cried and moaned until I let him have it, he wanted to finish the restore. Then he started stepping out on his ole lady and got divorced and gave my bike away to some chump (prolly, I don't know who got it).

It was fun riding it. Folks would pull up beside me, stare, the break out in a huge grin, "Hey! That's a Honda S90! That was my first bike! You wanna sell it?"

GeoB
 
#283 ·
The bikes they make now are high-tech marvels. They get astronomical amounts of hp from each cubic inch. But for sheer numbers of people having fun and great transportation, I think we need to look to the earlier small bikes, like the S90, the passport and the Cub.

The Honda 50 is a great choice. They also sold a bunch of the Honda 55's. The 70's were keepers too, the Passport 70 I think is the most common motorcyle in the world, going by the number produced. The Cub 90, which looks just like the Passport, is a big seller too. I may have these reversed, not 100% sure which was the biggest seller. I have owned a whole buncha Trail 90's. I like them too. SO durable. I had a Cub 90, rode it hundreds of miles, from Fresno CA down to Venice CA. 275 miles. I rode my Trail 90 from LA to almost the Canadian border in ID. 1400 miles. Great trip.

Currently I have one of the original Honda 50's, think a 1964 model. In original condition, too, un-restored because it doesn't need it. Also a Trail 90 in similar condition. I have a couple of knock-around CT70's too. 1969. One has a brand new engine in it, I got from a bud who worked for a Honda shop that went belly-up. It was still in the original packing. I fella just gave me a brand new 70cc engine from a Chinese import. It will fit, but I hafta squirrel around with the electrics. You can have a LOT of fun on a CT70.

The Honda 450 was never the world's favoite, but it was a significant motorcycle. It was Honda's first entry into the Big Motorcycle market. they really over-built in in some senses. They made it almost indestructible. Hot rod it or baby it, you could keep it forever cuz it never broke or wore out. It would blow off all but a handfull of the Big British twins. Don't raise your eyebrows at ME, son, I was there, I did it! I had two of them, a '65 and a '66. They first came out in 1965. People didn't like them because they turned such high rpm. The Harleys and the Limeys were all much lower rpm. I used to ride with the HD club hereabouts. Our runs were mostly in the foothills and mtns. I could out run them all. Most, I could take anywhere, some, I hadda take em from the light, or in the curves cuz some of the Sportsters could take me on the top end. But not the 'Glides, they couldn't stay with me. Once, coming north from Newport Beach on the Harbor Freeway, I was going right into the wind. The Santa Ana wind was REALLY kicking up. I was rocking back and forth between 3rd and 4th (they were four speeds till like 1970) trying to punch through the wind. It was also in a constructon zone. This bike cop had to call ahead to catch me. I was well into my ticket by the time the tired old Harley finally caught up to me where his bud had caught me. His bike was sitting there panting and creaking. And the cop wasn't too happy either. This was in 1969 I believe.

The accountants designed the Honda 350. It had lots of power and speed for a 350, but inside it was built SO cheaply. Nowhere near like the 450. But they sold a lot of them.

My vote, and my all-time favorite is the S90. It handles great, looks like a motorcycle, is easy to hop-up, is very durable, gets great mileage and is pretty fast. Easy to work on too. I had one almost completely restored. My bud cried and moaned until I let him have it, he wanted to finish the restore. Then he started stepping out on his ole lady and got divorced and gave my bike away to some chump (prolly, I don't know who got it).

It was fun riding it. Folks would pull up beside me, stare, the break out in a huge grin, "Hey! That's a Honda S90! That was my first bike! You wanna sell it?"

GeoB
I bought a CM450C and restored it. I rode it everywhere and it never let me down. It was a revved up to 9 grand and stayed with any bikes. It got me back into bike after a long time. I sold it eventually and bought a KTM390 Adventure to go with my BMW R1150RT. It has all the knew gizzies and runs really good. The Katoomer only weighs 380 and produces 40 hp.
 
#18 ·
That's right. I have owned a number of them. I like em a lot. They don't handle well, really. But they are dead reliable. I drove one from LA to N. ID one time. Nice trip, took several days.

urrrg. My eyes went funny. I drank a big glass tumbler of red wine, Popular Science assures me that it contains stuff that will make me live longer. Oookaay.
 
G
#16 · (Edited by Moderator)
:) What I remember most is when I started attending non-sectarian M/C Poker Runs, M/C Benefits and Road Tours starting in 1973 that it would seem the bike of choice (majority present) was the Honda CB750 SOHC Four. Then after 1975 the ride of choice at the runs was definitely the Honda Gold-Wings. ;) Seems most everybody was running Vetter Fairings though (until Turn-Key Dressers came out). I'm wondering at what point did the Wings (?) fall from favor? And what is the most predominant ride at the M/C Runs now - Harleys? Certainly can't count the Black Hills, there are only H-D's here (or so it seems...)! ;-)

LRG :cool:
 
#27 ·
I think the Wings started falling out of favor when folks started sticking all sorts of aftermarket stick-on **** to every square inch of 'em. They were blinged out like the most tasteless pimpmobile you ever saw. It was like the riders had no pride in themselves.

As far as fork vs. frame mounted fairings, I'll take frame ANY day of the week. If you need the light to turn wherever you turn, you're going too slow for it to mean anything in the first place. At higher speeds, you're not going to notice whether it's on the side of the road or not. And it's harder to shock-isolate a high-intensity bulb in a fork-mounted headlight bucket or fairing that shakes with every crumb of gravel your front wheel hits. Not a problem in a frame-mounted fairing.
 
#31 ·
750 Nighthawk

and I'm not saying that just because I own one, but the engines have been considered bulletproof because they have been making them for years and have most of the kinks worked out. My model (1991) was made all the way until 2003, same exact style, same exact everything. There must have been a reason they kept making it ;)
 
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