The TRUE UJM... the Honda CB 750. Compared to what's available today, it's pretty tame and not very sophisticated. At the time, however, it was the standard to which all the others were compared.

 

The '65 CB450 was introduced as the UJM 'superbike' and, once Honda realized there was an appetite in the US, introduced the CB750 four years later. I loved both of them, and I wouldn't give up my 450 when riding anything but Interstates, where the 750 is much more capable.

 

Love me some UJM's.

Had a couple in the 80's.

 

Love me some UJM's.

Had a couple in the 80's.........

I remember lusting after a 750 Seca.... about as close as you could come to a sportbike back then. Never did get one, though.... stuck with my CB 750 until '84 when I bought a V65 Sabre. Since the 90s, though, it's been "Dad Bikes" for me.

 

For the last several years I have been in the "Grampa bike" mode. A Goldwing from 2016 to this summer, now a CanAm Spyder.

 

To the OPs question - UJM’s are wonderful bikes - good at just about everything, and with slight mods like saddlebags and fairings can be used for touring along with being great all day rides with more ability in the twisties than most riders will ever need.
They just aren’t that popular sellers I assume is why you don’t see many being made now - adventure bikes are sort of the new UJM’s.

 

Per my avatar picture, my personal ultimate UJM: 1984 CB700S Nighthawk

Bought it new - have had numerous other bikes come and go over the past 37 years but I've kept this one. Still my all time favorite (although my '21 FJR is giving it a run for the money - ain't modern technology wonderful)! Over the last couple years since I retired I've pretty much reconditioned everything of importance. I had my first major component failure a couple week ago - starter finally gave up. New one installed two weeks ago along with a new valve cover gasket. It's currently undergoing surgery for new fork seals and steering head bearings. I would normally have that done over the winter but since I have something else to ride now......

 

ANOTHER one of my favorite bikes of the 80's!

Another guy in my unit in the Army had one of these, we used to ride together and swapped bikes a lot when riding. IIRC the stock pipes sounded pretty mean on the Nighthawk S. Loved the instrument panel with gear position indicator too. (Loved my V45 instrument panel too - it kind of made you feel like you were "in" the bike and not on it, lol_

My favorite color on the Nighthawk S was the red, white, and blue one they made near the end of their run.

couple images of the Nighthawk S and V45 Sabre instruments:

 

My main ride is AFAIK one of the last of the big bore do everything UJM motorcycles.
2016 Suzuki Bandit 1250S

Comfortable for all day rides, enough to ride across country IMO, enough torque and power for fun and for every situation, and very good handling for everything short of full on track style riding.

 

We had a '78 KZ400 that we refurbished and never should have sold.😭😭😭

 

Yeah, those 750's intimidated me so stuck with a 400 Hawk. Then jumped to a huge Harley Electra Glide that didn't intimidate me a bit. Nearly blew up that bikes motor keeping up with those 750's too though.

 

The UJM's really were great bikes. I hate that they have gone out of style. I also have wondered if adventure bikes are the new UJM.... But I've never even sat on one. Hard to say...

 

I have no problem remembering what made the UJM so popular. It was a low price tag.

 

My first new bike, a 1970 Honda CB-350 ujm, $710 out the door.
I put a windshield and saddlebags on it and I had a touring bike.
Hard to believe these days.

 

.............and their reliability, their simplicity, their mechanical honesty....felt I could tear one apart over a weekend, and put it together next weekend.

.......no, they are not as good as they say.....there were better than that.

 

Yeah , they were that good .
I really miss mine .

I bought my 1982 Honda CB750C for 40 bucks . It was in parts and pieces , headed for the scrap yard .
The motor had been very neglected and had tossed the A cam chain , freezing it solid stuck .
Over the next month or so , I tore every part of that bike down to threads on the nuts and bolts . Every nut and bolt .
Rebuilt the motor and anything else that needed . Made a few 'slight' modifications while I was at it .
I rode that bike for seven years without much more ado .
It was reliable to a T and comfortable with plenty of power .

FYI : The Nighthawk was the same bike , just dressed for the club , instead .

 

Yeah , they were that good ......

Add a single-sided swingarm, a stiffer frame, a monoshock, better brakes and fuel injection..... that would make them even better. Had a chance to ride a 60s vintage Bonneville a couple years ago - kinda ruined my memory of how great my Bonnie was.

 

I own a few, and ride them often. If you never road anything newer and better, you might night realize had bad they handled. But I kind of like the squiggles. By 1990 the handling got a lot better. UK

 

Everything changes , always . Hopefully for the better .
I can say for a fact that my '82 CB750C handled way better than my '72 Kaw 500 H1B .

You'd have had your fill of squiggles on my Kaw 500 . LOL

 

My 1978 Suzuki GS550 had excellent handling. My 1981 Honda CB900C, not so much. I think it would have benefited from a fork brace. Both of those bikes also had very good brakes (disc front and rear, I've never owned a motorcycle with a drum brake).

 

My 1978 Suzuki GS550 had excellent handling. My 1981 Honda CB900C, not so much. I think it would have benefited from a fork brace. Both of those bikes also had very good brakes (disc front and rear, I've never owned a motorcycle with a drum brake).

Oh , you poor thing . LOL

Drum in the rear isn't too bad as it helps keep the rear from locking up in the curve or turn . And , the drums can be 'feathered' better than disc in conjunction with the throttle . That , at least in my experience .
I have drum on the rear of all 3 of my bikes . I can lock the wheel on my Simplex at almost any speed . The other two bikes I have set a lot less aggressive .

 

No ABS maybe????

Skidding is an important part of steering for we adept. (Pre-ABS and Traction Control.)

Here we go!

89 bikes since 1961 so I have some opinions but lots of the UJM, Pre-Flood bikes were made sweeter by putting on our Rose colored glasses as we glance back in nostalgia.😁

Sam🤠

 

Yep, Kawasaki triples were known far and wide for poor handling (the exception being the 350/400 S1 triples). The Kawasaki 650 traverse 4 was considered by many to be one of the 1st truly good handling handling larger displacement machines from Kawasaki.

 

We have a gathering every week (weather permitting) called Two Wheel Tuesday. A lot of sportbikes, sport touring bikes, naked bikes, and a few collectibles. Check this out:

 

Check this out:

So what is it?
A TZ250 street version that we could not have in the USA because it never was 'green' enough?
Judging by the frame and swingarm I'm thinking mid to late1980's... And look, a kick start.

S F

 

 

WOW !!! The race version.... about as common as hen's teeth. What's with the oil stains on the floor? Did you have a Harley parked there?

 

That's Woody's showroom, there's been hundreds of motorcycles parked on that spot

 

I had a brand new Silver 1978 Yamaha RD400 and kept it stock unlike most of it's predecessors. I rode it 72 miles round trip to work on Southern California Freeways and it was ideal, though a little Thirsty and the front end was light through the first 2 gears.

Sam🤠

 

After the braking has been done, even a bit of late braking, but not too late, directional stability, drift, and or slideways, are best achieved with the throttle.
Too much brake, too late, will wash out the front or back, depending which one you are leaning on.
The bikes of the eighties, pretty much did not have the suspension or handling ability, to be very precise.
On my two older bikes, I work through the squiggle first. On bumpy sections they both corner a lot slower, than a more modern better handling bike.
The squiggle, the rear wheel take up, the flexible forks, are all part of the appeal. UK

 

One of the sons (who managed the parts dept) of the owner of a Yam dealership I worked at had an '85 RZ500. It, and the Suzuki RG500 Gamma, stole just a bit of thunder from Honda's VFR series of machines of that era.

 

Drum brakes in the front were very sophisticated on some bikes, pre disks.
Sam

 

Yup.... some had forward-facing air ducts for cooling - didn't help much in the rain, as they tended to wet the shoes, even with the bottom vents that were supposed to let the water out. Others got by just by making the drum diameter large compared to the weight of the bike:

 

Krusty, I raced a Yamaha TDI and I believe you did too and they were sort of state of the art at one time and their handling Sucked, as did the suspension, brakes and everything else. A stock RD 350 or 400 would eat them alive but that lean far forward, NUTS on the tank with crazy clip-ons sure looked the part. Straight expansion chambers and Caster oil is still a major turn on for me!!!

Sam

 

....... Straight expansion chambers and Caster oil is still a major turn on for me!!!

"If it don't crackle and smoke, it ain't a real bike!!" Said the old two-stroke lover.