Best Bikes Ever: the Fifties to the Nineties

The Fifties

In the fifties, Vincent were way ahead of the game, and had no real rivals for their 1000cc V-twin. A piece of clever and idiosyncratic engineering that employed the engine as the main stressed member for the frame and the kind of radically triangulated rear suspension that it took the Japs 30 years to imitate, whilst many British bikes of the same era were running dreadful plunger rear ends.

Advanced in every area, the most powerful bike available and looking as butch as they come, they are incredibly expensive, these days, despite making more of a racket than an XS650 with blown mains. The Series C version is the one to go for. High production costs sent the factory out of business. A great waste.

The Gold Star’s a wholly impractical bolide, a mix of plain engineering and race track technology. Wimps won't even be able to start the engine but for all its nastiness it's an icon of a period when the British motorcycle industry ruled the world.

BSA’s A10 has, nowadays, a certain rugged charm, a correctness of form and line that gives it more street credibility than it used to have in the fifties when it was regarded as the poor relative to the vibratory Norton and ill-handling Triumph twins. Lacking the verve of the T110 and the handling finesse of the Norton, nevertheless its 35hp and solid chassis gave more than adequate joy up to the ton and ridden mildly was the most reliable of the big twins.

Hard riding blows the crankshaft bearings but most bikes still on the road will have had the excellent SRM conversion and there are many excellent examples in the £2500 to £3000 price range that, brakes apart, are worthy road warriors. If you want to ride as well as pose A10's are good stuff.

Triumph’s T110, especially in Tiger form, had more power than most and a beautiful silhouette that alone must've sold thousands. The Triumph’s main fault, apart from vibes and lack of reliability if used at high speeds, was a weak back end that had the rear wheel breaking out into some terminal weaves that could have you off.

A cursory glance at the swinging arm mount will reveal the reason and, indeed, Triumph later sorted the problem by adding extra mounting plates between frame and engine, along with steering geometry changes. The Triumph, backed by the reintroduction of the marque, oozes street credibility and can be a costly proposition to both buy and run compared to the rugged A10 but such constraints have little. bearing on the classic market where mythology and appearance rather than reality rules.

The Sixties

By the mid-sixties the Japanese manufacturers were beginning to target the big British twins but had not yet embraced the engineering orthodoxy that was to produce many mediocre machines in the seventies and eighties. Thus was the CB450 an advanced bit of engineering that took the vertical twin concept to new heights - DOHCs, torsion bar valve springs, 11000 revs and 43 horses.

Fortunately, the dual nature of most big vertical twins was retained, the CB able to grumble along quite happily below 6500rpm, then let the power blow in like a Goldie on cam. The bike feels brutal and direct compared to modern fare but is still able to cruise at 90mph and turn in 65 to 70mpg! The grey imports from the States, a good ‘un for under grand, combined with low cost classic insurance, has given the model a new lease of life.

Suzuki performed a similar minor miracle on their T500 stroker twin. At a time when two-strokes were regarded as either horrible commuter fare or quick seize learners with an attitude, Suzuki confounded all the sceptics by producing a 500cc twin that was as strong as it was fast. Compared to the four stroke twins of the era it was rapid, smooth and easy to ride; simple mods to the suspension, as in the case of the Honda, made it handle just as well as its rivals.

Ultimately, around 40 to 50000 miles, the crankshaft goes but they are relatively easy to rebuild. Easily the best stroker of both the sixties and seventies, nice ones are still available for under 1000 notes and time has been easy on their looks; what was rather bland becoming classic. Both bikes deserve respect.


In the early sixties Triumph’s 650 Bonneville came on hard with close to 120mph available when run on open carbs and straight-thru megas. The unit construction model, from 1963 on, more or less sorted the handling foibles even if the stability could never match the Featherbed framed Nortons, the weaves rarely went terminal.

Reliability was OK as long as lots of maintenance was indulged and, besides, the vibes after 7000 revs made sure the engine wasn't thrashed for very long. The best models are around 1967 and 1968, when handling, power and reliability all merged into some vague resemblance of modernity. Alas, an excess of poorly rebuilt and bodged examples are on offer at high prices, around three grand needed to buy a really good one not bad, considering that a new Jap 500 twin costs even more and there ain't any depreciation.

The Norton 650SS attempted to take the performance crown from the Bonneville but most people tore the Norton engine out and fitted the more powerful, reliable and less vibratory T120 unit to produce a legion of Tritons.

Nortons, curiously, are now more classic than Triumphs, perhaps because of the scarcity of decent, original examples of the 650SS. Luckily, rebuilt engines are usually updated with modern bearings and superior components, turning the bike into much more useful wheels. Some hard used, very practical examples on offer around two grand but the serious restorations are wallet shattering. Either bike encompasses all that was good about British cycles... and all that was bad!

Honda managed to turn the motorcycle world around in 1968 with the introduction of the four cylinder CB750. Its heaviness, poor geometry and ponderous handling were glossed over in favour of its excess of cylinders, reliability and smoothness. Its engineering excellence was more in the production rather than design area, its complexity no more than bunging four OHC singles together.

Nevertheless, its sheer civility in an era of oil leaking, vibratory, self destructive twins, won the day and set the engineering rules for the next three decades. Only now in the nineties, notably with the Triumph triples and Ducati V-twins, has such orthodoxy been successfully challenged. Prices are high for the first, K0, model due to rarity but later (seventies) examples are still in the cheap and cheerful bracket. With suspension mods and low bars they go reasonably.

No such niceness can be found in the Kawasaki 500 H1 triple. A stroker of such fierce power output and dodgy handling, especially if the throttle’s rolled off in bends, that few have survived with a straight frame. The later KH500 was a touch milder and less suicidal but most have been hot-rodded by now and are just as bad as early models.

Original examples of the H1 are worth £1500 to £2000, an extraordinarily expensive proposition considering the total lack of practicality, but modified examples, and most of them are, are around for under a grand, which given the madness factor sounds about right. Both are icons of Japanese technology when they pushed the engineering of the day to the edge.

The Seventies

Yamaha perfected the form of the British vertical twin in the XS650 (and earlier XS-2), showing how to produce a proper big twin with none of balancers or compromise of other models. That the British industry never embraced OHCs or horizontally split crankcases was an incredible missed opportunity.

The XS650 is all about easy power and toughness, running reliably if noisily to around 75000 miles. The chassis missed the game, though, and although first impressions are of a good stability hidden within that is a disturbing tendency to speed wobble around 90mph, which was even worse in the XS-2. Something's rotten within the frame design or geometry (or both) and it ain't completely eradicated by upgraded suspension. Very usable examples available for £750 to £1000.

BMW's boxers also had some weird handling traits, although it was usually heavy weaves rather than terminal wobbles from suspect swinging arm mounts. Of the boxer series, it’s a toss up between the relative civility of the R75/7 and the brutality of the R90S. The 750 boxer has lack of vibration and 90mph cruising, along with reliability only rivalled by the better Japanese models, in its favour, and reasonable prices of £1000 to £1500 for one with plenty of joy left in it. They both encapsulate the way times changed in the seventies, when bikes could be neglected, ridden hard and still last for a long time. Buy either, or both, they are bound to go up in value.

It's always amusing to see a manufacturer lose it in a big way and survive on their reputation. First Kawasaki and then Suzuki kicked Honda in the balls, with superior DOHC technology that knocked out more power, was more reliable, with none of the silly compromises such as chain primary drives or separate oil tanks. Kawasaki built their reputation on the H1 triple, combining most of that bike's wildness (alas, including the handling) with superior if heavier four stroke engineering. The Z1’s motor has to be one of the toughest around, bar none. Not surprising, then, that an immaculate one fetches as much  as a newish Zephyr, Kawasaki's fading retro which failed because they engineered out all the madness.

Somehow, Suzuki made the switch from two to four strokes so successfully that the GS750 became one of the machines to have in the seventies. Tough and fast it added a new twist to Japanese motorcycle efforts - good handling and safe stability even if it needed a bit of muscle to throw around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of the seventies, the Europeans were in fast retreat as the Japanese sorted out all the old horrors, bikes like the GS750 being very useful even these high tech days at not unreasonable prices.

Both the Honda CB350K4 and Yamaha RD400E share the privilege of being the end of the line in a style of engineering that stretched back to the sixties. Subsequent Honda 250/400 twins went the route of engine balancers and cheap components, whilst the RD series ended up water cooled and power valved.

Both bikes represent an engineering simplicity that was sadly lost in the eighties and nineties; stay true to their respective designs. The RD400 was much harsher than the T500, more blood and guts, at the price of less longevity and reliability. The CB350 was mild in both manner and nature but the kind of basically sound and rugged motorcycle that the British companies used to attempt to produce.

Where the Yam wheelies at will, the Honda’s more likely to break its clutch than comply with such delinquency. Race cams, open pipes and carbs give the CB some much needed edge without destroying its reliability, whereas the RD400's best left stock unless there’s a perverse need to experience holed pistons and blown cranks.
The Honda was incredibly popular in the States - despite being over two decades old quite a few turn up as grey imports for around £750, which is a good deal as it'll do everything you could want (up to 90mph). Actually, it would be an ideal match for the RD400E, whose kicks would be a strong antidote when the boredom of life with a four stroke becomes too much.

Good RDs are as rare as honest motorcycle dealers and can fetch well over a thousand notes - silly money as the chances of them blowing up are high. The GPz550 was immensely popular in its day, because it was fast, flash and didn’t cost an arm and a leg to buy and run. Kawasaki took the air cooled, eight valve DOHC four concept as far as it would go before it was overshadowed by the plastic fantastic brigade, such as the CBR600. That Kawasaki gave up the game is illustrated by the slower and less frugal 550 Zephyr; doubtless noise and emission laws took the heart out of the beast.

The GS550 wasn’t in the same league as the GPz with regards to performance but offered an incredibly tough engine and one of the safest handling chassis around. In Katana form it’s still an attractive proposition if a heavy one - the combination of 4-1, K & N filters and a bit of weight paring brings out a more interesting side of its character. There are even big bore kits available.

The GPz, in particular, represents the kind of middleweight motorcycle that does everything you could want without ever being the least bit boring, thanks to the way the power kicks in at the higher end of the rev range and a solid enough monoshock chassis. The GS is a slightly weirder trip, a brilliant pose that looks like a 1000cc hot-rod but can be burnt off by most 500s and, strangely, costs more to run than the GPz. Neither bike has yet come close to classic status, so prices are reasonable. The Kawasaki was made until 1989, so there are still some low mileage examples around whilst most Kats have done over 40000 miles (and will have had a couple of electrical burn-outs). Around a grand, maybe £1500 for the GPz. secures a nice ‘un.

The Eighties

Yamaha, almost alone, remain proponents of the two stroke way, although they will probably end up with sub 250cc models on the back of ever more stringent emission laws. The RD350 YPVS, a logical progression of the 350LC, employed power valves in the exhaust to give even wilder top end power whilst still allowing the bike to crackle along at lower revs. A clever piece of technology save that British winters cause it to corrode and seize.

The RD has somewhat wacky handling on worn suspension, and the rear monoshock does wear fast, especially when the powerband is hit midway through corners - something to do with the handlebars going skywards. The RD's a favoured fun machine with about 25000 miles between rebuilds.

Fun runs in the blood of Yamaha strokers, the design working best where there’s a single cylinder and lack of cubes - the two-stroke is, after all, supposed to be simple. The TZR125's burdened with the need to produce only 12hp but once derestricted, and there are around 30 horses to play with, the fun factor's so large that it often makes bigger bikes look damn silly. One suspects that the true ability of such devices aren't yet exploited because it might make larger and much more profitable machines a waste of time. In the TZR’s case it ain't just the engine that impresses but the overall ability of the Delta-box chassis and the lack of mass. Alas, Yamaha ruined the idiom by lately taking the replica route.

The eighties was the decade of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle, the kind of bike that had an appeal to most everyone. Both the classical Z650 and the more modern (looking) XJ600 shared the same basic engine philosophy of DOHC fours, to the extent of both running antique chain primary drives that make a hell of a racket come 75000 miles. Both models can run to 100000 miles, though they will be rather shagged out by then.

Power, handling and riding position never quite reach the frightening and disquieting levels of bigger fours or replicas, which means they can be hustled more than adequately through both town and country, and with a bit of effort cruised at 90 to 100mph. The only price paid for such civility’s the lack of an ultimate edge, the body warping excess of power of higher tuned machines. Minor tuning work extracts a little more brutality, though never to the extent of trying to break arms and snap heads off.

By contrast, nineties’ air cooled fours are even less thrilling and much more expensive. Either of these bikes can be picked up in good condition for around £1250, although the relative newness of the XJ600 means as much as two grand’s needed for something recent. It's always amusing to burn off fake modern replicas on some old middleweight that’s cost a fraction of the price. Both the Japanese and the mainstream motorcycle press have some very strange ideas about how to design modern, naked motorcycles.

The Honda CBR600 has long been a best seller in its class, though not always the fastest or best handling. Honda managed to cleverly combine all the flash of an excess of plasticwith relaxed ergonomics, making it pointless to suffer the agonies of FZRs or GSXRs. The FZR600's lighter and better handling, though until recently 10mph slower; in fact the Yamaha absolutely cries out for its dreadful plastic to be torn off and thrown at the nearest race-track devotee, as unlike the Honda the styling ain't integrated into the design nor offers much protection (though the CBR’s fairing should be wider).

Both bikes are stunning performers, any way you want to look at it, making much bigger bikes look rather silly, whilst reliability and longevity are very good, close to old bouncers like the Z1 and GS550. Running costs, though, are out this world, especially the expensive, quick-wear tyres and discs that die a death in bad weather. Old models in reasonable nick are available from £2000 to £2500 but be aware that many have been well thrashed on the race track and will blow up rapidly. Low mileage, nearly new examples are a possibility.

When Suzuki introduced the GSXR1100 in 1986 it weighed 434lbs and developed 125 horses. It did this through a combination of oil-cooled engine and alloy, square section frame. The result was a power to weight ratio that blew minds and the kind of high speed chassis traumas that brought back the days of the H1. Unfortunately, subsequent attempts by the manufacturer to tame the handling resulted in the weight increasing to over 500Ibs, the whole point of the machine - balls-out riding - being lost.

The FZR soon took the performance crown from the Suzuki, offering as much power in a Delta-box alloy chassis that was a revelation in comparison to the GSXR, although ultimately it was still burdened with the excessive mass and girth that goes hand in hand with the across the frame four, a design that by the end of the decade will surely be on the way out.

For sheer performance, these days, both bikes are killed by the latest ZZR1100, but old examples for around £3000 represent great value if you have the desperate need to blast through the 150mph barrier. Both bikes become a bit dubious once past 50000 miles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nineties

Triumph's 900 Trident is without doubt a better bike than the 750, which suffers from having to carry the same excessive mass, but on the used market 750 owners tend towards maturity and the model's significantly cheaper. The Triumph engine has emerged as strong as any of the Japanese offerings whilst the uniqueness of its three cylinder, across the frame, configuration shoes just how obsolete the four is becoming.

The Trident's more fun than its staid appearance would suggest and the initial top heavy feeling fades into the background after extended use. Handling, like the engineering, tends towards the conservative but it goes where it’s pointed and doesn't turn in any massive weaves. Finish does suffer on some of the earlier models but that’s just a good bargaining point rather than a fundamental fault.

BMW's clever F650, using a big thumper mill for its kicks, misses the point only in its rather odd styling. Its relatively low price comes from letting the Italians assemble it and the fun factor from civilizing the DOHC engine without ruining the easy, strong flow of torque. Handling’s as light and precise as anything the Brit’s produced in the sixties but with a relatively sophisticated ride that deals well with the urban neglect.

The F650 has sold well in the UK yet few are available second hand, a sure sign that the owners are well pleased with their purchase. The Trident, with a bit of cosmetic decay, is available for around three grand. Both these bikes are all about excess. The ZZR1100, the king of outright speed and high speed cruising, its ram-air system cramming in the air at high speed and its stability not degenerating to any great extent, even at 170mph! The CBR’s a modern incarnation of the old sixties cafe racers - quite uncomfortable, raw edged, blindingly fast with slightly dubious handling at the extremes. The equivalent of all those hot Tritons when doing the ton-twenty was a major achievement. In the UK, the only question is whether your driving licence will last weeks rather than months!

The Honda’s main claim to fame is its low mass, 410lbs dry, which allied with 125 horses make for an incredible kick in the guts. Some strange quirk of its chassis meant Honda specified an oversized sixteen inch front tyre which wears out fast, almost as soon as it's scrubbed in (well, about 2000 miles) and doesn’t even damp down the lightness of the front end; many will dismiss such complaints in favour of the way the bike can be thrown through corners. Honda also displayed a religious adherence to the cafe racer idiom and an unwillingness to develop the bike in any other, less painful, guises.

Nevertheless, like the ZZR, the on the road experience is so exhilarating, so mind blowing and so challenging that for all their faults they can't easily be ignored and are almost worth the extravagant running costs and outrageous purchase price even second hand (around £5000).

The rise of the European companies started with the Cagiva owned Ducati factory finally getting their act together with the likes of the 900SS, the emergence of Aprilia as a serious player and the re-establishment of Triumph as a motorcycle producer. Their strength produced bikes that could loosely be described as retros but really are just a reinvention of each factory's heritage; sufficiently unique to give a two-fingered salute to the orthodoxy of the Japanese. Ducati rely on their well proven, if raw-edged, V-twin packaged in the kind of minimal way that Triumph used to employ in their sixties Bonneville, which they didn't quite recreate in the Thunderbird due to the excessive mass and build quality of their 900cc water cooled three cylinder mill.

Both machines share the kind of grunt, in the real world of restrictive speed limits, that shames even the race replicas. Whilst the M900 relies on the brilliance of its chassis and engine dynamics, the Thunderbird’s evocative because of a splendid attention to detail in its chassis and huge gobs of torque that come in from tickover of the detuned triple.

Interestingly, whilst the Ducati engine gives every impression of coming to the end of the line in terms of engine development, the much praised British unit is just at the start of its evolution and liable to become even better (ie much lighter) in future years. Bikes like the Thunderbird will kill dead many of the European models if not the wily Japanese.