In 1980, the CBX was out of reach, these were the options for a sporty streetbike from Honda. I looked and looked at that CB750, Still good looking bikes today, whether in black or in silver.
Uh huh, uh huh. One glance at, one ride on, a CB400 and you, too, will be hollering "Red-hot gobs of horsepower!" Until you go down beneath a flurry of flailing pool cues and are silenced, perhaps for good.
Kind of a good-looking bike, except for the dumpy engine and whale-size seat. Instead of suggesting red-hot gobs of HP, it hollered "I'll take you to work and back."
Exactly. It was part of that brief period where 400s were the starter bike class, In our town, the clear winner at that time was the Yamaha 400 Special.
Dear Leader G.: To your knowledge (including hearsay), was the Yamaha Special functionally better than its broadly sedative 400cc contemporaries? (I hated all the Specials great and small for their gross, clearly committee-designed "factory custom" styling. But my superior taste never let me ride any of em. My loss, though I neither repent or repine.)
From hanging around with the guys that rode them back then, the fourstroke twins were broadly the same. Impromptu drag races came down to the least-incompetent launch and shifting. The king of the 400s was the RD400 (with worn and ratty Kawa 400 triples maintaining their street cred.) I too despised the whole "Special" styling trend and the Suzukis were worse than the Yamahas. The XS650 was the best looking one in my book. https://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2012/06/special-yamaha-650.html
Perhaps when they foresaw a glut of factory customs (there's a fine oxymoron), Yamaha brought out a nearly British-looking Heritage Special (I think it was called). Same bike, but no longer embarrassing to look at.
Seems like every bike in the f.c. genre had a seat to accommodate a pachyderm (and child). Maybe the stylists had the impression (largely correct) that every North American weighed 600 pounds.
Uh huh, uh huh. One glance at, one ride on, a CB400 and you, too, will be hollering "Red-hot gobs of horsepower!" Until you go down beneath a flurry of flailing pool cues and are silenced, perhaps for good.
ReplyDeleteHunter...? Is that you ?
ReplyDeleteNo, but he left me these red-hot gobs in his will. Want some?
ReplyDeleteBless him, but no thanks... Your ticket, your ride :-)
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, that 400 was pretty mediocre, and the 3 valve engine had valve train issues...
ReplyDelete'Bout all I know is that nobody loved it.
ReplyDeleteKind of a good-looking bike, except for the dumpy engine and whale-size seat. Instead of suggesting red-hot gobs of HP, it hollered "I'll take you to work and back."
Exactly. It was part of that brief period where 400s were the starter bike class, In our town, the clear winner at that time was the Yamaha 400 Special.
ReplyDelete750F: 540 lbs (with full fuel) and a high center of gravity.
ReplyDeleteDon in Oregon
Dear Leader G.: To your knowledge (including hearsay), was the Yamaha Special functionally better than its broadly sedative 400cc contemporaries? (I hated all the Specials great and small for their gross, clearly committee-designed "factory custom" styling. But my superior taste never let me ride any of em. My loss, though I neither repent or repine.)
ReplyDeleteFrom hanging around with the guys that rode them back then, the fourstroke twins were broadly the same. Impromptu drag races came down to the least-incompetent launch and shifting. The king of the 400s was the RD400 (with worn and ratty Kawa 400 triples maintaining their street cred.)
ReplyDeleteI too despised the whole "Special" styling trend and the Suzukis were worse than the Yamahas. The XS650 was the best looking one in my book.
https://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2012/06/special-yamaha-650.html
Yeahp, nice (if portly) bikes, the 650s.
ReplyDeletePerhaps when they foresaw a glut of factory customs (there's a fine oxymoron), Yamaha brought out a nearly British-looking Heritage Special (I think it was called). Same bike, but no longer embarrassing to look at.
Seems like every bike in the f.c. genre had a seat to accommodate a pachyderm (and child). Maybe the stylists had the impression (largely correct) that every North American weighed 600 pounds.