A slightly one eyed view....

[b.walker5]

Check this video out.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HESIjHvOjtw

[Prisoner6]

What?

No mention of the Yamaha XS11??

Ridiculous!

(I wouldn't mind having that Datsun 240Z, though ...)

[IanDMacDonald]

It's Brit-produced. What did u expect?

[DiverRay]

Yeah, the XS1100 held the record for one year, then both Suzuki and Kaw had "faster" bikes. I know the motorcycle museum in Solvange, CA does NOT have an XS1100 either! Most people just didn't understand the bikes at the time. The go fast crowd thought it was a touring bike cause of the shaft, and the touring crowd thought of it as a go fast.

[ViperRon]

Well if he isn't gonna talk about Yamaha then take all his signs down

[Prisoner6]

It's Brit-produced. What did u expect?

Oh, I don't know ... maybe ... a little objectivity?

Anyone, Brit or not, with even a modicum of objectivity could never dismiss the XS11 when discussing Japanese "Seventies Superbikes".

Apparently, the producers of this video have none ...

[MaximPhil]

Oh, I don't know ... maybe ... a little objectivity?

Anyone, Brit or not, with even a modicum of objectivity could never dismiss the XS11 when discussing Japanese "Seventies Superbikes".

Apparently, the producers of this video have none ...

I always thought the term Super Bike referred to the 1000cc and over bikes.?
Almost all the excellent bikes shown were smaller than 1000cc.
While the British Motorcycle industry collapsed in a heap at that time surely there were at least some European bikes worth mentioning in an era that certainly saw the Japanese manufacturers dominate the world stage.

What were the world champions riding in the 70's?
Or the winners at Isle of Man TT?
Someone with more time than me could Google that
or perhaps even remember

Phil

[DiverRay]

According to Wikipedia:
1976 BMW first year of "superbike", before was 750cc, and ALL Yamaha
1977, 1978 Kawasaki
1979, 1980 Suzuki
1981-83 Kawasaki
1984-88 Honda
That should be good for now......

[madmax-im]

I always thought the term Super Bike referred to the 1000cc and over bikes.?
Almost all the excellent bikes shown were smaller than 1000cc.
While the British Motorcycle industry collapsed in a heap at that time surely there were at least some European bikes worth mentioning in an era that certainly saw the Japanese manufacturers dominate the world stage.

What were the world champions riding in the 70's?
Or the winners at Isle of Man TT?
Someone with more time than me could Google that
or perhaps even remember

Phil

Mike Hailwood came out of retirement in 1977 and won the IOMTT and I think I have seen some references to him being ona Ducati...also Joey Dunlop who has the most IOMTT wins(26) was a dominant rider during the 70's a up until his death in 2000i believe...The term "superbike" was already used prior to the XS11's arrival...and i cannot find any history of an XS1100 in any IOMTT race... With the exception of the Formula1 races all the bikes wre no more than 500cc...the F! series did feature 1000cc bikes though.

[Prisoner6]

I always thought the term Super Bike referred to the 1000cc and over bikes.?
Almost all the excellent bikes shown were smaller than 1000cc.
While the British Motorcycle industry collapsed in a heap at that time surely there were at least some European bikes worth mentioning in an era that certainly saw the Japanese manufacturers dominate the world stage.

What were the world champions riding in the 70's?
Or the winners at Isle of Man TT?
Someone with more time than me could Google that
or perhaps even remember

Phil

Hi, Phil -

Motorcycle racing (road racing, that is) has always fascinated me, and I followed it pretty closely in the 70's and 80's.

My responses to the video Brian posted were based on one simple premise:

The producers clearly never intended to present the video as a "Superbike-class" racing history from the 70's.

Instead, they were using the term "Superbike" very, very loosely ... merely to highlight what they felt were landmark production motorcycles from the 70's.

If they were truly trying to paint a landscape of actual Superbike-class racing from the 70's, then they surely(?) would have mentioned some of the European manufacturers: Moto Guzzi, Ducati ...

And especially BMW, who won the very first officially-titled "Superbike" class race in 1976, with Reg Pridmore aboard an R90S.

(Actually, the "Superbike" moniker really started in 1973 with the fledgling "Superbike Production" racing circuit.)

This video's producers instead chose to include bikes like Suzuki's Water Buffalo and Kawasaki's H2 two-stroke 750 triple ... obviously, neither of these bikes were involved in Superbike-class racing.

As for the Honda CBX ... I own a first-year CBX, and I absolutely love it. But Honda never used it in their Superbike racing efforts.

For their initial effort, they instead used a CB900F-based racer, and Honda didn't even officially enter Superbike-class racing until 1980.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All the bikes in the video deserve to be included as "super" bikes (meaning "great" bikes), but not all of them were involved in Superbike racing.

And these producers even missed the mark by not including that beautiful Benelli 750 Sei inline-6 sitting in the background!

I mean ... after all, it was the world's first production bike with a 6-cyl. engine!

I'd call that a landmark motorcycle ...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, for the reasons mentioned above, I think the absence of the XS11 is a glaring omission by these producers.

Sorry for the long-winded response ...

[madmax-im]

Marco...I concur 100%...Well said...

[ardvark1]

Was'nt our bike the first MUSCLE bike?

[Prisoner6]

Was'nt our bike the first MUSCLE bike?

Well,

If we're talking strictly about Japanese bikes, you could probably present a case for the original 1972 Kawasaki Z1 900 as the first "Musclebike".

But, the earliest Japanese bike that comes to my mind when I hear the term "Musclebike" is .............

Wait, I'll just let the video speak for itself ...

Anyone else remember this commercial from 1983?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iORT5E6Hbkc

[madmax-im]

Was'nt our bike the first MUSCLE bike?

It was the !st litre plus muscle bike with 4 cylinders to hit American shores back in the day...11 second 1/4 miles all day long on a bike right off the showroom floor...back then 95 hp was dabomb...or more appropriately...a cruise missile...

[rover]

Superbike

I rode a Kaw 750 triple 2 stroke for 8 years. It was extremely fast. Very dangerous. It would wheelie in 2nd gear by merely opening the throttle. When it hit the power band, up would come the front wheel. I was once on a curvy hilly road behind a semi when I saw a short opportunity to pass, so I downshifted, pulled out and hit the throttle. Up came to front, and here comes a car from the other way. If I would have released the throttle, I would hit the oncoming car. If I kept the throttle open, how could I steer back to the right lane when I passed the truck? I did keep the throttle full open, and was able to lean a bit and got to the right lane ahead of the oncoming car. Only then did I back off and get the front wheel back on the ground. I was never so scared in my life! I soon learned how to control that power. When I bought my 79SF, I found it was even faster than the Kaw, but heavy enough to use that power and still keep the front end on the road. Now, 36 years later, I am riding a 79F, still have the SF, parked it after 1st and 2nd gears no longer engaged. After having done the dremel fix on the F, I will soon tackle the same with the SF. I recently found the shift forks I need to finish the job, and will do it this winter. Then I will have 2 XS11s with about 100 thousand miles on each.