Tag Archives: Honda Classic Bikes

Steve Courtney is the ambitious owner of this gorgeous CBX and having had the machine since 1987 has constantly strived to perfect the gleaming chrome bedecked motorcycle. A mechanic by trade, albeit on agricultural and commercial tackle, he posesses all the many skills needed to turn out exemplary show stopping machines like this. The 37 year old from Ashford in Kent is also one of the technical advisors within the CBX club and has extensive knowledge of the type and many more technical aspects of machine owner ship such as painting and polishing the expanses of shiny bits that are the essence of CBX ownership.

Honda finally found themselves perched right on the top of the biking world after desperate attempts to capture the 500cc crown during the latter stages of the 70s. The bike that gave them this authority was an unlikely race machine, surrounded as it was by totally complex, lunatic and rev happy, powerhouse machines.

1978 was a big year for Honda. During that year they had manufactured exactly 2,639,738 motorcycles, making them the largest bike producer in the world, and also released the CX500 onto an unsuspecting audience. As a replacement for the CB four-cylinder series of middleweights, the CX was the second water-cooled machine to be produced by Honda, the first being the GL1000 Gold Wing, and the new twin cylinder machine was a mix of old and new technology, creating a motorcycle quite unlike any other.

The design of the Superbike was generally thought to have been well sorted during the transition from the 80s to the 90’s. Alloy beam frames, ever widening tyre sizes, and four cylinder engines were the norm, and technical revelations few. Then, completely out of left field came the CBR900RR and changed it all, causing a never-ending power struggle that continues unabated 20 years on.

When Honda introduced the first of the GL series at the 1974, Cologne show the rest of the world could never have imagined it would create a whole new breed of motorcyclist and riding style, let alone still be around in one form or another today. Most had considered a larger version of the CB750 to be on the cards, however few had guessed correctly.

It is difficult, at first to take the whole concept seriously, particularly with one of the original un-sprung machines. Despite being lightweight, the old style Monkeys are sluggish and hard to get right at first, being so compact and having the same gear change mechanism as the Cub 90 that sees the clutch disengage with every depression of the gear lever.

Honda stole the march on the rest of the world when, in 1969, they launched the stunning CB750. They weren’t the only ones close to doing so however, beating Kawasaki literally by weeks. Honda changed the biking world for good…

Is this the ultimate Cult bike? More a legend we reckon With only 3,000 ever made, and with more than a few having died over the years since, you don’t see many around. Should you encounter one the first impression…

The last of the air-cooled giants The late 70s and early 80s were a difficult period for the mighty Honda, they had led the two-wheeled world as the 60s died away and then sat out the next ten years or…

Race Retro’s tribute to the Honda Racing Corporation’s thirty-year involvement with motorcycle sport will include a fantastic array of rare and stunning Hondas, with some of the motorcycles being brought back to life in the Fire Up Paddock. Held at…