I was messing with my old GL1000 this weekend and happened to look over at the Valkyrie and I think I had a religious experience. Maybe it was the IPA. Anyway, the perspective made me want to ponder it a bit.
The Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have done us all a huge favor. Technological evolution, I think, is more apparent in motorcycle engineering than just about anywhere - and the Japanese have shown us the way. Trust me, I know. I used to ride Triumphs and Nortons. While full of character, nice handling and making all the right noises, it's no wonder they quickly disappeared once Honda and the Japanese invasion got rolling.
Harley Davidson (and the many v-twin makers of old - American and Italian) started out with a good idea. The early vertical twins (think all the Brits) joined in and those technologies rolled along for 60 or 70 years. Pretty much unchanged. I suppose we can't exclude the BMW design - which also is an ancient design and saw very little in the way of real evolution for over a half century itself.
During those years, Japan was silent to the world of motorcycles. Until after WWII. Honda, in the span of a few decades, quickly progressed from tiny singles to more and more sophisticated twins to the world class inline fours and ... horizonal fours. From the GL1000 to the GL1500 - and 1800.
I mean, look what Japan has done with the inline four in 50 years. The CB750 set the world on its ear. It and its descendants (and competitors) have seen more refinement since 1969 than (in my opinion) the V-Twin has seen in a hundred years. Yamaha's R1 in 2009 introduced "cross plane" technology or "big bang" firing order to the I4. If you've never heard one, you're missing out. Who knew an inline four could sound like that??
Anyway, this was my epiphany. My IPA moment. For a split second, I felt the timeline of that evolution to my core. I have been lucky to have "come of age" during what I consider to be the motorcycle's golden years. (70's until now). I've enjoyed a bunch of them. But, dagnabit, there's not enough time (or money) to enjoy them all.
I'll give it a shot.
The Japanese motorcycle manufacturers have done us all a huge favor. Technological evolution, I think, is more apparent in motorcycle engineering than just about anywhere - and the Japanese have shown us the way. Trust me, I know. I used to ride Triumphs and Nortons. While full of character, nice handling and making all the right noises, it's no wonder they quickly disappeared once Honda and the Japanese invasion got rolling.
Harley Davidson (and the many v-twin makers of old - American and Italian) started out with a good idea. The early vertical twins (think all the Brits) joined in and those technologies rolled along for 60 or 70 years. Pretty much unchanged. I suppose we can't exclude the BMW design - which also is an ancient design and saw very little in the way of real evolution for over a half century itself.
During those years, Japan was silent to the world of motorcycles. Until after WWII. Honda, in the span of a few decades, quickly progressed from tiny singles to more and more sophisticated twins to the world class inline fours and ... horizonal fours. From the GL1000 to the GL1500 - and 1800.
I mean, look what Japan has done with the inline four in 50 years. The CB750 set the world on its ear. It and its descendants (and competitors) have seen more refinement since 1969 than (in my opinion) the V-Twin has seen in a hundred years. Yamaha's R1 in 2009 introduced "cross plane" technology or "big bang" firing order to the I4. If you've never heard one, you're missing out. Who knew an inline four could sound like that??
Anyway, this was my epiphany. My IPA moment. For a split second, I felt the timeline of that evolution to my core. I have been lucky to have "come of age" during what I consider to be the motorcycle's golden years. (70's until now). I've enjoyed a bunch of them. But, dagnabit, there's not enough time (or money) to enjoy them all.
I'll give it a shot.
