I'll never forget seeing THREE dusty, forlorn GB500s still sitting in a motorcycle showroom when I bought my 2005 CBR600RR. I damn near bought one out of pity. Funny enough, when I stopped by a month later, the shop said all three had been bought by one guy.
The GB500 was, indeed, a weird motorcycle for 1989, but it was the motorcycle that literally began the modern retro craze, long before most people even thought there would be such a thing as a "retro craze". The peak of technology in 1989 for Honda was the Honda VFR750 and the CBR1000R Hurricane. The GB500, as a 500 cc single, was an anachronism of the best kind that didn't even begin to approach the performance levels of the affordable entry-level twin sport bikes of the day, the Honda VF500, the Kawasaki EX500, and the Suzuki GS500, and it was more expensive than all of them by a large margin.
The forgotten motorcycle that you FORGOT: the Yamaha SRX from the 80's and 90's. They came out in both 400 and 600 cc. They did not sell well outside of Japan because everyone wanted an inline four - not a dry sump, overhead cam single with a 4 valve head - nimble handling and totally reliable and sexy. I have a '91 400 model on which I added a bikini fairing. Look it up. You'll want one.
Well, actually the Yamaha SR500 was a retro bike in the late 1970s which looked back at the British singles of the 50s. Triumph's first retro bike was the 900 Thunderbird, made in the late 1990s.
Yeah it was basically japanese companies that did one or two British styled roadsters/cruisers to under cut Harley and Royal Enfield which always was retro which kept and brought back the asthetic. Triumph were more focused on the street triples and the Daytonas.
I was going to comment about the Tbird, I think these came out in 95' I have a 96 variant and it's like a bike Bonnie with a trident engine. The build quality is superb. I think a true retro needs modern parts, so at least tech like fuel injection and maybe ABS etc but in a classic package.
The assumption this guy makes is that Triumph caused the trend towards retro styling. However, I would argue that the market existed for retro-styled bikes anyway, because modern designs have tended to become uglier, turning a lot of riders off. Why buy something if it looks like it has already been crushed between two cars? Triumph gave buyers something that they could be proud to own, without all the inconveniences of having an older Triumph Bonneville. Basically, the Triumph Bonneville, the Honda CB750 and the Kawasaki z900 are what motorbikes look like. Add classic Harley Davidson, BMW and Ducati bikes to that list too.. Everything else since then has been more about marketing, and styling, in an effort to "modernize" something that doesn't need modernizing, except for improvements in technology and reliability. This is why Royal Enfield are doing so well now.
you have missed the boat . the GB Honda range was developed in Britain and was a Honda inative to allow the importers some autonomy . it was never intended for the US market but was launched there . There was no surprises when the US market didn't get it . ( like Velocett's BSA Gold Stars and Vincent's it is like feeding truffles to swine ) In GB and the commonwealth countries it was well received and sold well . In this market they have a strong following and are a very practical classic . The GB Honda was a stand alone bike not a copy .
Motorcycles can kind of equate to cars. In the '50s and '60s, most were the lumbering 1952 Chevy. It was unitarian and it got the job done for transportation. Nothing special. Then came the hot British ones that became the '57 Chevy. Oh, and there were the Harley Davidsons that were the lumbering Buick. In the '70s, Honda, Kawasaki, and others started with the famous UJM. Put a small engine in, you had a cheap, fun ride. Put a big engine in, you had mind-blowing speed. And with either, you could cruise around town being cool or you could pack up your stuff and tour across country. They were the Chevelles, family car with the six and Powerglide, or pavement burner with a solid lifter 396 and four speed. You had your CB350 or your CB750. And especially your KZ-900. Then came the sport bikes, first Camaros, then Corvettes. Everyone wanted one, of course, because looks and speed were king. Of course, try packing up for a week long trip with your girlfriend cross country on one. Now many realize that the Chevelle really wasn't that bad. So the motorcycle market needs another UJM, but they just haven't figured out how to do it. Because instead of designing universally, they design specifically and they can't get a specialty bike to do all things. they need a basic package that is the canvas for your work. Your luggage rack, if wanted. Your windscreen if wanted. Your headers if wanted. Your crash bars if wanted. and so on. But the bike industry is too greedy to let YOU buy and put stuff on; they want to have the "custom" package for you to order. It was what killed custom vans in the '70s, which were cool canvases for people to design, but then the factories made "custom" vans just like the other 50,000 you saw on the street.
Had a Harley Sprint, and loved the feel of the 350 cc. thumper, but it was unreliable, but with light weight and 25 hp.,it was fun. I think there is a market for a good single today, possibly with a counter-ballacer for smoothness.
I still have my GB and an XBR 500. Fantastic bike, runs fast with the CR 500 cams. I also have an SR 500 which has been reengined with an XT engine. Brilliant bikes.
That's a great video. I first got my motorcycle license around 1992. Soon after, I visited the local Honda dealer (outside of Nashville, TN) and they had two aged but new bikes in their showroom. There was a 1989 GB500 and a 1988 NT650 Hawk GT. Both of these bikes are now collectors items but at the time they couldn't give them away. A big issue was their cost... IIRC, the GB500 and Hawk both had MSRPs just a hair away from a new 600 Hurricane and the performance of each was far lower. That said, my heart said GB but my head said Hawk GT, either was available for $2,500 at the time compared to their original MSRPs of just over $4k. The Hawk was more modern, with a V-twin, aluminum frame, single sided swing arm, etc. It was a great first bike. A few years later I was in California and stumbled on a GB500 for sale... the price was still just around $2,500 so I grabbed it. Of all the bikes I've owned, I miss this one the most.
I would say the motorcycle industry has been dabbling with retro bikes long before 2003, in fact since well before anybody had any real idea the Triumph brand name was returning to the motorcycle industry. You mentioned Royal Enfield and Ural, both brands that were selling in the US in the early to mid 90s through a small but growing network of dealerships. Yamaha with its XS 650 parallel twin standard style motorcycle was a direct grab at the market left vacant by the absence of a ny British motorcycles being imported to the US during the early 80s and definitely were inspired by the look and feel of the British bikes so much that ere were even aftermarket Cafe and Flat tracker/Street tracker kits hat could be used to create a pretty convincing copy of a British Cafe racer or 70s flat tracker, you had to take a second look at one passing by to notice it was actually a Yamaha. You mentioned Harley as having a couple models styled to resemble their older bikes...Harley has long been criticized for having almost their entire line up styled to look and sound as close as possible their old bikes from the 40s through 70s models. The Dyna, styled after the Superglide shovelheads from the 70s. The Softails are all designed to mimic 36 thru 57 knucklehead or Panhead models and/or the custom bikes built from them. The Evo Sportster was intended to be very reminiscent of the first Sportstermodels built in 1957. The Road King certainly is meant to bring a 1958 through 1982 FLH touring bike to mind when you see it. The only harleys not intended to be retro were the FXR, Buell models, and the VRod variants at least until the last couple years.
GB was good Idea at the wrong time. It was my dream bike at the time. I had to settle for a Yamaha XS400.Clubman Bars, CafeSeat Double leading shoe front brake was stock. And a Mac Exhaust. Out of all the bikes I ever owned, the little 400 gave me more smiles 😂
My dad had a GB500. It had a lot of nice details to look at compared to a ot of other Japanese bikes. It was pretty wimpy on power, and I got him a big carb and a pipe from White Brothers. That helped, but he ended up selling the bike at a huge profit because in the mid 90s they were already collectable. The ergonomics were fairly extreme, and my dad found it uncomfortable. He then went crazy in the other direction and bought a Suzuki 650 Savage single, which he ended up hating because the forward controls made it difficult to get off the seat over railroad tracks etc. I recommended a Honda Ascot, which he bought and loved. The GB500 had a radial valve head which was more complex and made more power than the Ascot with a parallel valve head. Both engines were of course based on the Honda dual sports, Those engines have a great reputation but I have personal experience that they will overheat if run hard in warm temperatures. I bought my brother a new Ascot and it needed a new top end on its six month warranty after it overheated following my Norton from Yosemite through Mojave and over Angeles Crest. We were cruising about 75 across the desert, but I didn't know that he was flat out. He got a new piston rings valve job and milled head on warranty. Lots of stuff on the internet about overheating Honda singles too. The GB500 is anything but unknown. After my dad passed, I sold the White Brothers pipe and stuff to sombody in Europe. Netherlands, as I recall. He never ran his Ascot flat out across the desert, and my nephew owns it now. Overheating is well known on that XL XR 500 / 600 family of Honda engine.
"feels as Honda felt something in the future" oh boy that's so true! I have ridden the "Clubman" as it was called in Germany where i lived these days. Never ever have ridden a bike like that one. Then it was overwhelming in city. What these days allover never you will find. Exept - we will see - the BSA new startup. But - it's not original as that days this Honda was. Today im looking after a new one because had to leave my ol' Yamaha because she suffered age ;) But i'll go for something modern ... but always remembering the 'ol stuff ;D
@ 6 minutes- this dude is 1000% correct. Every Honda is a piece of art.... but sometimes it is not YOUR piece of art. (I'm looking at you NASCAR fans) Also, does Honda motorcycles advertise in U.S. ? I saw a GB500 at a swap meet in Ohio, like 3 years after they had stopped production. If I would have known? I would have bought 3 of them!
You hit the nail on the head, I'm an ole guy, and I like the relative simplicity and timeless design of a "classic" bike. I think that all the manufacturers are tapping into this market, i.e. people who want the joy of riding without breakneck speed, complicated engines and technology, and correspondingly high prices. My last bike was a "new retro" (2006) Triumph Bonneville. I just bought another classic - a 1978 Honda CB550.
Sadly, "modern" retro or classic bikes are anything but simple. You have to be a computer technician with a lot of computerized diagnostic equipment to work on one. And you cannot tinker with them, something which I enjoy almost as much as riding them.
And yet, I much prefer the clubman or 40's styling over the typical Bonneville style. If RE comes with a Classic 650 or just a 500 with the same refinement as their current 350's, I'd probably buy one.
There is a market for motorcycles outside of( the USA! this bike was made on a subject you briefly touched on! The Manx Norton! GB a 500cc single cylinder deliberately! ...... keep in the loop please!
I like the styling of the gb 500. And it's nice to ride. Mine has 49000 miles on it now and still runs like a watch. The bike was made as a celebration of so many honda wins at the TT. And was to look similar to the British singles honda saw at the TT when they first competed.
If I buy an RE, the only reason I will choose an Interceptor over a GT is for the sake of my back. I assumed others chose the Interceptor for the same reason rather than for the way it looks.
I wanted one of these SO badly when they came out - but their over $4K price tag said no. One would have gone quite nicely beside my Yamaha SRX-6 (singles are skinny) in my garage. I still have the SRX. 😁
Surely the Royal Enfield bullet was the worlds first retro bike, because it was designed and built in England in the 1930s and continued at their Indian factory right up until recently. It therefore became retro because it remained in production for so long.
The retro movement started with the Japanese with Honda and Kawasaki... they were mostly ignored until the Bonneville. Also the Royal Enfield out sells because of comfort... like the w800 Cafe dealers are switching out the bars so it is more like the street etc for comfort. Honda also made the cb1100 which is based off the cb750 looks wise and it was ignored and I think discontinued this year in most markets.
I wanted to like the CB 1100 but it just didn't quite look right. I hated the pipes for one thing and the gas tank was a complete visual failure. To me, if you are going to make a retro bike .... go pretty much all the way. Like the Royal Enfields and the modern Retro Triumph Bonnie. They really look a lot like a bike from the 1970's. The CB 1100 just looked like someone tried but failed to make it look like a 70's bike. You can't succeed if you can't even get the tank and the pipes right.
The iconic BSA Gold Star was a 500cc single cylinder 42hp old school road legal out and out race bike. It looked and sounded great to my young ears but a nightmare in London traffic with its very high first gear and race tuned engine.
I really love your content and editing style!! Interestingly, most of the GBs that didn’t sell in the US were imported to Germany in the early 90s (first as grey import vehicles, then even officially by Honda Germany). The bike did much better here, and there is a quite large fanbase around the GB 500 and the technically similar (although uglier) XBR 500 now. I think it wouldn’t have been such a commercial failure if they only sold it directly in Europe in larger quantities. I am lucky to own a GB, and it’s really an amazing ride, and imo one of the best looking bikes ever made.
In early 1992, the largest part of production that was still on stock in the US (some estimated about 4000 Bikes) was imported to Germany and was sold out within a few weeks. I bought one and my girlfriend bought another one some weeks later. I still own my one, still only about 6400 miles on the clock. My girlfriend and I split up some months later and she sold her GB with only about 2000 miles on it. I went to the dealer some time later to buy it back and store it in my livingroom for at least one or two decades, but I was late, he already sold it. Although a beautiful motorcycle, it had some quality problems: The rear fender has no perfect chrome on the underside, so it started rusting within some months and the chrome weights on the ends of the grips also showed corrosion bumps within three or four years.
I love the GB500's. It came out about 15 - 20 years too early, before 60's retro was a thing. I've never actually ridden one, but I've always loved the look. I recognized the Throttle Company clips in the video. Dylan''s alway got a cool bike to test ride.
I recall reading a review of the GB500 which basically said "All Dressed Up, and Going Nowhere". Too bad it didn't do better here in the USA. I did buy and ride the then new 1978 Yamaha SR500. I loved that thumper and could still kickstart it without looking at the sight glass for TDC. Until the stator windings failed and replacement was ridiculously expensive.
I know a guy who bought a GB 500, he's an older guy who had a Velocette back in the day. Bought one because it reminded him of it, and he sold it because it was nothing like his old Velo
I have been enjoying your video's. Hearing about all these bikes from a much younger perspective is eye opening. Just want to point out a few things. The BSA Lighting was their hi performance twin (besides their top of the line Spitfire) of the 1960's. The Gold Star was a 500cc single from the 1950's that was replaced in the early 1960's by the 441 Victor. Before the reintro of the Bonneville, Triumph marketed the 3 cyl. Thunderbird. It was an up to date, liquid cooled, 900 cc modern bike with classic Triumph styling cues. The motorcycle press of the time panned it claiming Triumph had just answered a question nobody asked. Within 6 months, the Thunderbird was outselling all their other "modern" bikes combined. The motorcycle press similarly panned the new Bonneville declaring Triumph had just taken a huge step backwards. Of course, Triumph had to build a new factory just to keep up with demand for Bonnie's and then set up overseas production in Thailand to fill their orders. I hear Triumph still makes a few other models but you never see any. Lastly, the Harley Davidson Sportster is not a modern classic, it's basically the same bike they introduced in 1957. AMF updated the frame about 1981 and then the new company updated to the EVO motor in 1986. Both updates were visually almost imperceptible. Keep up the good work.
Umm ... don't think you could say the 441 Victor was a successor or "replacement" for the Gold Star. - except it too was a single. BTW, I rode a Victor around Hermosa beach Los Angeles in 1972. It kicked back like a mule when starting, and I had to pay a lot of attention when riding it.
As was said here, the 442 was NOT a "replacement" for the Gold Star. It was street version of their MX bike which grew from the 250/350 BSA singles of the late 50s/60s. The Gold Star was an all-around high performance bike. Few people road raced a Victor ((I know, Mead and Tompkinson..).
If I remember correctly, around 1970 somebody assembled some Velocettes from leftover pieces at the factory and offered them for sale at about $1500. I had my CB750 at the time and did not see the need, but today I wonder what one of those last, beautiful thumpers would be worth. I know it would be a head turner, and a blast to ride.
Good video👍 I was 18 then and fell in love with that bike. You have to understand all my peers were into ninjas, really anything sport bikie. No one got it.. I did. Telling myself I’ll find it later in life when $ was more available. Would think about it every so often, until one day I forgot the model and make with a vague memory of, that cool bike I never got. Hey thank you for the reminder, think me and my 18 year old son will take a look at trying to find it together.
I'm glad you covered this subject. Yes, the GB came out at a wrong time and for the wrong market. Japan currently has an XR400 powered retro bike called the CB400SS and it follows the same formula as the GB400/500. I have a GB400TT and back in the mid 2000s, which i got cheap from an importer, fixed it, installed moto style handlebars, and was serving as my daily rider to school. A lot of people were asking me what bike is it and how old is it. Even the old guys would mistake it for a norton or BSA single and wonder why a college kid would be riding such an old bike. Lol it was a blast to ride around, especially in the downhill mountain twisties. Guys on BMWs, Yamaha R6, and Honda Super4s would be scratching their heads why they couldn't shake this kid off their tails! It was fun being the only retro guy in town too! Sadly my GB has been in pieces for the past 9 years and am still looking for engine parts. Might drop in a Honda XR600 motor in it if i could find one.
I can't see the CB400SS following the same formula as the GB-400/500. I think it is more apt to fill the shoes of the hugely popular, Yamaha SR-400 which ceased production in 2021 - not for want of fans, but because the engine could not longer be made to pass the Japanese emissions restrictions. A 43 year production run - is that a record?
The CB 500 was so fresh for it's time . By the time I realized how cool it was it had priced itself out of my price range. Still I love the look. This bike is modeled after the forerunner of the Bonneville. The singles were the thing for a long time and still fill the history books especially 50's and early 60's. I still own a BSA441.
A few more '80s & '90s retro bikes from Japan that you might not have seen in the US, and pre Bonneville: Suzuki Tempter ST400, Yamaha SRV250, Kawasaki Estrella.
As of Spring 2022, not many SRV-250 around anymore. But the Kawasaki Estrella keeps going and I see these bikes that look to have been updated here in Sendai, Japan. The first one I saw was in 1994 in a bike shop window. It had been made into a road race track bike.
I owned a GB500 and it was a beautiful bike. A motorcycle bar owner ran outside thinking it was a Vincent Black Shadow and I won a local bike show trophy in the non-British category. However, it was too slow for spirited group rides, poor wind protection in the winter, would stall in commuting traffic, wanted to go straight in turns, and spoked wheel non-plugable inner tubes could leave you stranded. Had to let it go because of so many limitations.
Honda also built the CB500T back in 1975-76. The successor to the DOHC CB450 with retro Brit (sort of Royal Enfield) styling. It even had a brown seat! The motorcycle press slagged it at the time, but there seem to be a remarkable number of survivors today. I have two!
Over 22,000 miles on my 2019 Enfield interceptor. It's the cheapest most under powered motorcycle in it's class but.... Only my tail light bulb has burned. It'll just barely go 100 mph and it has exceeded 75 mpg riding 2 up. You can adjust the valves via screw and locknut without being raped at the dealership.
I recognized the GB500 immediately in the thumbnail. It’s the first motorcycle I really had a hard-on for back then. I wanted one pretty badly, but I didn’t actually get a motorcycle until much later. I still think it’s great looking and would buy one instantly if the price was right.
Thanks for bringing up the topic, you are onto something. However, I would argue that the first modern retro in the British style was the 1978 Yamaha SR500 as already mentioned in the comments. The Honda GB400TT, virtually identical to the larger GB500, came out in 1985, and was mostly Honda's answer to the success of the SR400 and 500 (Hondas FT500 failed, and the XBR500 - that was the base for the GB500 - appealed to a different audience) as well as the SRX600. However, Honda had furthermore introduced their GB250 all the way back in 1983 for their domestic market, a really stylish bike in the classic sense. 1990 also saw the big 4 introducing modern retro versions of their own UJMs from the 70s and 80s, and we got Zephyrs, CBs, XJRs and GSFs and more. These sold like hotcakes in Japan and well in Europe, but less well in North America. In 1999, Kawasaki introduced their W650, a better made and even more retro correct than the rather miserably finished Triumph Bonneville 800 of year 2000 IMO. Pity it didn't have a British name on the fuel tank, as it likely would have meant much greater success for the W. But back to your video, between the GB500 of 1989 and the Bonnie of 2000, Japan introduced several models styled along the lines of the original Bonneville; Yamaha SRV250, Kawasaki BT250, Suzuki ST400 are some of them that people can check out if interested.
5 years ago I bought the ugly sibling of the gb500, the Honda xbr. It was completely trashed, engine seized, broke timing chain, bent valves and bat paint/dents. Didn't have a license so I had time. Overhault the complete engine, rebuild the cracked head after welding.. Finally started with my license now and it's almost finished, only need to ad the front brake and a chain set. Really love the styling and the fact it's a big ass single. Will place a 600cc cylinder on it when I drive it for a while, have it allready. This all for under €750,-, but with a lot of time. Like your video's!
In my day the CB400Four was the bike all the cool punks had and the rest of us wanted. They were 10 years old by that time and cheap enough for someone with a job to buy (I got a sickly one for extra cheap). When I first saw the GB500 in a magazine before it was for sale there was nothing but drool! But the problem is the people it attracted could not afford it. We already had the CBs; 350, 400, 500, 550, 700 and 750 Fours, why scrounge up the money they were asking for this new bike - beautiful as it was - when there were so many options out there! And those are just Hondas! My first cafe racer was a Suzuki GT380, a two stroke three cylinder that was a bullet proof guy with the quickness! My brother's Suzuki GN400 was a single banger. We installed a smaller front sprocket to turn it into a wheelie machine! So quick off the line. Wouldn't do more than 80 MPH but we weren't road tripping it, that thumper would rattle all the bolts loose. Parts would fall off but it was awesome. It had small ape hangers from the factory and my brother turned those upside down so you were laying on the tank. He called it The Moose because of they way the handle bars looked. But even laying down to reach the grips that thing would wheelie to the sky. All that for pennies compared to the GB. The only people who could afford the GB then are the same people who can afford it now. Too expensive, rare and collectible to ever have the cult following and customization of the CBs then and the Grom/Ruckus/Monkey now.
I grew up riding an XR500 dirt bike. I didn't know about the GB500 until later, but I always imagined it as a street/cafe version of my XR. I've always wanted to ride one, but I've never had the opportunity. Also -- I totally agree that a CB500 or CB750 retro bike would sell big numbers. I had a CB750 for a while, and also an old CB350 twin. Loved them both, and would love to see a new version!
You're a young guy, caught up in TERMINOLOGY games. "RETRO" is just a hackneyed term dredged-up by..well, guys your OWN age who call themselves "journalists"... trying clumsily to describe a style of motorcycles insinuated to be OLD MAN, obsolete bikes. This is a total fabrication. "Retro" referring to what many riders know as "STANDARDS" - Do-It-All motorcycles with reasonably comfortable ergos, capable of carrying passengers or small luggage, anywhere. What threw water on this style was the introduction of Sportbikes in the 80's, upon which all motorcycle magazines POUNCED, encouraging the Mfrs to abandon, in place of Hot Rod GSXRs, etc. You, my friend, grew up feasting on Insectoid Bikes. Welcome to the Real World of Street Riding.
At the time the Gb500 came out I already had Two cl450's and a cb750 in my collection. Plus a wife and two kids so couldn't get another bike. I did how ever go to my Honda dealer and pick up a full color brochure for my collection of those. Because I loved the big thumpers from England I did not like the double balanced exhaust pipes. Thank you for your work on all your videos I enjoy them so much.
I looked at a GB500 when it appeared in the showroom. You hit the nail on the head by saying that it was the wrong style to resurrect. When Kawasaki released the W650 I was ready to buy till I test rode one: too buzzy at freeway speeds, and it wouldn't slow down by the engine - like a two-stroke; also it wouldn't idle. But I thought, and still do, that it was one of the best-looking motorcycles ever made; possibly THE best.
I readily agree with your appraisal and analysis. The term - in this context - Clubman refers to amateur, weekend track racers with a self-prepared competitive bike in the back of a van. One had to be a club member to take part. In the UK, during the 1950's to 1970's just about all world class rider's honed their skills by this route. Cheers Bart.
I don't know if its been mentioned but the Kawasaki W650 is a great retro bike. Really fun to ride and the carb model responds very well to some minor carb tweaks.
Yep, the W650's pedigree goes back a long way. In the mid 1970's I was at a gas bar, and a dude pulled up on a strange bike. I was intrigued and asked him about it. It was a W-1 650. He'd lived in Japan, fell in love with it and so shipped it to Vancouver. He remarked that it was like a British twin, but without all the headaches and faults. I was very impressed!
John bloor, who resurrected triumph, also built my parents house in the early 80’s. I was a big follower of his role in triumphs rebirth, especially as the factory was just down the road. When I past my test in the early 90’s, my first two bikes were the early models trident and then the speed triple. Both bikes I feel are ignored in favour of the more modern stuff.
Continental GT 650 is a direct descendant of the Continental GT 250, which was made for the cafe crowd in the '60s. The BSA Gold Star, Trition/Manx Norton, Commando etc were all commonly modified for the cafe tuck. The forward position is more comfortable than the Interceptor at open road speed where the wind blast supports rider weight, instead of fighting it (don't see many GT owners putting windscreens on their bikes, but many Int owners do).
I love your content, totally ticks all my boxes, this segment is also my favourite in the motorcycle world and not too many people make content with that much background info about it. Also a proudowner of an aircooled T100. Therefore what do you think of the CB1100? I think it was a failure as it was just too big, I think you’re absolutely right that Honda could have a success with a modern CB750, anything around the 50-80hp mark. The CB1100 was just too niche and not as aggressive as the 1200 Triumphs, tho I‘d love to ride one someday.
In 1989 this was sitting between the honda Pacific Coast and the also ahead of its time, Honda Nx650 enduro,next to, a Hurricane 600 on my dealers floor. Cool bike. Luke warm reception here in America. That one sat awhile. Well done.
Design of Honda CBs was influenced by (the then) 'old' brit bikes like the Bonneville. The GB was born for the 400cc driving licence limit in Japan (lots of niche models), which they tried to develope to a wider market: US. There was a concept model of a modern CB750 shown at the 1999 Tokyo show- but it wasn't so appreciated. The CB1100 is big because of the lack of power from the air cooled engine- but I think the semi modern styling was the biggest problem ?
Your point that Triumph started it all is indeed more a matter of personal observation. Old looking bikes have been around forever. The last Triumphs from the late 70ties, early 80ties looked classic because they couldn't afford to be anything else. You already pointed out Ural / Dnepr, to which the same applies. Then there where / are brands like MZ end Royal Enfield. But these also looked old out of necessity. But what about brands like Harley Davidson and Moto Guzzi? They conciously made old school looks a part of their brand identity. Calling every motorcycle with a round headlight retro is a blindly following a marketing misnomer anyway. Trends come and go. The overall concept has however stayed the same for more then a century. The popularity of "classic" styling is actually fueled by the overall conservatism of our times. I am 60 but and observed it all since the mid seventies but I am actually loosing my interest in conventional bikes. The really fresh stuff happens in the electric motorcycle market, in spite of a lot of retro-ish stuff turning up there as well. Nothing wrong with retro styling but a lot more is possible.
I still have an XBR500 in the shed, looking decidedly sorry for itself. It was my dad's. I've ridden a couple over the years. They weren't very popular at the time, but they worked well.
I was actually around when the GB500 was released. No one was willing to pay the price for the new retro bike. Especially an anemic one. There were plenty of 70's bikes around if you wanted to make a cafe. Hell, old triumphs, BSA's, BMW's were still around. Everyone in the late 80's and early 90's wanted either a crotch rocket or a Harley. In the Mid 90's, all the Japanese manufacturers tried a "retro bike". Kawasaki Zephyr, Suzuki GSX1100G, Honda CB1000. All failed because the market wasn't there. The old guys (30's and 40's) were wanting Harley's to play biker, or still riding their 70's bikes, or were waiting until their kids left home so they could get back into motorcycles. The young people wanted to go FAST!, or also pretend to be bikers on cruisers made to look like Harley Davidson's. Remember Harley was HUGE in the early 90's. If you could find a new one it was marked up way over retail, and used ones were going for more than they were worth. Finally towards the very late 90's, old British bike were becoming wanted. Triumph was going to start building bikes again, but they offered nothing but sport bikes in the beginning (the first Daytonas). Kawasaki built one of the first 60's retro bikes with the W650. It was the Bonneville people had been wanting before Triumph built a retro Bonneville. A couple of years later Triumph did finally get the retro Bonny out to the public and the retro craze was born.
Strangely in GB we had the very similar XBR with horrible alloy wheels. The GB 400/500 was a homage to the BSA Gold Star, only with reliable starting and no oil leaks. The 650 motor from the Honda Dominator big trailie was a good swap. The starter motor sprag clutch was the only weak point. Great piece of kit.
I had an XBR 500 here in the UK in 1989, but mine had the rare spoked alloy wheels as on the GB500. It was silver. Produced 44bhp. It was a great little bike, really torquey and a great sound. Quite a good Japanese crack at a Brit style bike. Only problem I seem to remember was occasional engine cutting out at traffic lights. In the end I got blown away by a Renault 5 Turbo. That humiliation resulted in trading in the XBR for a VFR750!
Re your comment on 9:10, that is exactly what Honda did in 2010 with the CB1100. It was a beautiful retro motorcycle; an almost exact copy of the CB750 but with 6 gears (as from 2014), ABS and EFI. I currently own one of them. However, sales were terrible and Honda announced this year to be the last year of manufacturing. It seems the retro market is difficult to predict. In this case: the CB1100 was too expensive and possibly too old-fashioned aka too retro?
Sorry buddy I rode motorcycles in 1989. Only the Rice Rockets were covered with plastic, probably a third of bikes were nakeds. MotoGuzzi looked exactly the same from 1975-2021. Plenty of Kawasakis, Hondas and Suzukis had naked style which is the same as retro because they still used chrome back then. CB750, Suzuki Savage, etc.
The 'clubman' was literally a half arsed racer. There were many clubs who occasionally just literally booked a local track, of which there were hundreds, and went for a weekend's racing. When I say racing, most had no intention of winning, it was just a road without speed limits. If you look at the 'clubman' bikes they were usually named after a track eg the Velo Truxton. Most of the bikes bore little resemblance to the one that left the factory but could not be wild because in most cases were still the day-to-day transport. The Avon or TT tyres were kept for the weekend (edit, the engine and gearbox were separate units with a chain linking them)
I had the XBR500 back in the day. Same bike with more modern wheels. Loads of character and I would love to have one again. However I remember it would go through a chain every year. I would be constantly adjusting the stretch.
This is just the progress from the CB400Supersport, also did a five hundred and a 750. Classic retro bikes have been around for years here in the UK, old KH's and Z's trade like gold dust. None of the modern retros really hits the spot, Kawasaki had a chance with Z650, but they've cut two cylinders off and it sounds like a lawnmover - opportunity lost. RE's look the part, but need remapping, best thing at the moment, get a donor trident triple and take it to a custom shop. One of the best looking British bikes was the Triumph TR5 Trophy, Fonzie had one!!
These aren't forgotten; they are just rare and expensive now! I wish Honda would make something like this again, it's a better time for it now and sales would be stronger.
The Honda GB 500 TT was a single cylinder but 2 exhaust pipes made it look like a vertical twin at first glance. 33hp at the rear wheel coupled with a wet weight of 390 lbs wasn't going to win any TT race. But it does look nice.
"The Year of our Lord, 1989"! I'm one who appreciates such a reference. Far, far too many have forgotten who we are, where we came from, and where we're eventually going! So I'm not offended at all. Matter of fact: I'm now going to use the phrase in my own videos!!!!!
I had the earlier GB400 here in NZ . A really nice bike and but it didn't really match expectations based on it's appearance. I was starting to modify it but then got engaged and the money had to go to other things.
I'll have to disagree about the whole RE argument. The Interceptor is more popular because it has a neutral stance, making it more comfortable with touring riders which is basically what RE is all about, especially in India. The 350/500 singles were cult bikes in the West, sure, but the 650s main selling point was their ability to cruise on western roads and handle western highway speeds, something the old singles had a hard time doing. Plus, the Interceptor is a throwback to a model of the same name they had in the 60's - The 700cc twin one. Now, is it popular because it's essentially a "Bonneville for the masses"? Perhaps.
This is it. I rode the Continental GT at a festival, and around town the clip-ons got really old, really fast. Upright handlebars make for a GREAT daily.
Well.. to be fair Royal enfield never really changed the design of their bullet series. Sometimes they paid homage to timeless classics. They made incremental improvements but essentially it remained the same. So I don't agree that Triump was the first to bring back retro bikes. Interceptor and Continental GT came later. One example, research on Bullet Superstar in 1980s. They released it to pay homage to 1950s/60s bullet. Of course the world didn't notice since it was India release mostly. But I wouldn't be so quick to say Honda or even Triump were some kind of mavericks either. And yes Bullets remained popular like a legend.
The new BSA 650 Gold Star single is just such a bike as you describe at the end of your piece. Let's see how that does. (The engine is a warmed over Rotax design used in the BMW F and G 650 back in 2007)
I've heard that the engine is made by a different Austrian company, the same which did the Royal Enfield twin. Not Rotax. It wouldn't make much sense to use a 20 year old engine design. The BMW F650 engine has a forward angled cylinder, the BSA's is upright, I don't see similarities there.
@@PrimoStracciatellaThe BSA engine is licenced from Rotax. Technical University of Graz, Austria helped to refine and update the original basic design to meet Euro 5, and completely altered it's appearance, but the project started with the same base engine as the BMW.
It may not have sold that well, but the '89 Honda you showed *_looks_* great, to me, anyway. Is there any modern, Japanese _air-cooled_ bike (at least a twin) still being made? Thanks for another great video.
I almost bought one of these as my first bike... Instead I bought a VTR250 really cheap with the VTwin, and then I upgraded to a CB400SF.... A lot of 80s/90s themes are my thing. My era.
Also, Triumph was resurrecting the retro look before the Bonneville with the Thunderbird and Legend TT. I suppose those two models have been memoryholed.
I’ve probably got the rarest of all the GB’s the 86 GB400 TT mark 2 the one with the same seat used on the 500 but also the factory fairing, I’ve had it for over 2 decades and is in original pristine condition with very low kilometres and was privately imported here to Australia by its original owner back in the 1980’s by its original owner from New Zealand, they were never sold here by Honda as we only got the XBR model which was what the GB’s were based on
You are absolutely right about Honda making another CB750. Unfortunately they have built a couple of so called retro bikes like that CB1300 but once again they had to use a dohc engine when their sohc motor was the one the old guys want. Although,....I would go nuts for another CBX 1050 SIX if they insist on two cams.
There's a cb 1100 out there in some markets and honda makes a cb 400 super four exclusively for japan which has a high revving 4 cylinder motor. Honda also makes a really melllow and comfy sohc cb 350 rs exclusively for India and imported to japan, but it's pretty successful so they'll probably release it internationally by 2022 end.
@@supermoto9799 all the retro hondas i have seen here in Chinada seem to have that aircooled dohc motor of 1100 to 1300cc displacement. Here in north america we dont seem to appreciate those small displacement bikes like other countries do. Could be because they all seem to be choked down to 30 to 40 hp range instead of the 60 to 80hp versions the european markets seem to get. We tend to see them as training bikes which is a shame becsuse some of those 400cc bikes were amazing machines.
Interesting video but I think your history misses some important details (most already pointed out in other comments) and your market analysis is an oversimplification. Or maybe it's just a US perspective. I'm accustomed to British and European taste, and things looks a little different on this side of the Atlantic. Anyway, the main thing I wanted to say is it's not just 'old dudes reliving their youth' who are responding to this style of bike. An important factor is purity of design, aesthetic 'rightness', and in that respect I think most manufacturers lost their way over the last few decades in pursuit of novelty, and aesthetics suffered. In that respect the new Kawasaki z900RS is an interesting retro case study. It beautifully emulates a design classic from Kawasaki's own heritage. The original 1972 z900 had an aesthetic elegance that still looks good today. And let's face it, if anyone has lost their way aesthetically it's been Kawasaki. (Though they did try before, with their 'Zephyr' range in the 1990s, but those failed because they just weren't good enough bikes). So I think it's about recognising that certain design cues are just right. Plus the power of heritage branding, which is a whole subtle and complex topic unto itself.
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That Velocette Thruxton is one good looking bike. Wow, gorgeous.
I'll never forget seeing THREE dusty, forlorn GB500s still sitting in a motorcycle showroom when I bought my 2005 CBR600RR. I damn near bought one out of pity. Funny enough, when I stopped by a month later, the shop said all three had been bought by one guy.
He was the smart one!
The GB500 was, indeed, a weird motorcycle for 1989, but it was the motorcycle that literally began the modern retro craze, long before most people even thought there would be such a thing as a "retro craze". The peak of technology in 1989 for Honda was the Honda VFR750 and the CBR1000R Hurricane. The GB500, as a 500 cc single, was an anachronism of the best kind that didn't even begin to approach the performance levels of the affordable entry-level twin sport bikes of the day, the Honda VF500, the Kawasaki EX500, and the Suzuki GS500, and it was more expensive than all of them by a large margin.
The forgotten motorcycle that you FORGOT: the Yamaha SRX from the 80's and 90's. They came out in both 400 and 600 cc. They did not sell well outside of Japan because everyone wanted an inline four - not a dry sump, overhead cam single with a 4 valve head - nimble handling and totally reliable and sexy. I have a '91 400 model on which I added a bikini fairing. Look it up. You'll want one.
Well, actually the Yamaha SR500 was a retro bike in the late 1970s which looked back at the British singles of the 50s. Triumph's first retro bike was the 900 Thunderbird, made in the late 1990s.
Yeah it was basically japanese companies that did one or two British styled roadsters/cruisers to under cut Harley and Royal Enfield which always was retro which kept and brought back the asthetic. Triumph were more focused on the street triples and the Daytonas.
Also the XS650 which was a twin, it was a reliable Triumph that didn't leak oil. 360* crank, it vibrated a lot, but it felt great.
I was going to comment about the Tbird, I think these came out in 95' I have a 96 variant and it's like a bike Bonnie with a trident engine.
The build quality is superb.
I think a true retro needs modern parts, so at least tech like fuel injection and maybe ABS etc but in a classic package.
@@themotorcyclehistorian8099 The Trident WAS a Bonneville with a 3 cylinder engine. But I get your point.
@@stevenleek1254 which Trident are you referring to?
I remember riding one in the early 90s..it was undrwhelming.
The assumption this guy makes is that Triumph caused the trend towards retro styling.
However, I would argue that the market existed for retro-styled bikes anyway, because modern designs have tended to become uglier, turning a lot of riders off.
Why buy something if it looks like it has already been crushed between two cars?
Triumph gave buyers something that they could be proud to own, without all the inconveniences of having an older Triumph Bonneville.
Basically, the Triumph Bonneville, the Honda CB750 and the Kawasaki z900 are what motorbikes look like.
Add classic Harley Davidson, BMW and Ducati bikes to that list too..
Everything else since then has been more about marketing, and styling, in an effort to "modernize" something that doesn't need modernizing, except for improvements in technology and reliability.
This is why Royal Enfield are doing so well now.
you have missed the boat .
the GB Honda range was developed in Britain and was a Honda inative to allow the importers some autonomy .
it was never intended for the US market but was launched there . There was no surprises when the US market didn't get it . ( like Velocett's BSA Gold Stars and Vincent's it is like feeding truffles to swine )
In GB and the commonwealth countries it was well received and sold well .
In this market they have a strong following and are a very practical classic .
The GB Honda was a stand alone bike not a copy .
Motorcycles can kind of equate to cars. In the '50s and '60s, most were the lumbering 1952 Chevy. It was unitarian and it got the job done for transportation. Nothing special. Then came the hot British ones that became the '57 Chevy. Oh, and there were the Harley Davidsons that were the lumbering Buick. In the '70s, Honda, Kawasaki, and others started with the famous UJM. Put a small engine in, you had a cheap, fun ride. Put a big engine in, you had mind-blowing speed. And with either, you could cruise around town being cool or you could pack up your stuff and tour across country. They were the Chevelles, family car with the six and Powerglide, or pavement burner with a solid lifter 396 and four speed. You had your CB350 or your CB750. And especially your KZ-900.
Then came the sport bikes, first Camaros, then Corvettes. Everyone wanted one, of course, because looks and speed were king. Of course, try packing up for a week long trip with your girlfriend cross country on one.
Now many realize that the Chevelle really wasn't that bad. So the motorcycle market needs another UJM, but they just haven't figured out how to do it. Because instead of designing universally, they design specifically and they can't get a specialty bike to do all things. they need a basic package that is the canvas for your work. Your luggage rack, if wanted. Your windscreen if wanted. Your headers if wanted. Your crash bars if wanted. and so on.
But the bike industry is too greedy to let YOU buy and put stuff on; they want to have the "custom" package for you to order. It was what killed custom vans in the '70s, which were cool canvases for people to design, but then the factories made "custom" vans just like the other 50,000 you saw on the street.
Thank you. I rode a GB500 for the first time this fall. Honda was waaaaayyyyyyy ahead of the curve.
Had a Harley Sprint, and loved the feel of the 350 cc. thumper, but it was unreliable, but with light weight and 25 hp.,it was fun. I think there is a market for a good single today, possibly with a counter-ballacer for smoothness.
@@jeromebreeding3302 Royal Enfield Meteor 350. Or the Classic 350. 20hp and 20ft-lb of torque.
I still have my GB and an XBR 500. Fantastic bike, runs fast with the CR 500 cams. I also have an SR 500 which has been reengined with an XT engine. Brilliant bikes.
I own a xbr 500 myself, what do you mean cr 500 cams? are they compatible? isnt th cr 500 a twostroke?
Sorry misspelt. I fitted the open cam from the xbr. I lived in Germany at the time and there 2 versions. One had 27 and the open was 44 HP.
That's a great video. I first got my motorcycle license around 1992. Soon after, I visited the local Honda dealer (outside of Nashville, TN) and they had two aged but new bikes in their showroom. There was a 1989 GB500 and a 1988 NT650 Hawk GT. Both of these bikes are now collectors items but at the time they couldn't give them away. A big issue was their cost... IIRC, the GB500 and Hawk both had MSRPs just a hair away from a new 600 Hurricane and the performance of each was far lower. That said, my heart said GB but my head said Hawk GT, either was available for $2,500 at the time compared to their original MSRPs of just over $4k. The Hawk was more modern, with a V-twin, aluminum frame, single sided swing arm, etc. It was a great first bike. A few years later I was in California and stumbled on a GB500 for sale... the price was still just around $2,500 so I grabbed it. Of all the bikes I've owned, I miss this one the most.
I would say the motorcycle industry has been dabbling with retro bikes long before 2003, in fact since well before anybody had any real idea the Triumph brand name was returning to the motorcycle industry. You mentioned Royal Enfield and Ural, both brands that were selling in the US in the early to mid 90s through a small but growing network of dealerships. Yamaha with its XS 650 parallel twin standard style motorcycle was a direct grab at the market left vacant by the absence of a ny British motorcycles being imported to the US during the early 80s and definitely were inspired by the look and feel of the British bikes so much that ere were even aftermarket Cafe and Flat tracker/Street tracker kits hat could be used to create a pretty convincing copy of a British Cafe racer or 70s flat tracker, you had to take a second look at one passing by to notice it was actually a Yamaha. You mentioned Harley as having a couple models styled to resemble their older bikes...Harley has long been criticized for having almost their entire line up styled to look and sound as close as possible their old bikes from the 40s through 70s models. The Dyna, styled after the Superglide shovelheads from the 70s. The Softails are all designed to mimic 36 thru 57 knucklehead or Panhead models and/or the custom bikes built from them. The Evo Sportster was intended to be very reminiscent of the first Sportstermodels built in 1957. The Road King certainly is meant to bring a 1958 through 1982 FLH touring bike to mind when you see it. The only harleys not intended to be retro were the FXR, Buell models, and the VRod variants at least until the last couple years.
GB was good Idea at the wrong time. It was my dream bike at the time. I had to settle for a Yamaha XS400.Clubman Bars, CafeSeat Double leading shoe front brake was stock. And a Mac Exhaust. Out of all the bikes I ever owned, the little 400 gave me more smiles 😂
My dad had a GB500. It had a lot of nice details to look at compared to a ot of other Japanese bikes. It was pretty wimpy on power, and I got him a big carb and a pipe from White Brothers. That helped, but he ended up selling the bike at a huge profit because in the mid 90s they were already collectable. The ergonomics were fairly extreme, and my dad found it uncomfortable. He then went crazy in the other direction and bought a Suzuki 650 Savage single, which he ended up hating because the forward controls made it difficult to get off the seat over railroad tracks etc. I recommended a Honda Ascot, which he bought and loved. The GB500 had a radial valve head which was more complex and made more power than the Ascot with a parallel valve head. Both engines were of course based on the Honda dual sports, Those engines have a great reputation but I have personal experience that they will overheat if run hard in warm temperatures. I bought my brother a new Ascot and it needed a new top end on its six month warranty after it overheated following my Norton from Yosemite through Mojave and over Angeles Crest. We were cruising about 75 across the desert, but I didn't know that he was flat out. He got a new piston rings valve job and milled head on warranty. Lots of stuff on the internet about overheating Honda singles too.
The GB500 is anything but unknown. After my dad passed, I sold the White Brothers pipe and stuff to sombody in Europe. Netherlands, as I recall. He never ran his Ascot flat out across the desert, and my nephew owns it now. Overheating is well known on that XL XR 500 / 600 family of Honda engine.
"feels as Honda felt something in the future" oh boy that's so true! I have ridden the "Clubman" as it was called in Germany where i lived these days. Never ever have ridden a bike like that one. Then it was overwhelming in city. What these days allover never you will find. Exept - we will see - the BSA new startup. But - it's not original as that days this Honda was.
Today im looking after a new one because had to leave my ol' Yamaha because she suffered age ;) But i'll go for something modern ... but always remembering the 'ol stuff ;D
@ 6 minutes- this dude is 1000% correct.
Every Honda is a piece of art.... but sometimes it is not YOUR piece of art.
(I'm looking at you NASCAR fans)
Also, does Honda motorcycles advertise in U.S. ?
I saw a GB500 at a swap meet in Ohio, like 3 years after they had stopped production.
If I would have known? I would have bought 3 of them!
You hit the nail on the head, I'm an ole guy, and I like the relative simplicity and timeless design of a "classic" bike. I think that all the manufacturers are tapping into this market, i.e. people who want the joy of riding without breakneck speed, complicated engines and technology, and correspondingly high prices.
My last bike was a "new retro" (2006) Triumph Bonneville. I just bought another classic - a 1978 Honda CB550.
OMG I bought a CB550 out of the showroom in New Berg NC while stationed there, for $1400 more or less. It was a great, smooth bike for the highway.
Sadly, "modern" retro or classic bikes are anything but simple. You have to be a computer technician with a lot of computerized diagnostic equipment to work on one. And you cannot tinker with them, something which I enjoy almost as much as riding them.
And yet, I much prefer the clubman or 40's styling over the typical Bonneville style. If RE comes with a Classic 650 or just a 500 with the same refinement as their current 350's, I'd probably buy one.
Could not agree more!! If honda came out with a 500 cc Scrambler with upswept stacked side pipes they would fly off the sales floors.
There is a market for motorcycles outside of( the USA! this bike was made on a subject you briefly touched on! The Manx Norton! GB a 500cc single cylinder deliberately! ...... keep in the loop please!
I have many bikes! Guess my favourite!
Honda GB 500 with a Jack Batson pipe!
MAGIC, AND THE SOUND OF A 500 SINGLE NEEDS TO BE EXPERIENCED!
I like the styling of the gb 500. And it's nice to ride. Mine has 49000 miles on it now and still runs like a watch. The bike was made as a celebration of so many honda wins at the TT. And was to look similar to the British singles honda saw at the TT when they first competed.
If I buy an RE, the only reason I will choose an Interceptor over a GT is for the sake of my back. I assumed others chose the Interceptor for the same reason rather than for the way it looks.
I wanted one of these SO badly when they came out - but their over $4K price tag said no. One would have gone quite nicely beside my Yamaha SRX-6 (singles are skinny) in my garage.
I still have the SRX. 😁
Z1 900 RS . Just a beautiful motorcycle
Surely the Royal Enfield bullet was the worlds first retro bike, because it was designed and built in England in the 1930s and continued at their Indian factory right up until recently.
It therefore became retro because it remained in production for so long.
The retro movement started with the Japanese with Honda and Kawasaki... they were mostly ignored until the Bonneville. Also the Royal Enfield out sells because of comfort... like the w800 Cafe dealers are switching out the bars so it is more like the street etc for comfort. Honda also made the cb1100 which is based off the cb750 looks wise and it was ignored and I think discontinued this year in most markets.
Discontinued 2017 in the states.
I wanted to like the CB 1100 but it just didn't quite look right. I hated the pipes for one thing and the gas tank was a complete visual failure. To me, if you are going to make a retro bike .... go pretty much all the way. Like the Royal Enfields and the modern Retro Triumph Bonnie. They really look a lot like a bike from the 1970's. The CB 1100 just looked like someone tried but failed to make it look like a 70's bike. You can't succeed if you can't even get the tank and the pipes right.
The iconic BSA Gold Star was a 500cc single cylinder 42hp old school road legal out and out race bike. It looked and sounded great to my young ears but a nightmare in London traffic with its very high first gear and race tuned engine.
Personally I like the Honda GB I think it looks really great
I really love your content and editing style!!
Interestingly, most of the GBs that didn’t sell in the US were imported to Germany in the early 90s (first as grey import vehicles, then even officially by Honda Germany). The bike did much better here, and there is a quite large fanbase around the GB 500 and the technically similar (although uglier) XBR 500 now. I think it wouldn’t have been such a commercial failure if they only sold it directly in Europe in larger quantities.
I am lucky to own a GB, and it’s really an amazing ride, and imo one of the best looking bikes ever made.
Dude I'm jealous! And thanks for watching.
In early 1992, the largest part of production that was still on stock in the US (some estimated about 4000 Bikes) was imported to Germany and was sold out within a few weeks. I bought one and my girlfriend bought another one some weeks later. I still own my one, still only about 6400 miles on the clock. My girlfriend and I split up some months later and she sold her GB with only about 2000 miles on it. I went to the dealer some time later to buy it back and store it in my livingroom for at least one or two decades, but I was late, he already sold it. Although a beautiful motorcycle, it had some quality problems: The rear fender has no perfect chrome on the underside, so it started rusting within some months and the chrome weights on the ends of the grips also showed corrosion bumps within three or four years.
I'm jealous as well ! Hallo aus Frankreich, Nachbar !
@@pateris Hello from Bavaria! Our town has a friendship with Mirebeau. :-)
@@Felix-fy7ki Another motorbiking heaven that I'll certainly visit some day. Danke !
Bring that GB500 back, with fairing and another 5 HP.
I love the GB500's. It came out about 15 - 20 years too early, before 60's retro was a thing. I've never actually ridden one, but I've always loved the look. I recognized the Throttle Company clips in the video. Dylan''s alway got a cool bike to test ride.
Yeah they're super cool, almost bought a bike from them at the same time they had that gb
Same here, even if I love my Street Twin and would never change it !
I recall reading a review of the GB500 which basically said "All Dressed Up, and Going Nowhere". Too bad it didn't do better here in the USA. I did buy and ride the then new 1978 Yamaha SR500. I loved that thumper and could still kickstart it without looking at the sight glass for TDC. Until the stator windings failed and replacement was ridiculously expensive.
Drove a XBR back in the 90s and that big one cylinder bike made my hands shake after a longer tour... but it had a great sound and felt cool...
I know a guy who bought a GB 500, he's an older guy who had a Velocette back in the day. Bought one because it reminded him of it, and he sold it because it was nothing like his old Velo
I have been enjoying your video's. Hearing about all these bikes from a much younger perspective is eye opening. Just want to point out a few things. The BSA Lighting was their hi performance twin (besides their top of the line Spitfire) of the 1960's. The Gold Star was a 500cc single from the 1950's that was replaced in the early 1960's by the 441 Victor. Before the reintro of the Bonneville, Triumph marketed the 3 cyl. Thunderbird. It was an up to date, liquid cooled, 900 cc modern bike with classic Triumph styling cues. The motorcycle press of the time panned it claiming Triumph had just answered a question nobody asked. Within 6 months, the Thunderbird was outselling all their other "modern" bikes combined. The motorcycle press similarly panned the new Bonneville declaring Triumph had just taken a huge step backwards. Of course, Triumph had to build a new factory just to keep up with demand for Bonnie's and then set up overseas production in Thailand to fill their orders. I hear Triumph still makes a few other models but you never see any. Lastly, the Harley Davidson Sportster is not a modern classic, it's basically the same bike they introduced in 1957. AMF updated the frame about 1981 and then the new company updated to the EVO motor in 1986. Both updates were visually almost imperceptible. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the info!! That fills in some gaps for sure. You should make videos...😉
Umm ... don't think you could say the 441 Victor was a successor or "replacement" for the Gold Star. - except it too was a single. BTW, I rode a Victor around Hermosa beach Los Angeles in 1972. It kicked back like a mule when starting, and I had to pay a lot of attention when riding it.
As was said here, the 442 was NOT a "replacement" for the Gold Star. It was street version of their MX bike which grew from the 250/350 BSA singles of the late 50s/60s. The Gold Star was an all-around high performance bike. Few people road raced a Victor ((I know, Mead and Tompkinson..).
I've always really fancied a GB but you just don't see them up for sale very often.
If I remember correctly, around 1970 somebody assembled some Velocettes from leftover pieces at the factory and offered them for sale at about $1500. I had my CB750 at the time and did not see the need, but today I wonder what one of those last, beautiful thumpers would be worth. I know it would be a head turner, and a blast to ride.
Good video👍 I was 18 then and fell in love with that bike. You have to understand all my peers were into ninjas, really anything sport bikie. No one got it.. I did. Telling myself I’ll find it later in life when $ was more available. Would think about it every so often, until one day I forgot the model and make with a vague memory of, that cool bike I never got. Hey thank you for the reminder, think me and my 18 year old son will take a look at trying to find it together.
I'm glad you covered this subject. Yes, the GB came out at a wrong time and for the wrong market. Japan currently has an XR400 powered retro bike called the CB400SS and it follows the same formula as the GB400/500.
I have a GB400TT and back in the mid 2000s, which i got cheap from an importer, fixed it, installed moto style handlebars, and was serving as my daily rider to school. A lot of people were asking me what bike is it and how old is it. Even the old guys would mistake it for a norton or BSA single and wonder why a college kid would be riding such an old bike. Lol it was a blast to ride around, especially in the downhill mountain twisties. Guys on BMWs, Yamaha R6, and Honda Super4s would be scratching their heads why they couldn't shake this kid off their tails! It was fun being the only retro guy in town too!
Sadly my GB has been in pieces for the past 9 years and am still looking for engine parts. Might drop in a Honda XR600 motor in it if i could find one.
I can't see the CB400SS following the same formula as the GB-400/500. I think it is more apt to fill the shoes of the hugely popular, Yamaha SR-400 which ceased production in 2021 - not for want of fans, but because the engine could not longer be made to pass the Japanese emissions restrictions. A 43 year production run - is that a record?
The CB 500 was so fresh for it's time . By the time I realized how cool it was it had priced itself out of my price range. Still I love the look. This bike is modeled after the forerunner of the Bonneville. The singles were the thing for a long time and still fill the history books especially 50's and early 60's. I still own a BSA441.
A few more '80s & '90s retro bikes from Japan that you might not have seen in the US, and pre Bonneville: Suzuki Tempter ST400, Yamaha SRV250, Kawasaki Estrella.
As of Spring 2022, not many SRV-250 around anymore. But the Kawasaki Estrella keeps going and I see these bikes that look to have been updated here in Sendai, Japan. The first one I saw was in 1994 in a bike shop window. It had been made into a road race track bike.
JDM always got the best bikes!
I owned a GB500 and it was a beautiful bike. A motorcycle bar owner ran outside thinking it was a Vincent Black Shadow and I won a local bike show trophy in the non-British category. However, it was too slow for spirited group rides, poor wind protection in the winter, would stall in commuting traffic, wanted to go straight in turns, and spoked wheel non-plugable inner tubes could leave you stranded. Had to let it go because of so many limitations.
They didn't ship them back - they shipped them to Germany where they are now cult- my wife has one- we love it : )
Honda also built the CB500T back in 1975-76. The successor to the DOHC CB450 with retro Brit (sort of Royal Enfield) styling. It even had a brown seat! The motorcycle press slagged it at the time, but there seem to be a remarkable number of survivors today. I have two!
Over 22,000 miles on my 2019 Enfield interceptor. It's the cheapest most under powered motorcycle in it's class but.... Only my tail light bulb has burned. It'll just barely go 100 mph and it has exceeded 75 mpg riding 2 up. You can adjust the valves via screw and locknut without being raped at the dealership.
Man that's awesome. Seems like those bikes are truly bulletproof
I recognized the GB500 immediately in the thumbnail. It’s the first motorcycle I really had a hard-on for back then. I wanted one pretty badly, but I didn’t actually get a motorcycle until much later. I still think it’s great looking and would buy one instantly if the price was right.
Thanks for bringing up the topic, you are onto something. However, I would argue that the first modern retro in the British style was the 1978 Yamaha SR500 as already mentioned in the comments. The Honda GB400TT, virtually identical to the larger GB500, came out in 1985, and was mostly Honda's answer to the success of the SR400 and 500 (Hondas FT500 failed, and the XBR500 - that was the base for the GB500 - appealed to a different audience) as well as the SRX600. However, Honda had furthermore introduced their GB250 all the way back in 1983 for their domestic market, a really stylish bike in the classic sense. 1990 also saw the big 4 introducing modern retro versions of their own UJMs from the 70s and 80s, and we got Zephyrs, CBs, XJRs and GSFs and more. These sold like hotcakes in Japan and well in Europe, but less well in North America. In 1999, Kawasaki introduced their W650, a better made and even more retro correct than the rather miserably finished Triumph Bonneville 800 of year 2000 IMO. Pity it didn't have a British name on the fuel tank, as it likely would have meant much greater success for the W. But back to your video, between the GB500 of 1989 and the Bonnie of 2000, Japan introduced several models styled along the lines of the original Bonneville; Yamaha SRV250, Kawasaki BT250, Suzuki ST400 are some of them that people can check out if interested.
5 years ago I bought the ugly sibling of the gb500, the Honda xbr.
It was completely trashed, engine seized, broke timing chain, bent valves and bat paint/dents.
Didn't have a license so I had time.
Overhault the complete engine, rebuild the cracked head after welding..
Finally started with my license now and it's almost finished, only need to ad the front brake and a chain set.
Really love the styling and the fact it's a big ass single.
Will place a 600cc cylinder on it when I drive it for a while, have it allready.
This all for under €750,-, but with a lot of time.
Like your video's!
I had one of these. Fun bike. Wish I still had it
In my day the CB400Four was the bike all the cool punks had and the rest of us wanted. They were 10 years old by that time and cheap enough for someone with a job to buy (I got a sickly one for extra cheap). When I first saw the GB500 in a magazine before it was for sale there was nothing but drool! But the problem is the people it attracted could not afford it. We already had the CBs; 350, 400, 500, 550, 700 and 750 Fours, why scrounge up the money they were asking for this new bike - beautiful as it was - when there were so many options out there! And those are just Hondas! My first cafe racer was a Suzuki GT380, a two stroke three cylinder that was a bullet proof guy with the quickness! My brother's Suzuki GN400 was a single banger. We installed a smaller front sprocket to turn it into a wheelie machine! So quick off the line. Wouldn't do more than 80 MPH but we weren't road tripping it, that thumper would rattle all the bolts loose. Parts would fall off but it was awesome. It had small ape hangers from the factory and my brother turned those upside down so you were laying on the tank. He called it The Moose because of they way the handle bars looked. But even laying down to reach the grips that thing would wheelie to the sky. All that for pennies compared to the GB. The only people who could afford the GB then are the same people who can afford it now. Too expensive, rare and collectible to ever have the cult following and customization of the CBs then and the Grom/Ruckus/Monkey now.
You know a lot of stuff for a young dude from the States. Good luck, from an old guy from the UK.
Hey thanks!
He doesn't know about the MZ Silver Star Classic, or Les Harris Matchless G80. Two more cool 500cc singles.
I grew up riding an XR500 dirt bike. I didn't know about the GB500 until later, but I always imagined it as a street/cafe version of my XR. I've always wanted to ride one, but I've never had the opportunity.
Also -- I totally agree that a CB500 or CB750 retro bike would sell big numbers. I had a CB750 for a while, and also an old CB350 twin. Loved them both, and would love to see a new version!
You're a young guy, caught up in TERMINOLOGY games. "RETRO" is just a hackneyed term dredged-up by..well, guys your OWN age who call themselves "journalists"... trying clumsily to describe a style of motorcycles insinuated to be OLD MAN, obsolete bikes. This is a total fabrication. "Retro" referring to what many riders know as "STANDARDS" - Do-It-All motorcycles with reasonably comfortable ergos, capable of carrying passengers or small luggage, anywhere. What threw water on this style was the introduction of Sportbikes in the 80's, upon which all motorcycle magazines POUNCED, encouraging the Mfrs to abandon, in place of Hot Rod GSXRs, etc. You, my friend, grew up feasting on Insectoid Bikes. Welcome to the Real World of Street Riding.
He's a silly little punk, just like YammieNoob!
At the time the Gb500 came out I already had Two cl450's and a cb750 in my collection. Plus a wife and two kids so couldn't get another bike. I did how ever go to my Honda dealer and pick up a full color brochure for my collection of those. Because I loved the big thumpers from England I did not like the double balanced exhaust pipes. Thank you for your work on all your videos I enjoy them so much.
I looked at a GB500 when it appeared in the showroom. You hit the nail on the head by saying that it was the wrong style to resurrect. When Kawasaki released the W650 I was ready to buy till I test rode one: too buzzy at freeway speeds, and it wouldn't slow down by the engine - like a two-stroke; also it wouldn't idle. But I thought, and still do, that it was one of the best-looking motorcycles ever made; possibly THE best.
You said the Velo was low powered, The Velo Thruxton still holds the 12 and 24 hour speed record.
I readily agree with your appraisal and analysis. The term - in this context - Clubman refers to amateur, weekend track racers with a self-prepared competitive bike in the back of a van. One had to be a club member to take part. In the UK, during the 1950's to 1970's just about all world class rider's honed their skills by this route. Cheers Bart.
I don't know if its been mentioned but the Kawasaki W650 is a great retro bike. Really fun to ride and the carb model responds very well to some minor carb tweaks.
Yep, the W650's pedigree goes back a long way. In the mid 1970's I was at a gas bar, and a dude pulled up on a strange bike. I was intrigued and asked him about it. It was a W-1 650. He'd lived in Japan, fell in love with it and so shipped it to Vancouver. He remarked that it was like a British twin, but without all the headaches and faults. I was very impressed!
Yeah it really does resemble the velocette ! I like it apart from the skinny tyres
Had an xbr500 for years which shares some of the DNA of this one and I thought styling was based on a BSA gold star; I loved that bike!
Me too. Had one for three years and loved it.
Great vid man you deserve more views and subs keep up the great work.
Thanks!! 👍
Anyone else mention the Kawasaki Zephyr series? My first bike in 2003…
John bloor, who resurrected triumph, also built my parents house in the early 80’s. I was a big follower of his role in triumphs rebirth, especially as the factory was just down the road. When I past my test in the early 90’s, my first two bikes were the early models trident and then the speed triple. Both bikes I feel are ignored in favour of the more modern stuff.
When I was in high school, the neighbor down the street had a GB500. It was a cool bike.
Continental GT 650 is a direct descendant of the Continental GT 250, which was made for the cafe crowd in the '60s. The BSA Gold Star, Trition/Manx Norton, Commando etc were all commonly modified for the cafe tuck. The forward position is more comfortable than the Interceptor at open road speed where the wind blast supports rider weight, instead of fighting it (don't see many GT owners putting windscreens on their bikes, but many Int owners do).
I love your content, totally ticks all my boxes, this segment is also my favourite in the motorcycle world and not too many people make content with that much background info about it. Also a proudowner of an aircooled T100.
Therefore what do you think of the CB1100? I think it was a failure as it was just too big, I think you’re absolutely right that Honda could have a success with a modern CB750, anything around the 50-80hp mark. The CB1100 was just too niche and not as aggressive as the 1200 Triumphs, tho I‘d love to ride one someday.
That GB looks so nice. Wow. What a stunner.
Also, love the coverage of the GB. Just got into your content a couple weeks ago and have enjoyed every one 😎
In 1989 this was sitting between the honda Pacific Coast and the also ahead of its time, Honda Nx650 enduro,next to, a Hurricane 600 on my dealers floor. Cool bike. Luke warm reception here in America. That one sat awhile. Well done.
Design of Honda CBs was influenced by (the then) 'old' brit bikes like
the Bonneville. The GB was born for the 400cc driving licence limit in
Japan (lots of niche models), which they tried to develope to a wider
market: US. There was a concept model of a modern CB750 shown at the
1999 Tokyo show- but it wasn't so appreciated. The CB1100 is big because
of the lack of power from the air cooled engine- but I think the semi
modern styling was the biggest problem ?
Your point that Triumph started it all is indeed more a matter of personal observation. Old looking bikes have been around forever. The last Triumphs from the late 70ties, early 80ties looked classic because they couldn't afford to be anything else. You already pointed out Ural / Dnepr, to which the same applies. Then there where / are brands like MZ end Royal Enfield. But these also looked old out of necessity. But what about brands like Harley Davidson and Moto Guzzi? They conciously made old school looks a part of their brand identity. Calling every motorcycle with a round headlight retro is a blindly following a marketing misnomer anyway. Trends come and go. The overall concept has however stayed the same for more then a century. The popularity of "classic" styling is actually fueled by the overall conservatism of our times. I am 60 but and observed it all since the mid seventies but I am actually loosing my interest in conventional bikes. The really fresh stuff happens in the electric motorcycle market, in spite of a lot of retro-ish stuff turning up there as well. Nothing wrong with retro styling but a lot more is possible.
Yes, educate this fool!
I've always liked the GB500.
You're underrated.....that's all i wanna say....awesome content....
I still have an XBR500 in the shed, looking decidedly sorry for itself.
It was my dad's. I've ridden a couple over the years. They weren't very popular at the time, but they worked well.
I was actually around when the GB500 was released. No one was willing to pay the price for the new retro bike. Especially an anemic one. There were plenty of 70's bikes around if you wanted to make a cafe. Hell, old triumphs, BSA's, BMW's were still around. Everyone in the late 80's and early 90's wanted either a crotch rocket or a Harley. In the Mid 90's, all the Japanese manufacturers tried a "retro bike". Kawasaki Zephyr, Suzuki GSX1100G, Honda CB1000. All failed because the market wasn't there. The old guys (30's and 40's) were wanting Harley's to play biker, or still riding their 70's bikes, or were waiting until their kids left home so they could get back into motorcycles. The young people wanted to go FAST!, or also pretend to be bikers on cruisers made to look like Harley Davidson's. Remember Harley was HUGE in the early 90's. If you could find a new one it was marked up way over retail, and used ones were going for more than they were worth. Finally towards the very late 90's, old British bike were becoming wanted. Triumph was going to start building bikes again, but they offered nothing but sport bikes in the beginning (the first Daytonas). Kawasaki built one of the first 60's retro bikes with the W650. It was the Bonneville people had been wanting before Triumph built a retro Bonneville. A couple of years later Triumph did finally get the retro Bonny out to the public and the retro craze was born.
Strangely in GB we had the very similar XBR with horrible alloy wheels. The GB 400/500 was a homage to the BSA Gold Star, only with reliable starting and no oil leaks. The 650 motor from the Honda Dominator big trailie was a good swap. The starter motor sprag clutch was the only weak point. Great piece of kit.
I had an XBR 500 here in the UK in 1989, but mine had the rare spoked alloy wheels as on the GB500. It was silver. Produced 44bhp. It was a great little bike, really torquey and a great sound. Quite a good Japanese crack at a Brit style bike. Only problem I seem to remember was occasional engine cutting out at traffic lights. In the end I got blown away by a Renault 5 Turbo. That humiliation resulted in trading in the XBR for a VFR750!
Re your comment on 9:10, that is exactly what Honda did in 2010 with the CB1100. It was a beautiful retro motorcycle; an almost exact copy of the CB750 but with 6 gears (as from 2014), ABS and EFI. I currently own one of them. However, sales were terrible and Honda announced this year to be the last year of manufacturing. It seems the retro market is difficult to predict. In this case: the CB1100 was too expensive and possibly too old-fashioned aka too retro?
Yep.
Sorry buddy I rode motorcycles in 1989. Only the Rice Rockets were covered with plastic, probably a third of bikes were nakeds. MotoGuzzi looked exactly the same from 1975-2021. Plenty of Kawasakis, Hondas and Suzukis had naked style which is the same as retro because they still used chrome back then. CB750, Suzuki Savage, etc.
The 'clubman' was literally a half arsed racer. There were many clubs who occasionally just literally booked a local track, of which there were hundreds, and went for a weekend's racing. When I say racing, most had no intention of winning, it was just a road without speed limits. If you look at the 'clubman' bikes they were usually named after a track eg the Velo Truxton. Most of the bikes bore little resemblance to the one that left the factory but could not be wild because in most cases were still the day-to-day transport. The Avon or TT tyres were kept for the weekend
(edit, the engine and gearbox were separate units with a chain linking them)
I had the XBR500 back in the day. Same bike with more modern wheels. Loads of character and I would love to have one again. However I remember it would go through a chain every year. I would be constantly adjusting the stretch.
I've seen this bike at vintage meets and it was a beautiful bike...
So very insightful and a pleasing understanding of motorcycle styling. Good stuff. Incidentally, l for one think the GB500 as damn handsome.
This is just the progress from the CB400Supersport, also did a five hundred and a 750. Classic retro bikes have been around for years here in the UK, old KH's and Z's trade like gold dust. None of the modern retros really hits the spot, Kawasaki had a chance with Z650, but they've cut two cylinders off and it sounds like a lawnmover - opportunity lost. RE's look the part, but need remapping, best thing at the moment, get a donor trident triple and take it to a custom shop.
One of the best looking British bikes was the Triumph TR5 Trophy, Fonzie had one!!
These aren't forgotten; they are just rare and expensive now! I wish Honda would make something like this again, it's a better time for it now and sales would be stronger.
I guess I missed that one, not sure how, but thanks for digging it up.👍
Cruisers always had that „Retro“ optic. Royal Enfield Never stopped making their „Retro“ bikes.
The Honda GB 500 TT was a single cylinder but 2 exhaust pipes made it look like a vertical twin at first glance. 33hp at the rear wheel coupled with a wet weight of 390 lbs wasn't going to win any TT race. But it does look nice.
"The Year of our Lord, 1989"!
I'm one who appreciates such a reference. Far, far too many have forgotten who we are, where we came from, and where we're eventually going!
So I'm not offended at all.
Matter of fact: I'm now going to use the phrase in my own videos!!!!!
I had the earlier GB400 here in NZ . A really nice bike and but it didn't really match expectations based on it's appearance. I was starting to modify it but then got engaged and the money had to go to other things.
I'll have to disagree about the whole RE argument. The Interceptor is more popular because it has a neutral stance, making it more comfortable with touring riders which is basically what RE is all about, especially in India. The 350/500 singles were cult bikes in the West, sure, but the 650s main selling point was their ability to cruise on western roads and handle western highway speeds, something the old singles had a hard time doing. Plus, the Interceptor is a throwback to a model of the same name they had in the 60's - The 700cc twin one.
Now, is it popular because it's essentially a "Bonneville for the masses"? Perhaps.
This is it. I rode the Continental GT at a festival, and around town the clip-ons got really old, really fast. Upright handlebars make for a GREAT daily.
Well.. to be fair Royal enfield never really changed the design of their bullet series. Sometimes they paid homage to timeless classics. They made incremental improvements but essentially it remained the same. So I don't agree that Triump was the first to bring back retro bikes. Interceptor and Continental GT came later.
One example, research on Bullet Superstar in 1980s. They released it to pay homage to 1950s/60s bullet.
Of course the world didn't notice since it was India release mostly. But I wouldn't be so quick to say Honda or even Triump were some kind of mavericks either. And yes Bullets remained popular like a legend.
The new BSA 650 Gold Star single is just such a bike as you describe at the end of your piece. Let's see how that does. (The engine is a warmed over Rotax design used in the BMW F and G 650 back in 2007)
I've heard that the engine is made by a different Austrian company, the same which did the Royal Enfield twin. Not Rotax. It wouldn't make much sense to use a 20 year old engine design. The BMW F650 engine has a forward angled cylinder, the BSA's is upright, I don't see similarities there.
@@PrimoStracciatellaThe BSA engine is licenced from Rotax. Technical University of Graz, Austria helped to refine and update the original basic design to meet Euro 5, and completely altered it's appearance, but the project started with the same base engine as the BMW.
It may not have sold that well, but the '89 Honda you showed *_looks_* great, to me, anyway. Is there any modern, Japanese _air-cooled_ bike (at least a twin) still being made? Thanks for another great video.
I almost bought one of these as my first bike...
Instead I bought a VTR250 really cheap with the VTwin, and then I upgraded to a CB400SF.... A lot of 80s/90s themes are my thing. My era.
I got to ride one once. Loved it, wanted one, but could never afford one!
Also, Triumph was resurrecting the retro look before the Bonneville with the Thunderbird and Legend TT. I suppose those two models have been memoryholed.
I’ve probably got the rarest of all the GB’s the 86 GB400 TT mark 2 the one with the same seat used on the 500 but also the factory fairing, I’ve had it for over 2 decades and is in original pristine condition with very low kilometres and was privately imported here to Australia by its original owner back in the 1980’s by its original owner from New Zealand, they were never sold here by Honda as we only got the XBR model which was what the GB’s were based on
You are absolutely right about Honda making another CB750. Unfortunately they have built a couple of so called retro bikes like that CB1300 but once again they had to use a dohc engine when their sohc motor was the one the old guys want. Although,....I would go nuts for another CBX 1050 SIX if they insist on two cams.
There's a cb 1100 out there in some markets and honda makes a cb 400 super four exclusively for japan which has a high revving 4 cylinder motor. Honda also makes a really melllow and comfy sohc cb 350 rs exclusively for India and imported to japan, but it's pretty successful so they'll probably release it internationally by 2022 end.
@@supermoto9799 all the retro hondas i have seen here in Chinada seem to have that aircooled dohc motor of 1100 to 1300cc displacement. Here in north america we dont seem to appreciate those small displacement bikes like other countries do. Could be because they all seem to be choked down to 30 to 40 hp range instead of the 60 to 80hp versions the european markets seem to get. We tend to see them as training bikes which is a shame becsuse some of those 400cc bikes were amazing machines.
Interesting video but I think your history misses some important details (most already pointed out in other comments) and your market analysis is an oversimplification. Or maybe it's just a US perspective. I'm accustomed to British and European taste, and things looks a little different on this side of the Atlantic. Anyway, the main thing I wanted to say is it's not just 'old dudes reliving their youth' who are responding to this style of bike. An important factor is purity of design, aesthetic 'rightness', and in that respect I think most manufacturers lost their way over the last few decades in pursuit of novelty, and aesthetics suffered. In that respect the new Kawasaki z900RS is an interesting retro case study. It beautifully emulates a design classic from Kawasaki's own heritage. The original 1972 z900 had an aesthetic elegance that still looks good today. And let's face it, if anyone has lost their way aesthetically it's been Kawasaki. (Though they did try before, with their 'Zephyr' range in the 1990s, but those failed because they just weren't good enough bikes). So I think it's about recognising that certain design cues are just right. Plus the power of heritage branding, which is a whole subtle and complex topic unto itself.