American and Japanese Motorcycles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American and Japanese Motorcycles - Essay Example This proved to be a fatal mistake. With the introduction of Honda CD450 they came into the limelight. This bike was great looking, affordable and could outrun any stocky Harley-Davidson with double the engine size time and time again without breaking down like the Harley tended to do. When Honda came up with its new four cylinders CB750, there was no doubt Japanese motorcycles were here to stay. This bike was incomparable to any other in the world being faster, reliable and affordable as well. In the early 1980, the major four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers produced what were known as UJM’s or Universal Japanese Motorcycles. These machines underlined the complete usefulness and utilitarianism of large displacement bikes like Kawasaki Z-1, Honda’s CB 750, Yamaha’s XS 1100 and Suzuki’s GS 1000 and were meant to complete the broad spectrum of two wheeled transportation roles. The Suzuki Katana was the first Japanese motorcycle to come on road with looks that killed. Some consider the Katana as a stroke of High-Tech brilliance while traditionalist dismissed it as a styling fluke that would quickly be forgotten as had Harley Davidson’s slow selling XLCR cafà © racer. Most Japanese manufacturers Suzuki included were satisfied in making Non-Harley looking motorcycles. Yamaha’s Virago and Honda’s Shadow were the first cruisers to offer proprietary motors. But Yamaha took a gamble by offering a sporty standard powered by the same 920cc V-Twin motor found in the Virago. Like most sport bikes of the day Kawasaki GPZ was still quite a different machine when compared to the racing bikes in the world racing circuits. Despite its top end performance, most riders purchased a GPZ or Honda interceptor for its racy looks. Yamaha’s FJ is another high performance Japanese bike with advanced technology, but was compromised by its design, which was made more for comfort. Yamaha’s FZ 750 was another step towards what the GSX-R would eventually deliver.