2. 650cc Triumph Bonneville An icon of the golden age of British
motorcycles. The Bonneville’s origins go
back to 1937, when Edward Turner created
his 498cc ohv air-cooled vertical Speed
Twin. The basic format sustained Triumph
until the 1970s. The Bonneville name comes
from the Utah Salt Flats where in 1956 a
streamlined T110 Triumph was clocked,
unofficially, at 343km/h. By 1969 the legend
took shape when a Bonneville became the
first production bike to lap the Isle of Man
at over a ton, 100mph, or 160km/h. From
that point on the Bonneville was produced
in some shape or form until 1998.
3. 1972 Kawasaki 900 Z1 The first serious challenger to Honda’s
CB750 came only three years later when
Kawasaki launched the model that would
be dubbed ‘The King’. The Z1 was also an
air-cooled inline four, but it did have double
overhead cams, compared with the Honda’s
single, and it did have 167cc more capacity,
and at the time of release only ’works’ race
bikes produced 82bhp, with a top speed
of 215km/h. Although the Z1 range lasted
until 1984, purists claimed the 1972 and ‘73
models were the ones to have.
4. BSA Gold Star DBD34 500cc
Surely one of the most charismatic names in
motorcycle history, the ‘Goldie’ as it became known,
is steeped in the proud tradition of British single-
cylinder sports bikes. A 499cc, two-valve, push-rod
engine, producing around 42bhp at 7000rpm with
a top speed of 160km/h. There were 350 Gold Stars
in the 1940s, one of which won the Clubman’s TT
on the Isle of Man in 1949, but it was probably the
hordes of ‘boy racers’ who charged around British
highways during the 1950s and 60s, that gave the
‘Goldie’ the legendary status it so deserves.
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