Top 100 motorcycles@drmoto.com.my


Top 10 or top whatever is usually associated with pop songs however Dr.Moto decides to have a TOP 100 motorcycles. Its not a top 100 of all times or top 100 ever produced. It’s the TOP 100 through the eyes of Dr.Moto. The bikes are based on 1) impact leaving designs 2) favorite of the masses 3) success in sales 4) success in sports 5) quality 6) innovative 7) trend setter in its field 8) idea triggering. Top 100 Motorcycle of Dr. Moto’s choice are not necessarily from personnel experience. Dr.Moto has not included motorcycles produced within the last 10 years as Dr.Moto feels that a period of at least 10 years is required to determine some of the criteria. Here is the final 10 of the Top 100 Motorcycles Dr.Moto’s Choice. In listing the motorcycles I admit that I was swayed into nostalgic eras. Some of the bikes I regretted selling whilst others I did not. You too may have your own choice and it may differ from mine. Choice is all up to the individual. 10/9. HONDA CB 77/HONDA CB 72 At 9,400 rpm the CB 77 can travel at 94 mph or 146 km per hour. This was an outstanding speed from a motorcycle of only 305cc back in the sixties. Then only a few 500 and 650 twins were able to achieve that speed. The Honda CB77 (305cc) and the Honda CB72 (250cc) are similar in all aspects except the 55cc difference. Many then asked why Honda came out with two bikes that are almost similar but with a capacity difference? Honda did not give any answer. However we can deduce that it was a marketing strategy as in many countries a learner rider is limited to a maximum of 250 cc and the 305 was meant to capture countries which did not have that limit. The CB77 produced only 4 bhp more than the 250 CB72 and both bikes quarter mile time shamed most 500 - 650 then. To ride and get the maximum out of the CBs one has to really twist the throttle as the power will come on above 6,000 rpm but many back then were afraid to push the bike to that rpm as there was the fear of things falling off the bike. Pushing the bike to the maximum rpm showed nothing fell off and best of all there weren’t any trace of engine oil seeping out. This made many British bike fanatics shake their heads in disbelieve. How could this be possible and more surprising it came from the east? Gear ratios were suitable for town as well as out of town riding. The bike can go up to 40-50 in first gear, 55-60 in second, 75-80 in third and 90-95 in fourth. Honda gave more assurance by supplying adequate brakes. Handling was good but not in wide fast corners. The back would sway in these corners. To overcome this, one must not release the throttle to slow. When pulling out of corners the front will twitch. A little fright and nothing more. Carrying a pillion was not a problem. The adjustable passenger foot rest ensure passenger comfort. Something new then was the adjustable rear shocks to suit various loads Electrics were 12V when 6V was the norm among European motorcycles. The 12V system was a leap forward for riders who rode at night. The horn even though small in size gave a loud enough warning. Both Hondas came standard with electric start even though the kick start was provided in the event that the electric start fail. But it never did. The silencers were good as the exhaust sound was nice to listen to. 8/7. YAMAHA RD 350/YAMAHA RD 250 Like the two Honda CBs above, the Yamaha RD 250 and 350 twins were similar in most aspect that telling the difference was hard if one did not see the side cover. The RDs were developed from the previous model the YDS7. RD was first introduced in 1972 (RD was code used to indicate reed valve) and there were many interpretation as to what RD meant. Many would like to believe that RD meant Race Derived and some skeptics suggested that it meant ‘Road Death’ – a Japanese revenge on America for their attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bore of the 250 was 54mm whilst that of the 350 was 64mm sharing the same stroke. On the side cover a logo "Torque Induction" announced the result derived from the reed valves. It must be noted that before reed valve came about most two strokes including Yamaha used piston ports. Starting the engine was easy. One kick and the RD came to live and the exhaust sound was like music compared to other two stroke sounds. Pulling off was an easy matter and to reach the magical ton was nothing and the best thing about it is that it can pull off easily in top gear from 2000 rpm. The gear ratios were well thought and well calculated. Brakes on both RDs were excellent if not the best for the period. It must be remembered that disc brakes were still in the infant stage. The discs were as the name suggested was er disc. And the rear brakes were drums. If not for the side sticker it was difficult telling the difference between a 250 and a 350. The 250 top speed is 155km/h – the 350 170km/h. The 250 produced 30 horses whilst the 350 – 39 horses.. 6. HONDA CB 100 Many will ask why this motorcycle the Honda CB100 is placed in 6^thposition. What is so special about the CB100? To me this is one of a few motorcycles that can be best described as a ‘kick and ride bike’. Yes, just remember the petrol, you don’t want to be pushing a little bike like this. You can almost forget about the other parts like cam chain, drive chain, the spark plug and even the engine oil. Rain or shine, hot or cold it starts with a kick or two. An office friend used to ride one and I saw the bike transformed from new to a haggard looking bike in more than 5 years and he admitted never needing to change anything on his bike. The bike never gave up on him as never once he came to office late even though he stayed about 50km away. After 5 years he upgraded to a Honda Hawk 145 and his troubles started. The design of the CB100 can best be described as one in transition. It was one of the last of rounded tank Hondas before sharp edges became the trend and the shocks was laid at an angle as against the norm of an almost vertical shocks. The color was unique for the period as it was not common to see a white colored motorcycle except those ridden by the police. 5. VESPA SUPER 150 Vespa – is a kind of wasp found in Italy. If a university student were to submit a paper on the Vespa for evaluation he will fail drastically. Why? Because it defied all conventions. First the engine is placed on one side then there was no frame for strength, the engine is hidden away from the wind path and it is supposed to be air-cooled, the front was designed to block air thus not aerodynamic. However the Vespa proved every skeptic wrong. The air cooled engine never ever seized even though it was at the back and enclosed on the right side, and the Vespa never was heavy on one side. The two bulges at the rear never became a hindrance for pillion on the Vespa. Vespa’s history started after World War 2 where Italian industries were badly hit by the ravages of the war. Among the factories were Piaggio who were making airplanes for the war. Post war Italy was in no position to buy planes and Piaggio was not about to rebuild a factory if there were no buyers for their products. Enrico Piaggio decided to go into two wheel transportation as he reckon Italian will need cheap basic transportation At about the same time another Italian firm Innocenti decided to make cheap two wheelers too so that tubes from the factory can be utilized. Innocenti commissioned General Corradino D’ Ascanio to design a simple two wheel transport which is male and female friendly, not dirty, easy to maintain and most of all it must be cheap. D’Ascanio designed a vehicle using sheet metal completely without any frame work in the traditional sense. Innocenti did not like it as it meant neglecting his tubing factory. D’Ascanio sold his plan to Piaggio who immediately took the idea. On 23 April 1946 Piaggio registered his vehicle at the patent office in Florence thus the Vespa was born. Innocenti later came out with Lambretta using tube frame. Piaggio did not like the first prototype and gave instructions to modify it a little. When the 2^nd prototype was shown to him, Piaggio first reaction was "*Sembra una vespa!" ("Its like a wasp!"). The name Vespa stuck. When production began Vespa became the first vehicle using the ‘monocoque’ frame. Among Vespa’s early models was with a sidecar* Piaggio sold 2,500 units in 1947, more than 10,000 in 1948, 20,000 in 1949, and over 60,000 in 1950. Vespa clubs were established almost everywhere and in 1950 Vespa opened a factory in Germany followed by the U.K., France, Belgium and Spain. In 1960 factories were set up in India, Brazil and Indonesia. Up to 1956 a total of over a million Vespas were sold and by 1960 2 million up to a high of 10 million in the mid eighties. Vespa in Malaysia was assembled at the EAC (East Asiatic Company) plant in Petaling Jaya. Late 80’s saw Vespa sales nosedived and assembled ceased. Vespas glorious days when almost everyone had a Vespa looked like it was coming to its end. Attempts at reviving interests among the youth by introducing a Vespa race during GP events proved futile. Racers like Jaafar and Kombat did aroused some interest but the races whilst popular did not contribute much to sales. 2003 in Italy was gloomy for Piaggio. He was almost bankrupt but saved by Roberto Colaninno (who later bought Aprilia). Many thought Colaninno was crazy to save Piaggio but Colaninno believed that Vespa just needed to be treated well. He reorganised the factory along Japanese ways and before long Vespa was beginning to make headways.
4. KAWASAKI A1 SAMURAI Launched in 1967 the Kawasaki A1 was among the fastest 250’s then and it came in two variants, the basic and a racing A1R. The racing version produced almost 12 more horses than the standard. In the 1968 Singapore GP 2 Japanese riders came out 2^nd and 3^rd in their first ever outing. The 2 stroker had a bore and stroke of 53mm x 56mm differing from the norm of 54mm x 54mm. Fuel was fed through rotary disc valve. The carburetor and disc valves were mounted at each end of the crank. Thus the carburetors were not visible without removing the covers. The bike produced 43 hp @ 9500 rpm. In Malaysia Bulldog Kuan from Penang was among the racers riding the A1R. At the Selangor GP in Batu Tiga Bulldog was paired with Ken Araoka of Japan and they easily came out first and second. Chris Howell was later to be paired with Bulldog as Japanese riders were not able to race. Kawasaki’s agent then was Borneo Company but that was not for long as they opted to concentrate on 4 wheelers (Toyota). Kawasaki did not have an agent in Malaysia for a while until Med-Bumikar-Mara came along. For the period when there was no official Kawasaki agent, the bikes however still managed to come in via Ah Kow Motors in Johor Bahru. *Kawasaki* *tank badges as used on the Samurai.* *Below close up of the engine.* 3. SUZUKI T20 250 This was how an advertisement for the Suzuki T20 appeared. It listed 17 advantages of a Suzuki T.20. *1. 8” Front drum brakes 2. Twin cylinder of aluminum alloy* *3. 6 speed gearbox 4.Twin 24mm carburetors* *5. POSI-FORCE lube injection 6. Hand pump* *7. Silent Exhaust 8.8” rear drum Brakes* *9. Big rear lamps 10. Bright indicator lamps* *11. 3 position adjustable rear shocks* *12. Firm and wide seat 13. 14 litre tank* *14. Racing type throttle 15. Easy to read tacho and speedometers* *16. Oil filled front shocks 17. 12 Volt lighting system* The Suzuki T20 is the first motorcycle to come up with 6 speed transmission as standard item. It was produced from 1965 to 1968 when it was replaced by the Suzuki T250. Engine was 247 cc 2 stroke and it featured many items which were not found on other bikes. Because of its reliability the T20 carved a name for Suzuki. In the UK the T20 was called the 'Super Six' but in the US it was known as the Hustler. The T20 weigh 135kg and produced 29 horses. Brakes were powerful 8 “ drums. 2T was injected by Suzuki’s own patented POSI-FORCE which supplied 2T to the cylinder, big end and the main bearings. This contributed to Suzuki’s reliability. Many 2 stroke motorcycles were still using pre-mix fuel. 2. NORTON 88 The first Norton I rode was just after finishing my Senior Cambridge. At that time the craze was to convert British bikes to choppers. The tank were thrown and replaced by CZ or Bantam tanks, handle bars were raised and the exhaust pipes were extended back and up. The rear was usually fitted with sissy bars, or a King and Queen seat. All these suited well for Triumph especially but not the Norton so a friend sold his Norton to me for 200 ringgits to buy a Triumph. The Norton I bought was said to be a Dominator 500 but it was actually a 99 600cc. That was my first involvement with Norton motorcycles. Since then I have owned almost 8 different models of Nortons. My favorite Norton was the 88, a single carb version. The Dominator was designed by Bert Hopwood fitted into a Featherbed frame designed by the MacCandless brothers. The featherbed were made at tubing factory Reynolds as Norton did not have the ability to make them then. The Dominators was capable of a maximum speed of 90 mph and was equipped with the best of British brakes. The Dominator with the featherbed frame gave so good a handling that Norton advertise its bikes as the ‘unapproachable’. The only drawback in the engine department is the seepage of primary cases oil and this went on to 650 SS, 750 Atlas models. Only when the Commando appeared that the problem ceased. At its height Norton produced about 200 dominators a week form their factory. In 1960 the featherbed was modified where the 2 top tubes were made closer and this frame came to be known as the slimline. 1. TRIUMPH T100 GP Many may not have seen a Triumph GP let alone ride one as not many were produced. The Triumph T100 GP was my first bike which my late father bought for me after my Senior Cambridge. I did not know that the motorcycle I had was special as my father had bought it used from a friend. I thought it was a normal T100 until one day when I stopped at Looi Motors then located at where the Singapore GP was held. I went there to see a Norton Commando which was offered for sale. The shop was run by Looi Im Hock who used to race in the 50’s and 60’s. As I was about to park in front of the shop, Looi started yelling to his friend there ‘Triumph GP’, whilst pointing to my bike. Some motorcyclists came out of the shop and started surrounding my bike. My face turned pale as my bike was not really in prestine condition and oil was leaking all over. As a student studying there I was on a cost saving mode. Anyway after that incident I look up every book and magazine to find out about the GP and what I found out surprised me. The engine of the Triumph Tiger 100 GP was actually ex-stock air borne generator engine. As it was used in a plane it had to be light and had ample finning for cooling. When the war ended Triumph found that they had some engines which the RAF did not require anymore. They decided to put the engine in a rigid frame, attached a close ratio gearbox and fitted a sprung hub at the rear for smooth riding. Light material was used extensively. There you have it, Dr. Moto’s choice 100 motorcycles. You may have your own list and will definitely be different from mine. In compiling this list I regretted in not being able to list some bikes which I would like to, but since I did not have direct experienced with these bikes I decided to omit them otherwise I may give a wrong opinion. These bikes include the Yamaha XS 650, Yamaha SR 500, the Suzuki Rotary and many more. Next I hope to list my favorite top riders who had in some ways most influenced me.