It was also the first production bike which had a five-speed gearbox. Moto Guzzi V7 Sport (1971)īased on the standard/roadster V7, the V7 Sport was the company’s cafe racer, complete with clip-on handlebars. Mind you, the bike was rolling on a 3.25-inch (82.5 mm) front and 4.00-inch (102 mm) rear tyres! The engine produced 67 bhp and propelled the 218 kg bike to 201 km//h, making it the fastest production bike of the time. It also inspired the kind of motorcycles design which was adopted by every Japanese manufacturer henceforth, which came to be known as the “UJM,” for Universal Japanese Motorcycle. It introduced the inline-Four engine, disc brakes and upright seating position to the masses. It was the year the Honda CB750 came out. Sure, we saw the same happen decades earlier and four decades on, but the 70s saw some of the biggest breakthroughs in motorcycling whose impacts echo down later generations. Thus the decade saw a bona fide arms race between manufacturers to build the biggest and baddest bikes. The latter offered higher performance, better quality, reliability, better economy at much lower prices. The motorcycles scene of the 70s saw the decline of “continental” brands and the rise of the Japanese Big Four. The decade also saw other nations joining the Americans and Soviets in the space race. It was during this decade that first saw an explosion of development in the integrated circuit (IC), besides others. It triggered the Oil Crisis of 1973.Īnother Oil Crisis happened in 1979 with the Iranian Revolution which saw the Shah outside by Ayatollah Komeini’s forces. The oil producing nations, OPEC, embargoed oil exports against nations that supported Israel during the Yom Kippur war. This led to higher freedom of expression.Īt the same time, there were energy concerns, specifically over the black gold – oil. It was a time of self-discovery, often with people stating their claims to more egalitarian societies, no doubt led by “hippy” protests against the Vietnam war in the late-60s. The most famous conflict of the time, the Vietnam war (“war” spelled with a small “w” as the United States never formally declare war with North Vietnam) would end with the fall of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in 1975. It was a period of pivotal change in world history. Of course, the manufacturers always searched for ways to outdo their peers but motorcycle development also depended largely on technological know-how and discoveries, there were other influences such as economics, culture, fashion, so on. Motorcycles evolve hand-in-hand with the sentiments of the day. The 70d saw a great number of iconic bikes.Each decade has its defining motorcycles.
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