The -Honda CB550-
was probably the best balanced -Honda
of the seventies. _It did
not have the awe-inspiring power of the
legendary CB750, but, it had a stiffer frame and was a
lighter and more nimble motorcycle. We might describe
the Honda CB550 as
Honda’s “Goldilocks bike”
– the CB750 was too big and powerful for many, the
smaller bikes such as the CB360 and CB400 were too
small
(and the CB360 was not particularly stable as you got
it up into its top speed range), but, the CB550 was just
right.
The CB550 was in some respects a “bug fix” model,
descended from its predecessor the CB500, made to not
only improve on power,
but, to remedy the technical faults that had dogged the
CB500. -The SOHC engine is
good, solid and uncomplicated. While the first
Japanese fours were derided by die-hard -British
bike fans for their apparent -complexities,
the four is a simple design and requires
little in the way
of special tools to maintain and work on. Although there
are lots of parts, there are simply more of them, rather
than the engine being over complicated.
The Honda -CB550 is one of
the nicest and most practical motorcycles to emerge from
Honda’s factories – period. It was a well
thought out, easy to ride and thus
easy to enjoy motorcycle that combined Honda’s reputation
for “boring reliability” with good
handling
and a relatively light weight.
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