Second came the Triumph Bonneville, an
icon from the golden age of British bikes.
Edward Turner created his legendary 498cc
OHV vertical Speed Twin in 1937, a design
that formed the basis of Triumph twins until
the 1970s. The Bonneville name came from
the Utah salt flats where the Triumph had
enjoyed considerable success in speed trials.
Next, three years after the Honda in 1972
came Kawasaki’s Z1 900, like the Honda
CB750 a four-cylinder machine with, for its
day, stunning performance. At 82bhp, with a
top speed of 215km/h there was very little
on the road that could come close to it.
At number four came Yamaha’s RD350
and 400, one of only two-stroke models
in the first ten. On the race track, touring,
or commuting, the simple air-cooled RD
Yamahas virtually dominated much of
motorcycling activity in New Zealand during
the 1970s. Liquid cooling was introduced on
the LC models in 1981. The 400 had a top
speed of 161km/h. The model was a direct
relative of the highly successful TZ range
of race bikes, which dominated race tracks,
beating machines of twice its capacity.
1967 Triumph Bonneville T120 1969 Bonneville engine detail
1975 Kawasaki Z1 900 Rare shot of Mike Hailwood with
RD400 in Auckland 1977
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