Quote Originally Posted by F6Dave View Post
Soichiro Honda loved exotic engines. He developed multiple V-12 Formula One engines in the 1960s, including a 1.5 liter version mounted transversely, and won a few Grand Prix.

In 1969 he stunned the motorcycle world with the CB750. An OHC inline 4 (with 4 carbs, 4 mufflers, and a disk brake) was revolutionary in a time of pushrod twins and drum brakes. Then in 1978 he gave us the 6 cylinder CBX.

In 1982 the V45 was introduced. There were Magna and Sabre versions initially. They had a water cooled, 4 cam, 16 valve V-4. That was a fairly radical engine design in a time when air cooled inline 4s were the norm.

The water cooled 1000 cc flat 4 was a real standout in the 1975 Goldwing, especially when combined with all the other advanced features like belt-driven cams, shaft drive, and triple disk brakes. But when you look at Mr. Honda's history it fits right in.
In between those two Honda pushed out a CB350 4 cylinder as well. 72-74 That was a mind blower at the time because of it's small size....