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Early in 1967, Bob Hansen (then American Honda’s Midwest Regional Manager) was invited to a meeting in Japan at Honda. Prior to the scheduled meeting, Hansen went on a guided tour through the Honda R & D Company, where he learned that Honda was secretly working on some test blocks for “a big engine, for a big motorcycle.” It was his impression that they were working on a big twin. Following the tour, Hansen attended the meeting that was led by Mr. Soichiro Honda and attended by Honda’s chief engineers. During that meeting, Mr. Honda stated his intention to build the “King of motorcycles.” Mr. Hansen then brashly stated, that he “hoped it was not a twin!” He went on to say that, “it must be a four cylinder.”

Over one year later, in September of 1968, Hansen received a letter from Yoshiro Harada, Director of Honda R. & D., that contained photographs of an early CB750 (four cylinder!) prototype. The vision soon became a reality in early 1969, when Honda began to produce this remarkable motorcycle. Quickly capturing the interest of the American market, the stock CB750 featured a transverse in line 4 cylinder 736 cc engine, that produced 67 horsepower, and a top speed of 125 miles per hour.

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