STANDARD CATALOG OF JAPANESE MOTORCYCLES 1959-2007

by Al

Al's first bush-basher is in it: the mighty Honda C77. It cost his old man fifty bucks. It was a bit more second-hand than this one.

Al bought a T500 Suzuki, too. Because he listens to the experts. And he wanted to take on the country.

And one of these. Because he worked at Kawasaki, and they gave him a deal. And because they were awesomely fast.

The 1977 Suzuki GS750 was a fast and sweet handling motorcycle. Al bought two of them. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

But enough about Al. Boris had one of these as a stripling. They were serious corner weapons. And wheelie weapons.

"Great" I thought when I saw the review copy of Doug Mitchel's book. "I shall spend this evening reviewing the exotica of my schooldays."

"Technical Specifications", it says on the front of the book. "Production Figures. Collector Pricing".

So I prepared a cooling beverage and a salty snack and sat down to seek the Bridgestone GTR. Then, maybe, the Hodaka Combat Wombat.

Shortly after sitting down, I discovered that the book is divided into four sections: Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha; none of which contain the Bridgestone GTR. Despite it being a Standard Japanese Motorcycle.

I took a long draught of my cooling beverage, and changed the plan for my trawl through the Standard Catalog. I would, instead, find all the motorcycles I have ever owned, which should be pretty easy because they have all been Hondas, Kawasakis, Suzukis or Yamahas.

First, the VERY used 1967 Honda C77 which I bought as a bush-basher at the age of 14. Yep, there is was: same colour, too. Next, the Yamaha 125 that you could actually register: missing.

This isn't a catalog. It's a coffee-table picture book. It is organised by year within manufacturer. There are a few paragraphs on what Doug Mitchel thought were the key models of the year. There are pictures: generally studio shots and ads. And if the motorcycle you're interested in didn't interest Doug, it's not mentioned. Except in the table.

I refreshed my cooling beverage, going easy on the ice.

There's a table for each year giving model, engine configuration, displacement and transmission for each model released. Well not for each model, actually, but I'll come to that in a minute. This table must be what is referred to on the front cover as "Technical Specifications". Imagine talking to some kid about how revolutionary the Z1 was back in '73, then looking it up and finding the specs list says:

Z1 Four-cylinder 903cc Five-Speed

Did I say not all models are covered? Some dirt bikes are there, many aren't. I tried to track down the Honda XL250 I owned. No Honda XL motorcycles are listed at all, but the CT Trail 90 is. I tried to track down the Suzuki DR750 I owned. No listing.

In fact, the Suzuki year charts don't list a Suzuki dirt bike after 1981. Unless you count the V-Strom. And it doesn't list a Honda dirt bike (except the CT90) after 1974. And that's if you call the CL450 Scramber a dirt bike.

It's very American-centric. The Yamaha XJ900, for example, was only sold for a year in the USA but was sold for seven or eight years in Europe. It gets one year in the book. All the Kawasaki Zs are KZs, their American model designator.

One of my favourite bikes, the 1993 Yamaha GTS1000, gets described as "revolutionary" and "like nothing the world had seen before" but doesn't rate a picture. In fact, Yamaha's 1993 gets dismissed in three paragraphs, with no pictures.

Doug says in the foreword that he tried to use manufacturer's data and pictures, and there are some huge gaps in what is available. For Yamaha, I guess 1983 was one of those gaps.

So, I kept tracking down the motorcycles I've owned. The old 1968 Honda 250 wasn't there, but the '71 Suzuki T500 was. So was the 1973 Z1, the 1975 Z1-B and the 1977 Suzuki GS750. My GSX750 and GS850G weren't pictured, nor my Kawasaki Z1RMk II, nor my Z1100ST. My XJ900 got a pic, and there was something similar to my GPz900R but in American paint. My DR750 wasn't even listed, let alone photographed.

The Standard Catalog of Japanese Motorcycles 1959-2007 isn't a catalog. It's not very comprehensive -- a lot of Japanese motorcycles aren't in it. Its Technical Specifications are pretty well useless. I couldn't find the "Production Figures" trumpeted on the front cover. There's no way it is a serious history of Japanese motorcycles or indeed even the four marques to which all of its contents belong.

It's coffee table eye candy and blasts from the past. Once I got over the fact that it doesn't live up to its title or front cover blurb, I quite enjoyed it.

The XS2s and CB750s that I lusted after as a schoolboy are presented in glorious colour. I remember the tests in the magazines I devoured at the time: RD Yamahas, Honda Fours in 350, 400, 500, 550 and 750; T series Suzukis, Kawasaki triples, the Suzuki Waterbottle and RE5 rotary; the Yamaha 650, Honda 500 and Kawasaki 750 Turbos.

The scans on this page do no justice to the originals.

The ads bring back memories, too. "Suzuki: Built to take on the country", "Someday, you'll own a Yamaha", "Kawasaki: Let the good times roll" and "Honda shapes the world of wheels".

There you have it. Not a scholarly work documenting the history of Japanese motorcycle manufacturing, but a good selection of fifty years of Japanese road bikes with a few dirt bikes thrown in, nicely photographed, with a few words on the major models and copies of some old ads.

Just the thing to have on the coffee table for when the ads come on.

$49.95. Available at all good bookstores. If you run an ordinary bookstore and you want it to become a good one, send your wholesale enquiries by email to Capricorn Link Australia: books (at) capricornlink.com.au. And tell 'em BIKE ME! sent you.