2009 isle of vashon vintage m/c ralley

[NeilD]

not sure if the Honda parts are actually interchangable, but the engines do have a physical similarity.. even more so  on the 250/350 Fours that were sold as as Benelli and Moto Guzzis..

[aeronca]

man thats cool. i would love to have one. i didnt post the pic of a suzuki water buffalo. nothing like a two stroke 750 8)

[oxnsox]

how close were those engines to the honda cbx's. they look pretty close. or did honda make there's like the benelli's? a guy at the ride in made a coment that the benelli engins shared a few parts with early cb750's, any one know if this is true?

I would think that Honda copied Benelli, as that was how all the Japanese manufacturers grew. Looking for the best in the West, copying the ideas, principles (and sometimes designs), then just doing it better and with lower labour costs.  And surely it was the last part that added to the collapse of the local bike manufacturing industry in Europe.

[Sin_Tiger]

That's interesting, I had always thought that the Waterbuffalo nik was a purely South African thing.

May also be popular myth but I grew up in the belief that Yamaha used my old Ariel Arrow 250 as the "inspiration for the RD 250, both were good bikes in their time.