1978 Honda CD200 Roadmaster Motorcycle

Description

Established in 1948, the Honda Motor Company quickly established itself as one of the dominant motorcycle manufacturers from Japan, building everything from commuter scooters right up to Grand Prix machines capable of challenging the world's best on the racetrack.  Honda developed a myriad of new models to suit every need and by the late 1960s the range was incredibly diverse.  As Honda’s reach in the market grew through the 1970s and into the 1980s, so did the model line-up.  The CD family can trace its ancestry back to 1967 with the launch of the CD175, known as the Sloper due to the canted position of the engine.  Over the next decade Honda refined the concept, replacing the original pressed steel frame with a new tubular design.  In 1978 Honda launched the CD185 Benly, which proved a hugely successful commuter bike that remained in production for decades to come.  Sharing the same frame, suspension, drum brakes, wheels and tyres as the CD185, the CD200 RoadMaster proved equally successful in countries like South Africa and Pakistan.  Powered by an air-cooled four-stroke twin, the CD200 had a bore and stroke of 53.0mm x 44.00mm and a compression ratio reduced to 8.8:1 to cope with poor quality fuels found in certain markets.  was also marketed (with minor variations) as the Twinstar in the United States.  Other features included full front and rear mudguards, twin chrome exhausts, a square speedometer and chrome plated fuel tank.