Motorcycle Development Through the Decades:

This section will show how motorcycles developed through the decades.  From the earliest period of development, 1900 to around 1915, then from the time period between the world wars, motorcycle design changed slowly.  From the 1950's, 1960's, 1980, then today, motorcycle design changed more quickly.  Note the pictures below:

The motorcycle above dates from the late 1920's.  Motorcycles looked similar from the late teens to the mid 1930's.

The "British Invasion" began by the early 1950's.  This term refers to the huge increase in British motorcycles being imported into the US.  The influx of British motorcycles continued till the early 1960's at which time, the numbers of Japanese motorcycles greatly increased.

By the end of the 1970's, Japanese motorcycles owned the American market.  As American motorcycle sales dropped, and America's wanted an American motorcycle, Harley Davidson returned as a dominant manufacturer.  By the end of the 80's and early 1990's, Harley Davidson became the sales leader in the US.  Around the world, however, Japanese engineering still dominated.  _____________________________________________________________________

The modern Naked or Standard, is a stripped down street model.  The late 1990's Ducati Monster is often considered the first modern naked bike.  The Standard is a modern edition of the bikes from the 1980's.

The Sport Touring motorcycle is a blend of a sport and touring motorcycle.  The sport touring bikes are oversized sport bikes with side bags.  The Honda ST1100 was an early sport tourer which has a following even today.

The modern dual sport is a blend between an off road motorcycle and a naked street bike.  Many point back to the BMW GS series of the early 1980's, however, I think that the dual sport is more o modern version of the 1960's Japanese scramblers!

American motorcycles morphed from engines on bicycles to large V-twins.  European motorcycles remained as primarily large single cylinder machines with V-twins being used for side car use.

The early Japanese motorcycles were primarily smaller machines and were popular among the  masses.  The sold by the millions and buyers began to move up from 50cc bikes to 100's, 250's, 350's, then the 500cc and larger motorcycles.   

The modern motorcycle, except for sport models, will generally have a twist of "vintage" along with being very aerodynamic.  Motorcycles are also getting larger.  In the 1960's, a 650cc motorcycle was large, by the 1980's, they had grown to 1,000cc as typical, now,  most are over 1,300cc or more.

Pictured in this section are common "modern" mtorcycle model categories.  From Standards, to cruisers, to sport and super sport, the motorcycles of the 21st. century generally fit into semi-specific categories:

The modern cruiser is a "feet forwards" street bike which is a modern incarnation of the big American V-twins from the 1940's.  Americans like cruisers because of their comfort, sound, appearance, and heritage.

Sport bikes are aerodynamic, light, high horsepower, and sleek.  A moden sport bike would be faster than full race track bikes of several decades ago.  The primary difference between sport and super sport would be horsepower.  In the last several years, there has been a new category of naked sport bikes.

Indian has come back with a vengance.  Big, beautiful, comfortable, and they have a great history. The touring bike is big and designed for the open road.  

It could be hard to tell the difference between a modern "naked" bike and a modern "vintage" or "retro," however, since 2011, numerous manufacturers have produced new models which directly copy the bikes of the 1970's.  The post 2013 Honda CB1100 is another great example.