The nine best sounding motorcycles ever made

1924 Brough Superior SS100

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and motorcycles were but in their infancy, there existed a British bike called the Brough Superior SS100, which was launched in 1924 with a claimed top speed of 100mph – unheard of in those days. Best known for its celebrity owners – most notably T.E Lawrence ‘of Arabia’ – the motorcycle was powered by a twin-cam KTOR JAP V-twin and featured a pair of beautiful crimped megaphone exhausts.

The John Alfred Prestwich engine was matched to a four-stud three-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox, and produced a deep, mechanical V-twin growl. Hear it in action in this video, courtesy of Jay Leno.

If you’re a Festival of Speed or Revival regular, you’ll recognise the thumping tune of the ‘Rolls Royce of Motorcycles’.

1966 Honda RC166

At the 2019 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard we paid homage to Honda, in what was the 60^th year since the Japanese manufacturer’s TT debut.

Among the cohort of Hondas taking to the hillclimb were a number of iconic models. And while the waspy RC142 was the bike with which Sochiro Honda launched his TT takeover, a racing Honda of a different breed lined up alongside it.

In 1966, despite a two-stroke takeover that had been burgeoning since the early ‘60s, Honda – an advocate of four-stroke technology – successfully placed on the world championship podium in all classes – 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc – and won the 125cc, 250cc and 350cc championships. The 250cc class winning machine was none other than the RC166, a diminutive six-cylinder racing motorcycle, capable of revving all the way to 18,000rpm. Replacing Honda’s successful four-cylinder 250 and built specifically to challenge Yamaha’s two-strokes, it was secretly launched at the Italian GP late in 1965, with two exhausts removed to hide its true potential.

But nothing could mask the screaming sound of its inline-six. Racing mechanic Nobby Clark reportedly remembered: “We got it into this garage, closed the doors, put the pipes on, oiled it, fuelled it, and pushed it right to the back.

“Then they said: ‘When we open the door, push like crazy.’ As it fired up – it was like somebody dropping a bomb. They were screaming! Nobody had heard it before, and didn’t know what it was. Everybody came, and they were just crawling all over you. One Japanese guy had an oil can, and he was squirting it at them, trying to keep them away.”

Making 60PS, the RC166 was responsible for two Mike Hailwood world championships (beating Phil Read’s Yamaha in 1966 and 1967), before a bigger bored 297cc version took the 1967 350 title too.

1967 Norton Commando

Classic British bikes have their foibles, there’s no denying it. The oil may leak, the transmission squeaks, and the brakes may be as effective as a weak handshake, but there’s just something loveable about their haphazard ways. And, when they’re working, their dulcet engine tones can evoke something peculiar in weathered old Englishmen.

Representing the best of British is the Norton Commando, powered by a 745cc (later enlarged to 828cc) pre-unit parallel twin. The rasping growl is instantly recognisable.

1969 Honda CB750

The year was 1968, and a revolution that still shapes motorcycling today was about to unfold. On October 28 at the Tokyo Show, Honda revealed the world’s first production inline-four, the CB750.
Featuring not only the radical powertrain, the 67PS CB750 also boasted a disc brake and electric start – an unheard of combination of technology at the time – birthing the superbike era and consigning British bikes to the history books.

Incredibly, the bike that would set the tone for so many years to come had gone from drawing board to prototype within just six months; its four-cylinder, four-exhaust layout derived from Honda’s successful Grand Prix machines.

It sold in droves, thanks in part to its incredible low retail price (originally $1,295, it was more than a thousand dollars less than any rival), and high level of spec. And while some may argue that it wasn’t the best-sounding inline four of its era, the CB750 is responsible the sound that has become synonymous with modern motorcycling, and that’s good enough for us.

1969 Kawasaki H1 Mach III

Two strokes of today are an acquired taste – a high-pitched, emission-dampened whine. 50 years ago, however, and the beautifully simple engines were responsible for some of motorcycling’s best soundtracks.

And one such model was the Kawasaki H1 Mach III. Aimed squarely at the horsepower-hungry American motorcycle market, it was powered by a straightforward air-cooled inline-triple with a 499cc displacement, 60PS and a claimed 0-60mph time of 12.4 seconds.

Despite a number of quirks – a gearbox with neutral below first, poor brakes and questionable handling – the Mach III went down a storm in the States, selling in the tens of thousands (110,000 units globally). In fact, Motorcyclist magazine reportedly said that the Mach's power-to-weight ratio was the best ‘ever produced in a motorcycle meant to sell to anyone who has the money to purchase it’.

And the sound? Well let’s just say that even today, the sound of its 120-degree-firing triple and musical exhaust note is enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most accomplished of motorcyclists.

1990 Honda VFR750R RC30

Another Honda – we’re not biased, honest – the RC30 was the epitome of nineties aural pleasure. Powered by an 118PS V4, it was a faired, single seat homologation special, created by Honda Racing Corporation for the World Superbike Championship. Just 3,000 were built, and those that remain today have achieved a cult status, revered by motorcyclists as the bike that brought racing to the road.

As good as it looked, it sounded, producing a deep, torquey rumble that could only come from a high-performance engine with gear driven cams.

2006 Triumph Daytona

Name a more iconic noughties supersport. I’ll wait… Despite not being the most popular on paper, the Triumph Daytona 675 captured the attention of countless motorcyclists for its neat looks and excellent triple-cylinder powertrain, which not only went link stink, but sounded like it too.

A welcome alternative to the inline-fours that were flooding the market, the Triumph triple boasted between 107 and 128PS, depending on its model year. Torque was ample, revs plenty and the engine sound oh so smooth. So loved was it, in fact, that soon after launch, the Daytona was dubbed ‘the best British sportsbike ever’ and ‘possibly one of the greatest sportsbikes of all time’ by the motorcycle media.
Its tuneful triple soundtrack is as appreciated today as it was a decade ago, as is the 765 engine that replaced it.

2007 Ducati Desmosedici RR

If ear-splitting screaming is your thing, then look no further than Ducati’s Desmosedici RR. A 1,500-unit limited edition road-legal version of the Desmosedici MotoGP racebike, it was released in 2007, with a price tag of £40,000 and the promise of World Championship performance for the road.

While it certainly was an incredible piece of machinery, it failed to live up to its race-bred pedigree, with a wet weight approaching 200kg and real-life dyno readings as low as 160PS (Ducati claimed 197PS at the engine).

Nonetheless, very few of these were to be ridden in anger (a crying shame to deprive civilians of its furious V4 scream), and instead taking pride of place in collections worldwide.  When they were ridden, however, everyone within a 10-mile radius knew about it, especially if the motorcycle in question featured the optional GP exhaust.

2009 Yamaha R1 Crossplane Crank

Mutter the words ‘crossplane crank’ and an army of Yamafans will fall at your feet, worshiping the firm’s most popular powertrain.

Launched in 2009 in the venerable R1, the crossplane technology sees each of the crankpins positioned perpendicularly to the next. This results in two planes of crankpins crossed at 90-degrees, which gives the moniker of a ‘crossplane crankshaft’. Effectively, the pistons rise and fall individually, in a staggered motion, as opposed to together, as is seen with a conventional 180-degree crankshaft.

The result? A significant reduction in engine inertia torque, which is usually caused by the movement of the internal parts, such as the pistons and crankshaft, and interferes with the combustion torque and throttle response.

And the sound? A throaty growl down low and inline-four scream as it quickly revs to the redline. Enough to make the hairs on the back of your ears stand up. 

Combined with the R1’s incredible performance – read: widow maker – the engine has gone down in history as one of motorcycling’s favourites. 

The technology has since been implemented across Yamaha’s model range, including in the incredibly popular MT family.