Editing Universal Japanese Motorcycle (section)

{{short description|'70s motorcycles that revolutionized the US bike market}}
{{redirect|UJM}}

[[File:Honda CB750four blue.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Honda CB750]], a classic UJM]]
{{quote box|width=250px|align=right|quote=''The basic platform was an upright, open seating position motorcycle powered by a carbureted, air-cooled engine wrapped in a steel-tube cradle-type frame, and at least one disc brake to bring it all to a stop. The simple design made motorcycling accessible to riders of all types and skill sets. '''UJMs''' were available in various displacements, and their ubiquity helped grow motorcycling in America during the 1970s and ‘80s.'' 
|source=''Source: Motorcycle.com'' <ref name="ujm motorcycle">{{cite web |url=http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/suzuki/2009-suzuki-tu250x-review-88791.html |title=2009 Suzuki TU250X Review |publisher=Motorcycle.com, Pete Brissette, Oct. 06, 2009|accessdate=2010-01-08}}</ref>}}

The term "'''Universal Japanese Motorcycle'''", or '''UJM''', was coined in the mid-1970s by ''[[Cycle (magazine)|Cycle Magazine]]'' to describe a proliferation of similar  Japanese [[Types of motorcycles#Standard|standard]] [[motorcycle]]s that became commonplace following Honda's 1969 introduction of its successful [[Honda CB750|CB750]].  The CB750 became a rough template for subsequent designs from all three of the other major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers.<ref name=Frank2003c>{{Citation |title= Honda Motorcycles |first= Aaron |last= Frank |publisher = MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company |year= 2003 |isbn= 0-7603-1077-7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CSxTaoGagKoC&pg=PA92 |accessdate= 2010-02-20 |page=92 }}</ref><ref name=Walker2006c>{{Citation |authorlink= Mick Walker (motorcycling) |last= Walker |first=Mick |year= 2006 |title=Motorcycle: Evolution, Design, Passion |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=0-8018-8530-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AHSlknpjrgAC&pg=PA150 |page=150 }}</ref>  In 2011, the New York Times said lightning struck for Honda "with the 1969 CB 750, whose use of an inline 4-cylinder engine came to define the Universal Japanese Motorcycle."<ref name="lightning">{{cite web
| title = You Meet the Nicest Sportbikes in the 250cc Neighborhood
| publisher =  The New York Times, May 27, 2011, Dexter Ford
| url = http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/automobiles/autoreviews/29HONDA.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0}}</ref>

The UJM template featured a four-cylinder engine, standard riding position, [[carburetor]] for each cylinder, [[unit construction]] engine, front disc brake, conventional tubular cradle frame and [[Suspension (motorcycle)|telescopic front forks and twin-shock rear suspension]].  As the major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, [[Honda]], [[Kawasaki motorcycles|Kawasaki]], [[Suzuki]], and [[Yamaha Motor Corporation|Yamaha]], began replicating each other's designs, the UJM's created a homogeneity of form, function and quality.  UJMs included such prominent models as the [[Honda CB500 (disambiguation)|Honda CB500]], the [[Kawasaki Z1]], and the [[Suzuki GS series|Suzuki GS750]]. Such machines had massive sales, and UJMs continued to be produced for more than a decade.

In 1976, ''[[Cycle (magazine)|Cycle]]'' described the new phenomenon, saying:  
::"In the hard world of commerce, achievers get imitated and the imitators get imitated. There is developing, after all, a kind of Universal Japanese Motorcycle.... conceived in sameness, executed with precision, and produced by the thousands."<ref name="Cycle Magazine">{{cite web | url= http://www.pipeline.com/~randyo/700S%20cycle%20mag%20article.htm| title= Honda Nighthawk 700S | work= Cycle Magazine}}</ref>

In the 2010 book, Sport Bikes, Hans Hetrick wrote that:
::"throughout the 1970s, the Japanese companies experimented with different types of engines and frame designs. Their ideas soon came together in a rock-solid package. This design became known as the Universal Japanese Motorcycle, or UJM."<ref name="Hetrick">{{cite web
| title = Sport Bikes (Full Throttle), Hans Hetrick, p. 12
| publisher =  Edge Books, Capstone Press 2010, ISBN 1429647515
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=95f1-fanCVIC&dq=universal+japanese+motorcycle%22&pg=PP8}}</ref> 
 
Subsequently, in the 1980s and 1990s, the Japanese manufacturers diversified their ranges, producing faired [[sport bike|sportsbikes]], race-replicas, [[Dual-sport motorcycle|dual-sport bikes]] and [[Muscle bike (motorcycle)|musclebikes]].<ref name=Maher1998>{{Citation |last1=Maher |first1=Kevin |last2=Greisler |first2=Ben |title=Chilton's Motorcycle Handbook |publisher=[[Haynes Manual|Haynes North America]] |isbn=0-8019-9099-8 |year=1998 |pages=2.2&ndash;2.18 }}</ref>