Vintage is big. Vintage Italian bikes, vintage Harley-Davidsons, old pushrod Brit machines. Even oddballs such as the Suzuki rotary and the handful of factory turbo bikes. And of course the really iconic Honda twins, the 350 and the less-loved 450 DOHC, Honda's unique V4s, and the classy, venerable SOHC 750. They're all over media today, talked about, celebrated, restored and loved, more than they ever were in their day. And it's wonderful. It looks as if there is more excitement about these motorcycles than even about all the comparatively very innovative and ground-breaking, multi-computer, gyro-controlled, awesomely capable, digitally-powered modern marvels of today's moto world. Vintage is very cool.

But where is the CB500/CB550? It's an also-ran. No love, and especially not from the few "authorities" who somehow manage to denigrade it without hardly trying. Instead it's relegated to obscure digital magazine files, tucked away haphazardly in the moto industry's neglected archives. Barely historical and even less significant--the 350/400 four gets far more love. And it certainly deserves it. But the CB500/550? Just a tick in time. Briefly celebrated.

But it was in such a moment that motojournalist Peter Egan sold his Norton and bought a CB550, reporting that, "It feels compact, solid and secure. In full acceleration it woofs through the gears in a series of smooth, euphonious lunges with enough spirit to be fun. Very fine engineering, a jewel-like engine, long service life, beautiful shapes and a plethora of convenience features all wrapped up into a machine whose appearance and performance transcend its individual parts." Bike Magazine further lauded it as, "One of the finest balances between performance, economy, and handling quality in today's motorcycling arena. We consider it to be one of the better bikes to emerge from Honda's design team in recent years." Well said.

There's a certain irony here. Machines about which the motorcycling world proved to be relatively indifferent are now wunderbikes, while the truly iconic are, well, invisible. Forgotten. The CB500/550 is very much an invisible motorbike. Maybe that adds to its appeal?