What are we objecting to? The fact that in the 1950's American's considered motorcycles from central/eastern European and Italian bike brands obscure?

They were to us. Bikes from the UK were popular, as were HD's.

So the good ones weren't exported (or imported) central/eastern European and Italian bike brands. The fact remains that these companies were not household names in the US.

Thank goodness Honda started sending the US quality small motorcycles, because in the 1960's if you wanted a quality small bike in the United States you had to get them from...there weren't any.

Face it guys the only way to get a bike like that is to built it yourself. Like Ohiomoto is doing "That 70s Show" in RSD! And it will be a 650 that you can get any needed parts quickly ! I'm sure we can buy that tank and seat thru some Asian eBay seller !

Don't forget Ducati. Single cylinder 250, 350, and 450. Just like Coca-Cola, a great product. Just a matter of choosing the right size. Plenty of those in the '60s. Just not enough to satisfy the Baby Boomers coming of age, so the door was wide open for the Japanese.

Ohiomoto , Is what started my whole odyssey of building the tracker , besides the fact I love thumpers , I own six , besides getting lucky and finding a Savage with 809 miles on it for 1500 just 4 miles from here, was the Happy button, that button sparks a huge smile every time I push it ! The button to Freedom , to hours of endless Fun and I love trackers. Great job , it's so low  , do you drag anything in the corners ? The lines , bars to tank to seat to tail light/rear fender are perfect ! I would keep the lower bars and add that front fender , very cool !

Back then we didn't have smart bombs and cruise missiles. Stuff happens. And, people get sued.. a corporation can sue a sovereign nation?

GM sued the United States for bombing one of their German factories during World War II, and in 1967 they collected from the U.S. government $33 million in damages, out of our tax dollars. Ford also made vehicles for Germany, and to a lesser extent so did Chrysler. IBM developed a punch card system for cataloguing the Jews in Germany. Standard Oil attempted to keep the U.S. from obtaining synthetic rubber because of an agreement it had with a German chemical company. In short, American companies, if there really are such a thing, made a lot of money arming Hitler, for ten years before World War II and even during World War II (Trading with the Enemy, Charles Higham, Delacorte Press, 1983).

Stuff to contemplate. Anyone who wants to discuss it, I'll be in the basement, at the Tall Table.

Wouldn't it be neat if you could just order the bike you want from the factory? When you buy a new bike, you pay shipping anyway, like around $400. So just order one of those nice "sold in Japan/England/Italy only" models US dealers don't carry. My sister flew to Sweden and picked out her new Volvo. I ordered a custom guitar from Taylor. Rumor has it that a few grey market Honda CB400SS bikes made it to California in 2000-2002. Could it work? Seems like it.

Seems like somebody did get caught into the spitting contest, and now needs to wipe his face  

Back to bikes...

Many Countries "force" specific mechanical or marketing characteristics, in such a way to control their domestic marlet.

Japan, for example, taxes bikes over 400cc to death, so that they become extraordinarily expensive.
So many 750/900cc models we have are only seen in their 400cc variant in Japan.
See Honda CBX, Honda VFF, Yamahas XJ etc.
Guzzi sold its "V35/V50" air cooled twin as the "V40" for the japanese market only.

Similarly... in Sweden nobody would ever consider buying a car not equipped with an engine heater or a heated windshield; in the Mediterranean area these would be redundant, but you'd want metallic paint to keep the heat down in the hot summers.
In some places you'd welcome warm velvet upholstery, elsewhere it's synthetic fabric or leather because velvet is needlessly hot.

Back to bikes: 400cc twins are excellent commuter/utility bikes, and were considered "quite good" in 19702/1980's Europe.
These days you need a 1000cc behemoth to commute to work - that or a CVT 250cc scooter.

Back in the day, most bikes shared very much the same architecture:
OHV (pushrod) single or twins, air cooled, drum brakes and c comfortable cruising speed anywhere from 50 to 70mph.
They all had kick start and points&condenser ignition.
...And they all leaked oil somehow or other  

Enter Honda.

For whatever engineering strategy, Hondas were OHC twins when their European counterparts were OHV.

For whatever engineering strategy, Hondas were often undersquare and would rev higher than their European OHV counterparts.

For whatever engineering strategy, Hondas were often equipped with a 5 speed gearbox when their European OHV counterparts.

For whatever engineering strategy, Hondas were equipped with CDI ignition when their European counterparts still relied on points&condenser.

The result is that even the "humble" Honda CB 302 looked "more bike" than the average European 350 counterpart

Honda CB 302 Twin ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Honda CB 750 Four
Aermacchi 250 Ala Verde single ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Ducati 750 GT
Matchless G3 350 single ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... BSA Rocket
BMW R27 250 single ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... BMW R75/5

When Honda first came out with its CB 750 Four, it was a revelation.
Or, as others put it, a Revelation, meaning the Apocalypse of Old World motorcycling.

Check out these 750cc motorcycles from 1972 and see for yourselves.