The Japanese aversion to #4

[soonerbillz]

You know it's a thing that Japanese manufacturers won't name bikes "4"
At least till recently
I read some time ago it's about the numerals attachment to "shi" or death.
The design of 4 cylinders as a regular thing makes me wonder.
We may be far beyond all those things now but still I wonder.

[m in sc]

cb400?

[85RZwade]

The later version was called the CB-1...hmmmm

And what a cool little bike that was, for a diesel! Now I want one. They're probably $20K if you can find one. Oh, well.

[soonerbillz]

cb400?

I think that was so named as a
Ode to cc. I look a the YD & YDS series. How come no YDS4 ?
But then Honda did have the F4
I guess it's  just a cockeyed theory..

[m in sc]

I'll be honest. I'll never understand Japanese cultural nuances, nor do I really care to. But they can take weird to an unprecedented level, that's for damn sure.  And that in itself is pretty interesting.

[Diablo007]

What about western culture's aversion to the number 13?... and all the crazy cultural things going on in the western world?...  If the early numbering scheme had been carried on it's likely the number 7 would also have been omitted.  4 - shi (alternate pronunciation, 'yon'), 7 - shichi (alternate pronunciation 'nana').  Shi sounds the same as the Japanese word for death but different characters are used.  The reason is the same as why it's frowned on to call a cigarette a 'fag'.

***EDIT***
I realized I had forgotten about the YDS7.  It's possible that by its release Yamaha had started to cater more to western markets.

[Evans Ward]

In Japan, the H2 750 Triple Mach IV was called the Mach III there. I've seen reproduction emblems of the Japanese Mach III online for sale too.