Agree that Honda made nice machines in the 1970s; but, the most beautiful and most comfortable small motorcycles ever made (IMHO) were the German NSU Max (250cc), Maxi (175cc) and SuperFox (125cc). These engineering marvels featured concentric overhead camshafts, pressed steel frames, torsion bar front suspension (causing the front to rise under hard braking instead of the dipping of typical front suspensions), and sealed engine and chain drive components. NSU dominated world racing and speed records during the 1950's. It was way ahead of its competitors.

Many people are surprised to learn that NSU was the world's largest producer of motocycles in the 1950's and 1960's. Honda's subsequent designs showed it learned a lot from NSU's designs and successes.

Here is 100+ year NSU--Audi history at this link. NSU is a remarkable story that also developed the Wankel Rotary Engine. Unfortunately that innovaton also needed Japanese engineering to complete the final products under Mazda.
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Here are pdf files of some NSU bikes of the 1950's. The photo of the Fox (125cc) was my beloved bike in high school in Oklahoma. The bike as shown was straight from the factory--including the gold pin stripes.
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I wish it was possible to buy such a wonderful machine today!