Motorcyles Thailand
Last week we talked about The Harley Davidson Motor Company and the incredible history that was created by a small group of Visionaries. In keeping with this column's contention that it doesn't matter what you ride as long as you "ride safe and enjoy", we will be also giving other Motorcycle Companies fair play.
Most people know that Honda makes cars. In fact, in 2001 the Honda Accord was the best selling car in America. Honda began with one man and a dream. The result was an empire of motorcycles, cars, and more.
Soichiro Honda was born in 1906, in Komyo, Prefecture of Shizuoka, Japan near Mt. Fuji. He was the oldest of nine children and not at all fond of school. His parents felt that learning was best done by hands-on training rather than in formalized school setting. Honda was a con-conforming child and did what he could to set himself apart from others. He quickly developed self-assurance and abilities with technical things.
Honda first worked with cars. At 15, he was an apprentice in an automobile workshop. He helped develop a racing car and was its rider-mechanic. He then built his own supercharged 4-cylinder Ford and set a speed record in 1936. That same day, he wrecked the car, ending his racing career.
He began making car piston rings but had trouble since he knew no metallurgy. He saw the need for more schooling but seemed to only learn enough to make his business more successful. During WWII, he worked in a factory making airplane propellers more efficient.
After the war he sold his piston ring business to Toyota to finance a new venture to put the Japanese back on wheels. He found 500 generator motors and set upon building motorized bicycles. He then made his own 50cc two-stroke engine.
He found Honda Motor Company, Ltd in 1948. His first true motorcycle was the Model D in 1949. He renamed it Honda Dream D. Then came the Dream E, his first 4-stroke 146cc engine. In 1958, he produced the Super Cub that eventually sold 30 million machines over four decades. It was part scooter, part motorcycle.
The company grew and in 1959, Honda established the American Honda Motor Company in Los Angeles, CA. His first import into America was the Dream Spot 300. The CB92 Benly Super Sport was introduced in 1959. The concept of "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" was introduced in an advertising campaign in the '60s and motivated many thousands of non-motorcyclists to begin riding Hondas.
In many ways Honda didn't wait for market demand. He created it producing machines that he knew riders would want. Examples are the 1959 Benly, the 1961 CB77 Super Hawk, the 1969 CB750, and the 1975 Gold Wing GL1000. Known as an engineering-oriented company, Honda learned that it needed to start listening to its customers more closely. The whole development of the Gold Wing was fed by customer feedback.
Honda retired in 1973 and distanced himself from the company to let others lead. He died in 1991 at age 84.
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