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SPECIAL
FEATURE |
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A
Brief History of Honda Motorcycles |
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 Soichiro Honda |
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Soichiro
Honda began producing motorcycles in 1946 to satisfy a thirst for cheap
transportation in war devastated Japan. Honda began his effort by installing
military surplus engines in bicycles. As Honda became more prosperous,
he designed his own 50cc engine for the bicycles. The first motorcycle
that featured a completely Honda designed motor and frame was produced
in 1949. It was called the Model D for Dream. The success of this model
was quickly followed by the model J Benly. |
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 Honda's first motorcycle, a 1949 Model D (Dream) |
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Soichiro
Honda began producing motorcycles in Japan shortly after World War II
to satisfy the war torn country’s need for cheap transportation.
The first Honda motorcycle that featured both a Honda designed motor and
frame was produced in 1949. It was called the Model D for Dream. The success
of this model was quickly followed by the model J Benly. Honda wanted to sell a more powerful motorcycle that led to the 146cc over head valve four-stroke E-Type Dream. This was a motorcycle capable of producing 5 ½ horse power with a top speed of 50mph. The motorcycle featured Honda's own designed frame and suspension on both wheels. In 1952 Honda began producing the Cub. It featured a 1/2 horsepower, 50cc, two-stroke engine. Within a year, the little motorcycle was being produced at a rate of 6500 units per month. The steady cash flow from this popular model provided resources to secure the future of the company. In 1953 Honda began producing a four-stroke single powered motorcycle featuring more engineering sophistication. This small motorcycle was also called a Benly and featured a three-speed gearbox, pressed steel Frame, rear suspension with the engine and swinging arm on a sprung pivot, and telescopic front suspension and produced 3.8bhp. |
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 Honda C 100 |
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A
revolution in the motorcycle industry began in 1958 when Honda brought
the C100 Super Club to the American market. It was the first Honda motorcycle
sold in the U.S. The small step through design was easy to ride reliable
bike. It was featured in the famous “you meet the nicest people
on a Honda” marketing campaign that eventually made the C100 motorcycle
the best selling motorcycle of all times. Eventually more than 30 million
would be built. |
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CA 77 with stamped steel frame |
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Honda
attracted international attention with the CB models. These included the
CA72 (250cc) and followed by the CA77 (305cc). The parallel twin engines
proved very reliable, however their stamped steel welded frames handled
poorly at higher speeds. |
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 Honda CB 77 |
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Performance
and handling improved when the company bolted the little parallel twin
engines to a steel tubular frame and added twin carburetors for more power.
The motorcycles were known as the CB 72 and 77 super hawk models and gained
a reputation of reliability. |
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 5 cylinder Honda |
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With
money coming in from sales of the c100, Honda turned their attention to
racing. They stunned the world in 1961 with a racing victory at the Isle
of Man. Their secret was a 125cc 5 cylinder engine that could rev to 22,000
rpm without coming apart. It was faster than anything in its class. |
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financial success of the C100 as well as the racing skills the company
learned on the race track allowed Honda to begin designing larger motorcycles
with more more powerful engines. The first commercially successful large
motorcycle from this effort was the CB450, brought out in 1965 and called
the black bomber. This innovative engine featured torsion bar valve springs
that allowed high rpm and was the first serious effort by Honda to challenge
English dominance in the American marketplace. |
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 Honda 450 Black Bomber |
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 1969 Honda 705 Four |
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This
was followed in 1969 with the Honda CB750 four. A powerful and reliable
motorcycle that dominated the motorcycle market. The success of the CB 750 4 cylinder Honda led to a series of smaller Honda motorcycles with 350, 400, 550 cc motors and ushered in the era of the universal Japanese motorcycle and spelled the end of British motorcycle dominance in the world. |
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 1978 CBX 6 Cylinder |
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This
design would reach its fruition when it morphed into the cult classic
inline 6 cylinder CBX in 1978. The reliability and power of the four cylinder Honda 750 soon led to a new kind of motorcyclist, the long distance touring rider. Craig Vetter designed a full fairing for the motorcycle called a Windjammer. Before long thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts were touring the countryside on their motorcycles behind a Windjammer . In 1974 Honda brought out the GL1000 Gold Wing. The motorcycle featured a flat four cylinder 999cc a water cooled engine with power delivered through a driveshaft. It proved to be as reliable as the cars of the day. Soon thousands of Goldwings were bought up and converted to touring motorcycles by their new owners. |
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 1978 Goldwing withVetter touring accessories |
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With
interest running so high for touring models, Honda brought out the Interstate
model in 1980. This was the first Japanese produced motorcycle to roll
off the assembly line as a complete touring motorcycle. The motorcycle
featured a full fairing, trunk and saddlebags. |
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In
addition to touring motorcycles, Honda began developing a series of V-four
engines in the 1970s. This led to the production of the Honda Sabre and
Magna in 1980. These two models led to a whole series of VF designated
high performance motorcycles ranging between 400cc and 1000cc. But due
to mechanical problems the VF line was unable to sustain itself.
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Following
the VF was the new VFR series of motorcycles. The VFR 750R was a sport
touring motorcycle with lots of power, good balance and reliability. |
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In
1996 Honda produced the fastest motorcycle in production with the CBR1100XX
Super Blackbird (1137cc). The motorcycle became popular with the long
range high speed touring crowd. |
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Today
Honda Motorcycle Company is the largest producer of motorcycles in the
world. Soichiro Honda died on August 5, 1991 of liver failure |
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| Modern Honda Motorcycles | ||
 CBR1100XX Super Blackbird |
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 1997 VFR |
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 1998 Aero |
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 2006 Goldwing, considered by many to be the Cadilac of Motorcycles |
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| Also
Read "Honda's First Four Years: and you thought it was easy." |
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