Honda Motorcycles

About Honda

Honda is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan and has been since it started production in 1955. At its peak in 1982, Honda manufactured almost three million motorcycles annually. By 2006 this figure had reduced to around 550,000 but was still higher than its three domestic competitors.

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. Soon Model J Benly appeared.

Honda wanted to sell a more powerful motorcycle that led to the 146cc over head valve four-stroke E-Type Dream 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 with two-stroke engine. Its big sales became basis for future development.

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.

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.

CB models 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.

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.

The first commercially successful large motorcycle 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

Soichiro Honda died on August 5, 1991 of liver failure.

Honda's entry into the U.S. motorcycle market during the 1960s is used as a case study for teaching introductory strategy at business schools worldwide. There are a few theories explaining their great success.

Moto blog

2012 Honda Fireblade and NC700X launch

I'm chucking a few essential items into my massive stuffa bag, ready to go to Portimao tomorrow for the International launch of not just the Honda NC700X but also the new Fireblade, too. You couldn't fathom two bikes at further ends of the scale. One all about performance and speed, the other about user-friendliness and thrift.

Remember push starts?

Alongside the most stunning collection of race and road bikes at their Motegi museum, next to some race bikes, Honda also has a step by step guide on most aspects of riding. I photographed the wonderful text on push starting but I also have lots of equally hilarious instructions on cornering braking and even what a riders goal should be. Watch this space...... oh, and hopefully see you at the NEC over the next ten days!  

San Carlo Gresini To Field CRT Entry with Honda CBR1000RR Engine

The San Carlo Gresini race team announced it will compete in the 2012 MotoGP World Championship as a Claiming Rules Team with a Honda CBR1000RR engine in an FTR prototype chassis. The move is a late, but unfortunately necessary change from the team’s original plan to run the factory-level Honda RC213V racebike. The late Marco Simoncelli was tabbed to ride the newest version of Honda’s MotoGP machine next season, but after his tragic death, Gresini had to find another option if it wanted to continue racing.

Top 10 EICMA Show Bikes You May Have Missed

Interesting motorcycles you probably didn't see1 of 11Next Last There’s no cave deep, mountain high or rock heavy enough to have thwarted news of Ducati’s 1199 Panigale superbike launch at the 2012 EICMA show in Milan, Italy. And a few models such as Honda’s NC700S and X, Kawasaki’s Versys 1000 and CRP’s Energica were unveiled without heavy prior fanfare, but gasps of surprise weren’t heard when the wraps were taken off Triumph’s Tiger 1200 Explorer, Husqvarna’s Nuda or MV Augusta’s F3 675 among others, whose existences were revealed months in advance of the show. What we’ve comprised below is our list Top 10 Bikes unveiled at EICMA that didn’t receive top billing but are certainly worthy of your attention.

The future. But we can't have it

It's no secret that we motorcyclists are getting older. We're ageing because less people are passing their bike test each year (roughly 30,000 last year compared to 50,000 for the 10 years before the new two-part test) and so not only is the pool not growing it's not even being replenished and so the average age isn't being diluted down by yoof. When the going gets tough in any situation, you really get to see who's got their shit-sorted and who's light enough on their feet to adapt to change.

Honda to Unveil Electric Sportbike Concept at Tokyo Motor Show

Honda is set to unveil seven electric-powered concept vehicles at the upcoming 42nd Tokyo Motor Show, including a sportbike that has piqued our interest. According to Honda, the RC-E concept is a version of a sportbike that “pursues the joy of riding.” Honda says the RC-E will offer a powerful and smooth ride unique to an EV model and features a 250cc-class compact body. We’ll provide more details of the RC-E concept as they become available.

Honda Recalls Small Number of the 2010 NT700 for Incorrect Tire Specs Label

  On October 27, 2011, Honda filed a recall campaign with the NHTSA (campaign ID number: 11V526000) involving the 2010 model-year NT700. The recall is for a swingarm-mounted label that displays incorrect tire size and inflation information. The 120 affected models were manufactured Nov.

How do 1000s compare to the 800s

Now MotoGP has completed its transformation from 800 to 1000cc, how do the lap times between the different bikes compare using Valencia and the post-season test as a benchmark.. Yesterday, Dani Pedrosa was the quickest 1000 on his Honda RC213V setting a time of 1:32.186. To find the quickest time from the outgoing 800 era you have to look at his current Repsol Honda team-mate, Casey Stoner, but it wasn't set on a Honda.

2012 Honda VFR1200F Returns With Some New Features

When Honda first introduced the VFR1200F late in 2009, Editor Duke was an instant believer in the machine’s capabilities. It blurred the line between sportbike and tourer, and the addition of a true dual-clutch transmission that actually works was truly a surprise. Honda is bringing the VFR back for 2012, much to our pleasure, and thankfully the company has spent the past two years developing some subtle but significant changes to it.

Honda Announces More New-Model Releases For 2012

Lost in all the hoopla surrounding the new models being released at EICMA this week, Honda has announced details about a few more models in its 2012 lineup: the CB1000R, CBR250R, Silver Wing scooter and the Ruckus, along with the cutting-edge VFR1200F that receives an infusion of impressive new technology for 2012 (which we’ll highlight in a separate blog entry). All of which are returning models from 2011. Pricing is yet to be determined.