Honda, a brief history.

I stumbled on this while searching for something:


Honda


The start

Honda is founded in 1948 in Hamamatsu, Japan. The company is founded by Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa.

At this moment Honda is one of the most leading and largest producers of motorized two-wheelers in the world. After the Second World War, the use of engines quickly spread in Japan. This made it easier for people to travel around and transport goods. This was the starting point of production for Honda.

With a staff of 12 men working in a 16 m2 (170 sq ft) shack, they built and sold improvised motorized bicycles, using a supply of 500 two-stroke 50 cc Tohatsu war surplus radio generator engines.

Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959. Honda reached a production of 400 million by the end of 2019. Honda is also the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda currently produces more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year.


Honda for everybody

The first complete motorcycle, with both the frame and engine made by Honda, was the 1949 D-Type. This was the first Honda to go by the name Dream. Honda Motor Company grew in a short time to become the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964. 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.

Since then Honda has given shape to a wide range of engine types such as road, off road Atv or Utv. Honda made the pleasure of driving on two wheels, via products like the Super Cub, which reached a milestone of 100 million units in 2017. In September 2014, Honda's cumulative global production reached the 300 million milestone. Engines such as the NR750 and DN01 are examples of Honda and its leading technology.

An interesting read. I quite enjoyed a visit to David Silver Spares in Suffolk, UK. They have a nice collection of Honda M/Cs going way back. They also supply Honda OEM parts along with some after-market bits. They had three CBXs for sale when I visited.

The museum is worth a visit if you find yourself in the vicinity. Mr Honda certainly knew what he was doing.

Watching Honda at work in its Ohio plants was always a treat. One very noticeable thing was cleanliness followed by assembly logic, simply put they had their act together. Even in the engine plant it was noticed no matter how messy the procedure the mess was always contained.

Also worth a read is this on Honda's first TT.
https://global.honda/heritage/episodes/1958manttrace.html