Honda Love

[AllanB]

Have you thanked Honda lately?

If you ride anything remotely modern you should have.

Without them you may still be tolerating crap engineering and electrics and piss poor reliability. Ok chances are another Japanese maker would have introduced something equally impressive as 1969's CB750 (pretty sure Kawasaki were working one a inline 4) but the push button, run forever engines we take for advantage now over all brands (Hobag excluded of course) are a direct response to Hondas brilliance.

Oh sure BMW had a good rep for reliability but in reality is was relative to the rattly, leaky American, European and British bikes around during the 60's.

So take a quiet moment next time you push your electric starter and you bike fires up to thank Honda.

Now Honda just need to bring out a similar cutting edge, huge leap forward machine in their current range ........................

On that note the CB750/4 of 69 was what we now call a naked bike (just a motorcycle back then!) we tend to think the next leap forward will be a sport bike, I'd love to see it somewhere else. Actually the more I type this wine inspired post the more I think the next big leap in motorcycling will be a world beating electric motorcyle sometime in the next decade.

[The Lone Rider]

Interesting post.

Didn't pay a penny for your thoughts, but I don't regret the time taken to read it.

[pete376403]

Kawasaki had their inline 4 very close to release when Honda dropped the CB750 bombshell. They (KHI) went back to the drawiing board and reworked the bike into the Z1. Honda have been trying to catch up ever since.

That the Kawasaki design was superior is shown by the way Suzuki copied the KHI design, rather than Hondas, for the GS series.

(stands back and waits...)

[dangerous]

Have you thanked Honda lately?
Without them you may still be tolerating crap engineering and electrics and piss poor reliability.

UMMMmmmmmmm... I ride a Guzzi

[YellowDog]

Have you thanked Honda lately?


So take a quiet moment next time you push your electric starter and you bike fires up to thank Honda.

I certainly do agree with this post. Honda dragged the industry up kicking and screaming into competing with their own technological advancements.

Good though they may be, I'm not sure that their venture into Cruisers was a great way forward

[nudemetalz]

Have you thanked Honda lately?

************
Now Honda just need to bring out a similar cutting edge, huge leap forward machine in their current range ........................

You mean like the Hydrogen powered ES-21 concept they brought out in '93.
This is super cool looking, even by today's standards..
Honda can do it....


And yup, like Dangerous I ride '60s engineered Guzzi ...

[Road kill]

Honda's CB750 came out in 68 not 69,also Kawasaki was taking a break from building ships an had their Z900 on the drawing board already.
Japan was simply following a trend that would of happened anyway and in fact has always been happening,,,and they were taught that by the yanks.
So you should really be thanking the Americans because with out their helping to rebuild japan after having bombed them into the real world,,they would still be living in the 16th century and attacking the Chinese,which is what got them in the shit and in turn dragged them out of the dark ages in the first place.
Frankly,I thank the Japanese for nothing because building a better version of some other persons idea counts for nothing,it's still a copy no matter how you twist it.
Even brother brain damage bleats on about the japs sharing things and returning to alternative closer to nature life styles like it's something new and actually "their" idea,,,,well the hippys beat them to that by 40 years .
All they do or ever have done it to copy or slightly improve on things that others have already done.
Plus if you ride Brittish like you should,,,they become pretty much a non event anyway.

[gammaguy]

I took my Big Bang rotary disc Valve four cylinder twin crank two stroke Suzuki for a ride today.

That was 6 hours ago,and I am still grinning.

Tell me what part of that I should thank Honda for.

[merv]

I took my Big Bang rotary disc Valve four cylinder twin crank two stroke Suzuki for a ride today.

That was 6 hours ago,and I am still grinning.

Tell me what part of that I should thank Honda for.

For retiring from GP racing after 1967 season and not building its own two strokes for about 15 years to let Suzuki have a chance to win some championships before the NS and NSR Hondas kicked arse.

[FJRider]

The Russians were first in space ... but who on the International Space station thanks them for being able to be there .. (apart from when the Russian supply ship arrives)

Kawasaki always seem to wait and see how the "others" do it ... and improve on it.

[Edbear]

Soichiro Honda was a brilliant engineer and industrialist who deserves all the accolades he gets. While some Jap manufacturers did copy and improve on British and American designs, the fact that they did improve them out of sight, says a lot for their ability. Witness the W1 for example.

The Japs are also innovators and very careful with design. They are not unique in that either, as there are very clever people all around the world in all nations. I think we should give credit where credit is due regardless who they are or where they come from.

[ducatilover]

I do like my Hondas, they're always trying to move things on and innovate. They've built many ridiculously nice bikes and the majority are super solid bits of kit. I prefer them to the other Jap bikes (in general).
So who is going to let me have a go on an RC45?

[nudemetalz]

For retiring from GP racing after 1967 season and not building its own two strokes for about 15 years to let Suzuki have a chance to win some championships before the NS and NSR Hondas kicked arse.

Had they not retired in after ’67, word is they had a 125-6 cylinder and 250 V8 for 1968,….
That I would have loved to see !!

[gammaguy]

For retiring from GP racing after 1967 season and not building its own two strokes for about 15 years to let Suzuki have a chance to win some championships before the NS and NSR Hondas kicked arse.

are you sure you dont mean....

"trying for years to build a four stroke race bike and finally realising that they were wasting their time and money and building a two stroke like the rest had been doing,then signing the best riders of the time to finally win the premier class"?

innovation?I think not

Following the others?I think so

Soichiro Honda hated two strokes,and it is indeed a testament to their engineers that they made some really good ones,he must have turned in his grave.

As far as my RG is concerned,I have nothing to thank Honda for,it is more german in design that Japanese.The best 2T engineers were from Germany in the early days,they defected and went to Japan to work for Suzuki and Yamaha after the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Degner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kaaden

[yod]

All they do or ever have done it to copy or slightly improve on things that others have already done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ese_inventions