More than half a century ago, Honda started life as a motorcycle manufacturer, and migrated towards being one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world, while maintaining their dominant position as the largest motorcycle manufacturer.

Now it would seem, motorcycles are going to become a more important part of their corporate life again. According to Honda's CEO Takeo Fukui (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeo_Fukui), “Motorcycle business is the driving force of Honda’s growth and expansion, and it is one of the key strengths of Honda that other automakers do not have”. Fukui further said at  his mid year speech held on the 21st of May in Tokyo, “Demand for motorcycles as a means of transportation is expected to continue to grow mainly in Asian and South American nations. In addition, considering the global high price of crude oil, there is a good chance that motorcycles will be considered not only in developing countries but on a global basis”.

Honda has seen the light (or smelled the rising cost of fuel), and is going to beef up motorcycle production. According to Fukui “Toward this end, it is important to strengthen motorcycle production. The new motorcycle plant at Honda’s Kumamoto Factory, which began operating in April 2008, will play a key role”,

What does this mean to us common bikers? Honda is going to come with many new models, from basic transportation motorcycles (like the new/old Super Cub) to off-the-wall motorcycles like the DN-01. Fukui reinforced this by saying “In order to efficiently produce approximately 60 models, from commuters to large-size motorcycles, Honda conceived and built from scratch highly efficient and ideal production lines to accommodate the unique characteristics of each model”.

60 motorcycle models?? The future looks good for motorcycle riders.