The story of Honda as a motorcycle manufacturer goes back to the immediate post-war period, when Japan, as with so many other war-torn countries, desperately needed cheap transport. Out of this was born the Super Cub which, to date, has sold well over 100 million units. The success of the Super Cub gave the company the money to move into larger-capacity motorcycles as well as a racing program that really put the company on the map. In the 1970s, Honda introduced the world to the mass-produced inline four-cylinder motorcycle engine and the motorcycling world has not been the same since.

Honda Super Cub

How could you not start with the Super Cub? Introduced in 1955, it has sold over 100 million units worldwide and the marketing campaign in the U.S. - You Meet The Nicest People On a Honda - was responsible for not only changing people’s perception of motorcycles but paved the way for Japanese domination of motorcycling into the 1970s and beyond.

In designing the Super Cub, Honda founder Soichiro Honda’s concept was a two-wheeler for everyman, one that would appeal to both developed and developing countries, urban and rural. The new motorcycle needed to be technologically simple to survive in places without up-to-date know-how and access to advanced tools or reliable spare parts supplies. The common consumer complaints of noise, poor reliability, especially in the electrics, and general difficulty of use were addressed.

In contrast to European scooters, the Super Cub had large motorcycle-type wheels making it safe to ride on bad roads, and a clutchless manual gearbox, easy for anyone to ride. The plastic enclosure of the mechanical bits, including the drive chain, and the leg shields kept the rider clean.

Also different was placing the engine in the traditional position in the frame and not in the unit with the rear wheel, as on most European scooters. This helped with unsprung weight and weight distribution and therefore handling, as well as having benefits for engine cooling.

Cheap to produce and therefore, buy, easy to ride and maintain, the fact that so many have been built and are still being built in largely unchanged form proves that Honda got it right the first time and deserved the success.

RC166

In the 1960s, Honda went racing in Europe in a big way, seeing not only the marketing potential but also using racing as a test bed for technologies that would trickle down to road machines.

As early as 1959, Honda was building a 250cc inline-four cylinder racing engine for the RC160 motorcycle. In 1964, the company staggered the racing world with the appearance of the 250cc inline-six cylinder RC164, an incredible feat of engineering miniaturization.

In 1966, Honda tempted Mike Hailwood away from MV Agusta and built the RC166 for him to ride in the 250cc World Championship, again featuring a six-cylinder engine that would rev to 20,000rpm. On this bike, Hailwood won 10 of the 12 rounds to take the championship easily. He repeated the feat in 1967, although not without strong competition from Phil Read on his Yamaha.

The writing was on the wall for Honda and the company pulled out of racing at the end of the 1967 season. The F.I.M, the world governing body for motorcycle racing, soon slapped restrictions on the number of cylinders to be used in each class to curb spiraling development costs and the world would never again see the likes of the Honda six-cylinder racing engines.

CB77 Super Hawk

If Honda's racing machinery incorporated insane engineering, the road bikes were slightly more mundane, if no less important to the company.

After the Super Cub put Honda on the road bike map, it was time to upscale and attract a new audience. The resulting 305cc Super Hawk defined future motorcycling as much as the later CB750.

For the first time, a Honda had a steel tubular frame in place of the pressed steel chassis used on the Super Cub, along with telescopic front forks. The engine was a parallel twin but, unlike similar British designs, it had a 180° crankshaft, not the 360° crank on Triumphs, BSAs and Nortons. This made it smoother running but, more importantly, the Super Hawk was fast, beating larger-engined British bikes while also being much more reliable and oil-tight. The engine was a load-bearing element of the chassis and even had an electric starter.

Elvis Presley rode a Super Hawk in the movie Roustabout, and Robert M Pirsig rode one on the trip that inspired his seminal book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

CB750

The motorcycle with which the term ‘superbike’ was coined. By the late 1960s, the British had become lazy and complacent, thinking nothing could challenge their dominance in the motorcycle markets of the world.

Honda had challenged that dominance in the smaller capacities but, in 1969, it again staggered the world with the four-cylinder CB750. Here was a motorcycle that had a smooth, non-vibrating engine that was reliable, didn’t leak oil and had electric start! The CB750 was even fitted with a front disc brake! Commonplace now but space-aged thinking back then.

At a single stroke, it made every other motorcycle on the planet look old-fashioned and set the template for motorcycles for the next 50+ years.

Gold Wing

In the early 1970s, Honda wanted to build the ultimate sports motorcycle and introduced the GL1000 Gold Wing, featuring the first Japanese water-cooled four-cylinder engine, this time of a flat four configuration.

The bike was big and heavy and Honda soon realized that owners were covering huge mileages on their Gold Wings, using it as a touring bike more than a sports bike. Honda decided to attempt to create the ultimate touring bike and, fitting the Gold Wing with a huge fairing, panniers, and a top box, along with a large, comfortable seat, did just that.

Over the years, the Gold Wing just got larger, heavier, and even more comfortable. Eventually, the engine became a flat-six cylinder and increased to 1800cc to cope with the ever-increasing weight. In 2018, Honda revealed a completely new Gold Wing, with a new engine, frame, electronics, and a whole new dynamic feel.

Arguably one of the best touring bikes on the planet.

CBX1000

If Honda had abandoned six-cylinder engines for racing, the company certainly hadn’t forgotten about them. In 1978, it revealed the CBX1000, with a DOHC, 24-valve cylinder head engine mounted in a conventional frame with telescopic forks and twin-shock rear.

Although the transversely-mounted engine looks hugely wide, it is actually only two inches wider than the four-cylinder engine in the CB750.

Comparing the CBX to the CB900F, renowned journalist LJK Setright said,"The CBX feels better and goes better, and the difference is greater than the difference in price, so the costlier bike is actually the better bargain. ... The CBX engine is as responsive as a racer, the nicest cycle motor to ever reach the street.".

NR

Honda has gone down some interesting technical alleyways throughout its existence but the NR must rank as one of the most bizarre.

Absent from motorcycle Grand Prix racing for the whole of the 1970s, arguing that the then-dominant two-stroke engine technology wasn’t in line with its road-going motorcycles which exclusively used four-stroke technology, Honda determined to return to racing on its own terms.

At that time, regulations restricted 500cc engines to a maximum of four combustion chambers. Honda’s philosophy had always been more power through more cylinders (see the RC166 above) so the engineers came up with a way of making a V8 with only four combustion chambers.

They did this by making an engine with four large oval pistons, each containing two spark plugs and four valves per spark plug and inlet. Within the letter of the law, there were still only four combustion chambers. Each piston had four connecting rods and there was a total of 32 valves. And it was only 500cc, don’t forget. The engine continued the miniaturization that was first seen in the 1960s.

It was utterly unsuccessful as a GP race bike and a 750cc version were produced for endurance racing. 300 examples of a road version, called simply the NR, were built and was the most expensive production motorcycle at the time, costing $50,000 in the early 1990s.

Following the disaster of the 500cc NR, Honda relented and turned to two-stroke technology for its Grand Prix bikes, to devastating effect.

Fireblade

By the 1990s, 1000cc+ sports bikes were being manufactured by every Japanese manufacturer. The only problem was that they were large and heavy, which had knock-on effects on the performance and handling.

Honda took a long, hard look and came up with the CBR900RR Fireblade. At a stroke, it re-wrote the sports bike rules. Even if the engine displacement was ‘only’ 893cc, it was significantly lighter than its rivals and the twin-spar aluminum frame offered new levels of stiffness, allowing the suspension to do its job much more effectively.

Both these attributes enabled the Fireblade to run rings around the opposition and it wasn’t long before rivals were copying the design lead set by Honda.

Once again, Honda set the template for sports bikes that exists to this day.

CBR1100XX Super Blackbird

Speed for speed’s sake! By the mid-1990s, Kawasaki held the title of fastest production motorcycle with the Ninja ZX11. Honda was determined to wrest the title from Kawasaki’s grasp and win the publicity war.

The name was a reference to the Lockheed SR-71 jet, the fastest ‘plane in the world. When tested by Sport Rider magazine, the Super Blackbird achieved a top speed of 178.5mph, beating the Kawasaki by about 3mph.

The arrival of the Super Blackbird to challenge Kawasaki prompted Suzuki to enter the competition and produce the Hayabusa, which took the top speed title with a speed of 194mph. The name Hayabusa translates to Peregrine Falcon, a species of raptor that preys on blackbirds!

This boom in speed frightened the manufacturers, who feared that European legislators would outlaw such performance bikes so they entered into a gentlemen’s agreement to limit top speed to 186mph (300km/h).

RC213V-S

The RC213V-S is essentially a MotoGP bike with lights and is the closest thing to riding a MotoGP bike as most of us will ever get, if you ever get your hands on one, that is.

Released in 2015, it is quite simply the ultimate sports bike, being fantastically light (374 pounds) and with ridiculously top-spec components. In road trim, the 90° V-4 engine pushes out 159 horses but there is an optional Sports Kit that will push the power up to 215 horses.

The Sports Kit comprises a revised ECU, a front ram duct, a revised exhaust, different spark plugs, a quickshifter, a data logger, a cooler thermostat, and even a bespoke cover.

If you have to ask how much one might cost now, then you can’t afford it. But it does show that, behind the corporate façade, Honda still has a passion for creating the ultimate motorcycle.



FAQ

Q: Which is the best Honda motorcycle?

That depends on what you are using it for: commuting, adventure riding, track days, touring? The great thing about Honda is that there's a bike in the model lineup that fits every conceivable use.

Q: What is Honda’s most powerful motorcycle?

Currently, the most powerful Honda is the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, the engine of which produces 215 horsepower.

Q: Why Honda motorcycles are the best?

Honda has a great reputation for engineering quality and reliability. Of all four motorcycle manufacturers, Honda has been making motorcycles longer than the other three - Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki - although the company itself is a lot younger. There is something for everyone in Honda's line-up.

Q: Which is the best Honda motorcycle?

That depends on what you are using it for: commuting, adventure riding, track days, touring? The great thing about Honda is that there's a bike in the model lineup that fits every conceivable use.

Q: What is Honda’s most powerful motorcycle?

Currently, the most powerful Honda is the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, the engine of which produces 215 horsepower.

Q: Why Honda motorcycles are the best?

Honda has a great reputation for engineering quality and reliability. Of all four motorcycle manufacturers, Honda has been making motorcycles longer than the other three - Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki - although the company itself is a lot younger. There is something for everyone in Honda's line-up.