Honda Motorcycles, Scooters & ATVs: Service Repair Manuals and Owner's Manual PDF

See also: Honda CBR 600 F4i Fault Codes

The history of Honda motorcycles

Honda was formed at the end of the 40s of the last century, when post-war Japan made every effort to recover from the ruins of World War II. Honda is one of those companies in the history of which there were no grandiose scandals, shame and defeats. Even in the most difficult times, these courageous people found the strength to move on.

At this time, the founder of the company, Soichiro Honda, founded a small business for the production of piston rings, but a year later began to assemble the first cheap mopeds. Since childhood, Soichiro Honda was overcome by a desire to engage in the design of cars and motorcycles and his genius was revealed in all its glory in the 1960s - during the heyday of the company, when Honda brand motorcycles began to win first awards on racing tracks.

If in the fifties the Japanese could only imitate BMW models and some American models, then after a while they managed to find their own style. Now other companies began to take an example from them and even engage in frank plagiarism. Today, Honda is a recognized leader in the world of motorcycles, which produces the most advanced models of two-wheeled vehicles.

Prices for these Honda bikes were never low, but that didn’t stop the company from selling a huge number of popular models around the world. Honda motorcycles are timeless classics. And we all love and really appreciate them. The company produces all classes of modern motorcycles. From Harley Davidson-style bikes to huge travel models you can only dream of.

Honda choppers are simply the embodiment of the sweetest dreams of any motorcycle lover. Chrome parts, superior design, perfect assembly. Fairy tale, not a car.

Millions of pieces of equipment are sold annually around the world. For a motorist, buying a Honda motorcycle is not just a dream. People have been raising money for years, looking at new models, waiting for news. The world follows every release, rejoices in success and sincerely empathizes when the company fails. However, failure for Honda is a rarity. Anyway, when it comes to motorcycles.

Today we present you a brief chronology of the development of this brand.

• 1906 - Soichiro Honda was born in the family of a poor blacksmith in the province of Hamamatsu in Japan. His father gradually masters the craft of a bicycle repairman, making Soichiro first acquainted with the technique.

• 1922 - At the age of 16, Soichiro Honda left school and became a student of a car mechanic and got a job in a Tokyo auto repair shop.

• 1928 - Soichiro Honda returns to Hamamatsu and opens his car repair shop. A fanatical racing fan, he builds his own racing car.

• 1936 - During the next sports racing competition, Soichiro Honda has an accident and is seriously injured.

• 1937 - Soichiro Honda opens a piston ring company. At first, his company was experiencing difficulties, as Soichiro simply did not have experience in this field. However, over time, the company becomes the main supplier of piston rings for Toyota, which in those years is setting up the production of the first cars.

• 1946 - While only a few companies flourished in the devastated World War II Germany, the Japanese motorcycle industry after 1945 numbered more than 100 manufacturers who took the opportunity to provide the country with a ruined economy with much-needed cheap personal transport. This was facilitated by the protectionist policy regarding basic duties on imported goods. Soichiro Honda is selling his piston ring business. A deep post-war crisis reigns in the country. Soichiro realizes that, as industry, the economy and normal peaceful life recover, affordable transport will become very popular, and starts a new business - he installs small and inexpensive two-stroke engines on bicycles, which during the war were used as generators for military radio stations. Today, many call them Honda Model A.

• 1948 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is founded. Soichiro Honda focuses on technological processes, transferring control of all financial matters to his associate Takeo Fujisawa.

• 1953 - Honda Benly J motorcycle model appears with a 4-stroke engine of 90 cm3. It quickly gained popularity among amateur motorcycle racers and lasted two decades, leaving a memory of itself as one of the most reliable Japanese motorcycles of the 50s.

• 1954 - This year, Soichiro Honda shared with his associates and descendants his dream of achieving success in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He wrote: “My childhood’s dream was to become a motorcycle racing champion. I had to take first place on a Honda motorcycle of my own design. However, becoming a little older, I realized that before winning the championships, you need to build a reliable corporate structure, establish production and create an excellent design. In recent years, we have been doing this and today we offer the Japanese products of very high quality, but we did not even begin to make efforts to participate in motorcycle races. "I promise to take part in the TT race on the Isle of Man and I will use all my energy to win it.” A few months later, Soichiro Honda sets off for the TT motorcycle race and attends it as a spectator. There he draws close attention to German NSU motorcycles, which were considered favorites in the 125 and 200 cc classes. Perhaps this fact caused subsequent rumors that Honda copied these motorcycles, although there are a number of significant structural differences between the NSU and Honda models.

• 1957 - A number of leading Italian motorcycle manufacturers, including MV Agusta, Gilera and Mondial, announce the withdrawal of their teams from the world motorcycle championship under the pretext of high costs. Subsequently, MV Agusta refuses this decision and returns to the race, and racing motorcycles from other manufacturers are sold. One of them (the Mondial racing model) is acquired by Honda representatives. Japanese motorcycle designers did not copy this Italian motorcycle. It served as their inspiration and the standard to which they aspired.

• 1958 - the market is shocked by the appearance of the Honda Super Cub motorcycle model (it also has such designations as C100, CA100, Honda 50). Its distinguishing features are a stamped steel frame, a lever fork and a four-stroke engine with a volume of 50 cc. Subsequently, models with 70 and 90 cc engines appeared. This motorcycle has become the world's most popular two-wheeled vehicle with a motor.

• 1959 - Honda takes part in the famous Isle of Man TT for the first time. 5 Honda motorcycles in the "Ultralight" class with a two-cylinder engine are exhibited at the start. Racer Naomi Tanaguchi shows the best result for the team, finishing sixth overall. Honda wins the manufacturers’ cup.

• 1961 - Honda motorcycles gain complete superiority in the 125 and 250 cc classes of the Isle of Man TT Championship. In races in both classes, Honda rider Mike Hailwood won first place. The newspaper Isle of Man Examiner that day comes out with the headline "The East won an unconditional victory" on the first page.

• 1963 - Honda focuses on Formula 1 car racing. For this reason, the direction of motorsport is experiencing some difficulties. However, Honda's motorcycle sales remain impressive. The Honda Super Cub motorcycle model is winning prizes due to its popularity. This year, Honda opens its first foreign assembly plant - it became a plant in Belgium.

• 1964 - two-stroke models dominate the world class of small-sized sports motorcycles. In order to successfully perform in the 250 cc class, while continuing to bet on 4-stroke power units, Honda launches the 3RC164 model with a six-cylinder engine of 250 cm3. This technical work of art makes a huge impression on the world of motor sports, but nonetheless, Phil Read won the Yamaha motorcycle championship this year. However, in 66 and 67, Mike Halewood at the world championships in the 250 cc class comes to the finish line first on the Honda 3RC164 motorcycle model.

• 1968 - 19 years after the first two-wheeled vehicle with a motor left the Honda workshop, the company launches its 10 millionth motorcycle.

• 1969 - at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda introduces the CB750 - a motorcycle that forever changed the mind

• 1970 - Honda puts four riders in Daytona 200 races. Of these, only one came to the finish - Dick Mann (Dick Mann), but he finished first, which overshadowed the failure of other team members. Riding the Honda CB750 Racing Type, specially prepared by the racing division of the company, Dick Mann left Triumph and Harley-Davidson XR750 motorcycles behind.

• 1972 - Honda designers acknowledge that in order to build a cross-country motorcycle that can compete on an equal footing, it is necessary to develop a new two-stroke engine. The new engine was installed on the CR250 Elsinore model, which immediately received recognition by athletes as one of the best motorcycles for motocross.

• 1973 - Soichiro Honda resigns as president of the company, but remains a member of the board of directors, employees call him “Chief Advisor”.

• 1974 - the legendary Honda Gold Wing - GL1000 was launched. It was first presented to the public at a motorcycle exhibition in Cologne, and after only a year it began to be actively sold in the US market. The motorcycle is equipped with the first four-stroke liquid-cooled motor. In addition, a cardan shaft is used as the main gear on it. Another innovation was the fuel pump - it was required to be installed because the Gold Wing had two fuel tanks - one between the steering wheel and the seat and the second hidden under the seat for optimal centering of the mass of the motorcycle.

• 1978 - Honda tries to create a powerful sports bike specifically for the 500GP series of the world motorsport championship. It became the NR500 model, in the V-shaped four-cylinder engine of which oval-shaped pistons were used. It was a real breakthrough for the designers of engines. However, in the course of testing the motorcycle, many problems were identified that could be eliminated only after a year. Nevertheless, in the races Honda NR500 suffered one failure after another and as a result did not bring the motorcycle team of the company a single victory.

• 1981 - Production of the Honda Gold Wing motorcycle model moves from Japan to a new assembly plant in Ohio in the United States.

• 1983 - Honda racer Freddie Spencer for the first time becomes the winner of the world championship in the 500 cc class. Prior to this, in this class, the company managed to win only in the manufacturers’ cup in 1966.

• 1986 - after a bad experience with V-shaped four-cylinder engines in the late 70s, Honda nevertheless returned to this layout of the engine and released the VFR750F Interceptor. In the next ten years, this motorcycle is considered the best road bike.

• 1987 - The company launches Honda CBR600F motorcycle model - the first four-cylinder streetfighter in a full plastic body kit.

• 1990 - four years after the start of production, the Honda VFR750R motorcycle (special sports version) was first sold in the United States. Its price is twice that of the usual stock Interceptor model.

• 1991 - The company mourns the death of its founder, Soichiro Honda, who died of kidney disease.

• 1992 - A limited edition of the legendary Honda NR motorcycle was released, which, without much success, participated in MotoGP races. Its civilian version is equipped with a 750 cc engine and a carbon-fiber case that was unique for its time, digital dashboard, cantilever swing arm and electronic fuel injection. Despite the widespread use of ultralight materials, the mass of the model exceeds 200 kilograms, and the price is breathtaking - $ 60,000!

• 1993 - the sports world is turned upside down after the presentation of the first Honda CBR900RR sportbike. The creation of designer Tadao Baba (Tadao Baba) combines the power of an open class motorcycle with the mass and controllability of the "six hundred."

• 1995 - a new specially prepared Honda EX-2 cross-country motorcycle with a two-stroke engine with a capacity of 400 cc takes first place in its class in the Grenada-Dakar rally. Thanks to the use of a floating exhaust valve, its engine uses the technology of complete combustion of fuel.

• 2001 - Valentino Rossi wins the 500 World Championship on a Honda NSR500 two-stroke motorcycle. The following year, the organizers of the championship refused to race in this class.

• 2002 - Valentino Rossi wins the MotoGP championship on a Honda motorcycle in the 990 cc class, on the RC211V model equipped with a five-cylinder four-stroke engine.

• 2004 - Honda launches a prototype motorcycle whose engine receives energy from fuel cells.

• 2006 - The 50 millionth Honda Super Cub motorcycle model is sold. In total, more than two hundred million motorcycles have been produced on the basis of the Honda Cub engine in the world.

• 2007 - Honda becomes the first motorcycle manufacturer to equip one of its models (Honda Gold Wing) with an airbag.

• 2010 - the Honda VFR 1200F model was introduced. Although this is not a sport bike, as fans of the brand expected, no one was disappointed in the motorcycle. Its main advantage was the optional automatic transmission with two clutches, which can be switched at a speed using buttons. Another bright premiere of this year was the Honda Fury - a classic chopper-style road bike. The novelty gave experts an excuse to say that Honda again wants to enter into fierce competition with Harley-Davidson, as it was in the 60-70s of the last century.

• 2011 - Honda makes an attempt to return to the segment of small-capacity sportbikes and it succeeds with the release of the Honda CBR 250R model, equipped with a 249 cm3 engine. The motorcycle is manufactured at the company's assembly plant in Thailand and sold worldwide.

• 2013 - Honda continues to expand its line of motorcycle models through the development of intermediate classes. Thus begins the sale of three models equipped with a 500 cc engine - CBR500R, CB500F and CB500X. In early 2014, company representatives promise to begin selling the CBR300R.