The history of Honda is one of Soichiro Honda, a Japanese talented engineer and businessman who loved technology and speed. His first steps into the business was the foundation of a factory in cylinder rings. Later on he sold that company to Toyota. He uses the money of that sale to realize a dream: create affordable transport for the common man. That is something which was lacing enormously during the first years after the World War II in Japan, where public transport was below standard and fuel was limited. Honda buys 500 engines which were build during the war to power electrical generators and rebuilds them so they can be used as a power source for a bicycle. Soon he starts to make complete “motorcycles” using these engines.

Because of fuel shortages he let’s them run on turpentine. Despite the fact it means you need to paddle hard before the vehicle finally gets going, this invention sells excellent. This success results in the foundation of a real motorcycle plant in 1948: Honda Motor Company. A year later, the first real Honda motorcycle comes from the assembly line: the D-Type. This motor, which makes Honda’s dream come through, is also known as “The Dream”.

(Original article: motorfietsen.org)
(Original photo: world.honda.com)