The Japanese manufacturer Honda is one of the most recognized in the motor world. For years it has also been the team with which Spanish riders in the Motorcycle World Championship have had the most success, from Dani Pedrosa to Marc Márquez. A rare documentary filmed in 1962 shows us how Honda manufactured its motorcycles 60 years ago.
Legend has it that, in the mid-40s, engineer Soichiro Honda was frustrated by the low speed his bicycle reached. So he put a small engine in it, and turned it into a motorcycle.
He felt compelled to use his idea to help people get around in an affordable way, so founded the Honda motorcycle and engine factory in 1949.
This is how a Honda motorcycle was made in 1962
Almost 74 years after its founding, Honda Japan wanted to share with its followers a rare documentary lost in time. Is called This is Honda (This is Honda), and was filmed in 1962.
It is a very interesting document, 34 minutes long, because it allows us to see How motorcycles were made 61 years ago. It is also one of the few opportunities to see one’s own Soichiro Honda in action. He died in 1981.
The documentary is in Japanese, but luckily, thanks to Google’s artificial intelligence, Spanish subtitles can be added in real time.
Simply activate the automatic subtitles on the video, and while it is playing and someone is talking (otherwise it doesn’t work) click on the nut-shaped icon, enter the Subtitles menu, and touch the option Automatically translate.
The documentary shows the entire manufacturing process of a classic Honda motorcycle. What is most striking is the large number of workers on the assembly line. In 1962 they had not yet been replaced by robots.
We can also see hundreds of workers eating togetherand the races they organized for their children.
Another of the most striking aspects is the resistance and performance tests that these workers carried out on each and every one of the motorcycles that left the factory.
Sling
Even if you don’t watch the entire documentary, watch it starting at minute 32. It’s worth watching how the manufactured motorcycles are put into dozens of trucks, which all leave in a line to the port, to be shipped to Europe and the United States.
Sling is one of the most beloved motorcycle manufacturers, and this rare documentary from 1962, This is Honda, allows us to understand your company cultureand how the entire process of creating a motorcycle has changed.
