Honda motorcycle Logo Meaning and History

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is an international industrial company, which is, first of all, known for its cars, motorcycles, and robots. The company was founded on the 24th of September 1948. Soichiro Honda became its founder. Before the 60s, the company Honda specialized on production of motorcycles and the automobile industry was not its business. After the energy crisis of 1973, Honda’s models became bestsellers in the US market, as well as somewhat strengthened their positions in the European market.

honda-motorcycle-logo-history

Honda made a great progress due to the high quality and reliability of its products, modern technology solutions, and its original marketing policy.

The history of “wings” of the Honda company is linked to its founder Soichiro Honda. Their first image appeared in 1947 when Soichiro was inspired by the sculpture of the goddess Nike (Ancient Greece goddess of victory).

Soichiro Honda took the wings of the goddess Nike (Victory) as the basis for his logo. Thus, the first Honda logo appeared.

In 1947, the first experimental sample of the engine of 0,5 horsepower, Honda А-Type, was created. However, it was more known under the name of “Fireplace.” It was called like that because it gave much smoke and turpentine smell. That was the first product, on which this logo was put.

And in 1948, Honda introduced a motorcycle with the engine of 90 cm³ of volume, known as B- Type. And it was the first Honda motorcycle with the logo, of which the wings of the goddess Nike were the bedrock.

In August 1953, the model Benly J-Type with the four-cycle engine 90 cm³ of volume appeared. As it was designed as a practical, inexpensive and easy-to-use transport vehicle, the motorcycle was called “Benly” (from “benri,” which means “convenient” in Japanese). This model quickly won popularity among motorcycle amateur racers and existed for two decades, having left a memory of itself as one of the most reliable Japanese mcies of the 50s. An updated logo with two wings was used on the model Benly.

In 1958, Honda was introduced in Japan, and later, in 1959, in the USA, a motorcycle C100 Super Cub with the centrifugal automatic clutch, with the four-cycle engine 50 cm³ of volume, a pressed steel frame, a three-speed transmission. Models with 70 and 90-cube engines appeared in the consequence. That motorcycle became the most successful and the most popular in the world because it was cheap, sensible and good-looking. The word “scooter” was born at that point for designation of this class of motorcycles.

1969: at the Tokyo motorcycle show, the company Honda introduced the cylinder engine row model SV750 with four exhaust pipes, the front disc brake and the overhead camshaft – a surprisingly elegant and good-looking motorcycle, the exterior of which forever altered the overview about a city motorcycle look. It was the fastest and the most powerful motorcycle in the world for that moment. It was so revolutionary that it instantly threw in the shade such powerful competitors as Triumph Trident, BSA Rocket 3, Norton Commando Fastback, Harley XLCH and Kawasaki Mach III.

During several years, the logo underwent slight changes up to 1973.

At the end of 1973, its creators replaced HM letters in the logo with the full brand name, added yellow color and draw a frame.

In 1974, the motorcycle TL 125 was produced, and the model TL 250 was created in 1975. They became the first motorcycles Honda for trial, on which the new logo was used.

In 1988, Honda celebrated its 40 anniversary and changed the logo visibly for the last time, because already over the period of 27 years it has remained unchanged.

The company Honda has different logos for motorcycles and cars. Its cars have a stylized letter “H” as their logo. While for motorcycles, this is the image of a stylized wing of the goddess Nike and the name of the brand under it. Everything is in red color. It looks modest, stylish and recognizable.

Where are Honda motorcycles made?

Japan’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, Honda manufactures its products at not less than 30 plants all over the world. However, less than five of them are currently used for building motorcycles. They include:

the Kikuchi plant in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan (Honda CBR650 and the Gold Wing since 2011)

Moto Honda da Amazonia in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, which is responsible for over 10 models of motorcycles

the Honda Motor Argentina plant in Campana, Argentina.