Soichiro Honda started the Honda Technical Research Institute in 1946, to experiment with machinery and find more efficient travel methods for ravaged postwar Japan. That same year, he marketed a small engine that could be attached to a bicycle. The next year, Honda released a half horsepower motorbike, the 'A-Type,' and then in 1948 a 90cc version called the 'B-Type.'
Honda kept pushing for more powerful engines, and in 1949 released the 2-stroke 'D-Type,' Honda's first true motorcycle. This was followed by the 4-stroke 'Benly' in 1953 and the 'Juno' scooter in 1954. The company's big breakthrough came in 1958, with its 'Super Cub,' an easy-to ride 'scooterette' in 50cc, 70cc, and 90cc models.
Over the next 10 years, Honda's bikes got bigger and bigger, culminating in the 4-cylinder CB 750, which could easily reach 120 mph. Honda entered off-roading in 1973, and has dominated the sport ever since. Another 1970s Honda innovation was the Gold Wing, a touring bike that launched an entirely new style of riding.
Interviews & Articles
American Picker Dream, Part II: Mike Wolfe On Enduros and Land Rockets

I was 13 when I saw my first motorcycle. I was walking down the sidewalk when this guy who was like the high school champion stud—… [more]
Harley-Davidson, Before and After the Knucklehead

I’ve been a lifelong motorcyclist. I started riding a motorcycle when I was 11, and I started writing for magazine after I got ou… [more]
Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
Classic Motorcycle Archive

This simple website contains photos and descriptions of over a thousand classic antique motorcycles and motorized b… [read review or visit site]
Clubs & Associations: Motorcycles
- Antique Motorcycle Club of America
- American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association
- SoCal Chapter of the AMCA
If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Bizarro Beauty Products, from 1889 to Now
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Tokens for Sweethearts, in Times of War
American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Bikes

by 

