The Great Japanese Motorcycle War

Comments · 409

• LG

  @lght5548 · 3 years ago (edited)

  My father couldn't afford to buy me a new bike, but he found 2 Honda 65's that didn't run and bought them cheap. He cobbled a  running one from these 2 and my life has never been the same. Best dad ever. I miss him and that sweet little Honda! Got a Honda and 2 BMW bikes in the garage. 😁

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• AL

  @alandavies55 · 3 years ago

  Being fascinated by old bikes, I once asked a Japanese mechanic if many of their bikes made before the rise of the big four had survived. He replied, "no, most of of them were recycled. Completely different culture, in the UK you revere old machines, while in Japan we revere old people". Thinking of some of the care home abuses I have seen in recent years, he may well have had a point.

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• GL

  @gladegoodrich2297 · 3 years ago

  My little Honda 50 got me to work every day. Rode it all 4 seasons, even through the snow storms.

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• DW

  @dwheeler016 · 3 years ago

  My little Honda was a great bike. It was my first bike. I had no license and it took me everywhere with no issues.  I wish I still had it.

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• PA

  @paulrevere9071 · 3 years ago

  Honda S90---CB and Dream 160---305 Super Hawk---Yamaha Twin Jet 100---305 Big Bear...these were the bikes that inspired an entire generation! The 60's were on fire!

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• CH

  @chrismoody1342 · 3 years ago

  For the first two decades I rode nothing but Hondas.  55 years later I still riding Japanese motorcycles. I found them dead reliable, never failed to start and run.  Never had a catastrophic failure.  For me maintenance was tires, gas, oil and chain.

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• DE

  @derjaeger3321 · 3 years ago (edited)

  My first MC was a 50cc Bridgestone, a Honda 305 Scrambler, suddenly, in a moment of insanity, I purchased a highly modified 650 BSA  she was beautiful and a total garage queen, it was broke all the time. Sanity returned in the guise of reliable and fun to ride Honda 350 CB, after two years I sold it to purchase an engagement ring ( we just had out 50th anniversary). I missed bikes so I got Suzuki 500, after marriage and following  grad school there was a 5 year or so bike hiatus, and  then a Kawasaki 400 was purchased . A baby came and the bike went away. After 20 years of  bike abstinence a Yamaha Star 600 came along and finally a Harley Softail Heritage. Now under Doctor’s orders to shed two wheels I can safely say without the marvelous and reliable Japanese bikes a great amount of enjoyment in my life would have been missed.

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• SI

  @simonlye007 · 3 years ago

  In the UK, when the Honda Benley 125 was introduced, our similarly priced British alternative was (drum roll) the BSA Bantam. I'm sorry but the BSA was no contest against the twin cylinder, electric start, super reliable and affordable beast from the east. Thanks for rekindling fond memories, amazing footage and very listenable narration.

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• DA

  @darwinskeeper421 · 3 years ago

  Thanks for creating this video. I knew very little about Honda before it came to America in the 1960s. This video explained how Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki were able to dominate the rest of the world.

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• VI

  @victoriazero8869 · 3 years ago

  Japan found that the key to winning the market is not to go big... but to go <b>small</b><br>Asahi&apos;s 175cc paved that pathway early on, Honda took it sprinting with the Cub after the war.

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• KI

  @Kim_Miller · 3 years ago

  That little black bike in your thumbnail, the Honda 90 Sport, was the first bike I rode. My elder brother in the Navy came home on one when I was fifteen back in the 1960s. I fell in love immediately. Now in my 70s I&apos;m still riding - but the bikes are bigger.

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• LI

  @littleshopofelectrons4014 · 3 years ago

  I grew up with Japanese motorcycles and have owned all of the big 4. In high school we had nicknames for each brand. Yamaha was Yamerhammer. Suzuki was Suzy. Honda was Hondog. Kawasaki was Kamikaze.

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