The rich history of iconic motorcycle brands

Transcript

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Certain brands immediately come to mind when thinking about motorcycles. But do you know their history?

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Welcome to the Throttle and Roast Podcast. I'm your host, Niels Meersschaert. When you think about motorcycles, it's likely that a few brands come to mind as being iconic. Some of the brands that still lead the market got their start over a century ago. And while there are plenty of brands that were early innovators and were unable to sustain themselves economically.

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I'm going to focus on the brands that you can still find making motorcycles today. Now, some of them have had pauses in their history, but the lineage and impact that they've had on the overall industry is not easily dismissed. We can't ignore that even the name motorcycle originated as a differentiator from another class of vehicle that began in the 19th century called the Bicycle. Early versions of the bicycle lacked many features we consider common today. The original velocipede, had a wooden frame and two wheels locked in line with no pedals. You could think of them as the balance bikes of today, but as the front wheel couldn't turn, they required lifting the wheel to reposition it when the rider wanted to change direction.

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Sometimes these were called hobby horses and these early progenitors of cycling shared only the essential ingredients of two wheels. From the 1820s to the 1850s, inventors moved away from two wheels and had either three or four wheels to eliminate the need for balance.

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And these tricycles and quadricycle had a variety of designs, but the high weight and rolling resistance made those human powered mechanisms a challenge. The 1850s saw the invention of the pedal crank, which allowed for far more efficient propulsion, but to enable a faster top speed, many used a large front wheel, which the crank was directly attached to, allowing the rider to cover greater distances with each pedal rotation. Now, while some motorcycle riders today complain about seat height, those high wheel bicycles made dirt bikes seem like they had low seats.

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The challenge of dismounting and the direct connect crank to the wheel made these quite dangerous to ride. In the 1880s, 1890 saw the creation of the safety bicycle in the now familiar chain drive to the rear wheel and a large caster angle on the front wheel to improve stability at speed. Most bicycles now have the same size wheels, front and rear, and with internal combustion engines becoming more widely available, it was only natural to try to attach a motor to the bicycle. And many of the first motorcycle manufacturers were actually bicycle makers, and that leads us to the first of our iconic motorcycle brands.

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Now, Bob Walker Smith and Albert Eddy bought a needle manufacturer that had just begun building bicycles in 1891 in Redditch, England. And by 1893, they had gotten a contract to supply part to the Royal Small Arms factory of Enfield, Middlesex, and renamed their company Enfield Manufacturing.

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In 1894, their bicycles were renamed Royal Enfield and the made like a gun trademark was first introduced. But they didn't turn their attention to motorcycles until 1901. And that's where the start for Royal Enfield, when it comes to motorcycles, really begins Now, their first model has the engine sitting in front of the forks above the front wheel with a long belt running to the rear wheel and producing a whopping 1.5 horsepower. Now, V-twin engines were beginning to be used more commonly across the pond in the United States, and Royal Enfield produced their first 300 cc V-twin in 1909. By 1932, the first Bullet motorcycle was released in 250, 350 and 500 cc sizes. And of course, the Bullet is still today one of the most popular models in the Royal Enfield line.

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And following World War Two, a new Bullet prototype was part of the winning team for the 1948 International six Days trial held in Italy. The new oil damped rear suspension ensured it would smooth out the bumps in the oldest offroad motorcycle event, now called, of course, the International Six Days Enduro. While KTM today dominates it, Royal Enfield was the first and in 1955, the factory in Redditch partnered with Madras Motors in India to form Enfield, India to produce their bikes for the local market, and this will become important later. In 1964, the Continental GT Cafe Racer was launched, taking advantage of the growing trend for cafe racers in England.

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Now, the 1960s were a difficult time for the British motorcycle industry and Royal Enfield's British factories are all closed by 1970. Royal Enfield ends as a British brand nearly 70 years since it began. But nobody told the firm in India, or at least so it seems. Enfield India kept building the bikes and began exporting the bullet 350 back to the UK and Europe in 1977. and Royal Enfield in India keeps building and improving on the original British designs and celebrates 50 years in India in 2005. By 2012, Royal Enfield has sales of about 113,000 bikes annually, and in 2015 they bought Harris performance, a British motorcycle design and fabrication firm, to help vastly improve the product for the now more global ambitions of the firm. In 2017, the Royal Enfield Technology Centre opened in the UK with a focus on R&D, product development and long term product strategy. Royal Enfield now returns to its home country, at least for some design work, and at the same time more plants are being built in India to keep up with the growing demand. The new 650 CC Interceptor 650 and the Continental GT Twins are introduced in 2017, providing a larger displacement bike that has a broader appeal to export markets. And in 2024, Royal Enfield produced 944,000 motorcycles with an expectation to hit 1 million in 2025. from a needle company making bicycles to a global motorcycle manufacturer, one of the earliest iconic brands, Royal Enfield, still makes motorcycles more than 124 years after their first one was released.

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But Royal Enfield wasn't the only motorcycle manufacturer getting their start in bicycles.

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Hendee Manufacturing was founded by George Hendee in 1897 to make bicycles. Now, while their initial models were called the Silver King and the Silver Queen, later models were called American Indian and then just Indian by 1898. George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom were former bicycle racers and they teamed up to start Indian Motocycle in 1901 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Now, note it's motocycle, not motorcycle, but that's just what they started with. Like Royal Enfield, the name we know today was originally a model name for their bicycles. although the company building the bikes was called Hendee Manufacturing till it became the Indian Motocycle company in 1923. Now the first bikes they built were single cylinder and this is pretty common for the era. That was a very simplistic design that you could put together with your engines. Now, the now famous Indian red was introduced in 1904 and racing was a priority early in the company's founding, with the top three spots won in the 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy by the factory team. And in 1905, the first V-twin was built as a factory racer and a street version of that V-twin was released in 1907. So Indian Motorcycle really was the first American brand to have a v-twin.

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And this may annoy some Harley riders who feel the v-twin is Harley's exclusive domain, but Indian was technically there first. Now, the Indian scout was the sporty model released in 1920 with a 610 CC engine later bumping up to 740cc with the Scout 45. The Indian chief was released in 1922 with a thousand CC engine bumping to 1200cc the following year. Now the large skirts that are often associated with the Indian chief weren't added until 1940. And while the Roaring Twenties was a boom time, Harley Davidson actually surpassed Indian as the sales leader in the United States. And in an effort to regain share, Indian purchased ace motor Company in 1927 and the four cylinder bike from their lineup was now part of Indian. Now, while the technical improvements continued on the scout and chief along with that ACE four cylinder, these were quite impressive. But the Great Depression hurt financials terribly for the company. By 1942, the Indian four was discontinued as its high price had been limiting sales. Despite the efforts to modernize with the post-war boom, Indians struggled and the factory ended production in 1953. Today, that original factory still stands in Springfield, Massachusetts, though now it's used as apartments. Since 1953, there have been numerous efforts to resurrect the brand. Many were just badge engineering of other bikes. But the first somewhat successful effort was the Gilroy Indian, produced in Gilroy, California, in 1999. But that effort shut down by 2003.

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Another effort in Kings Mountain in North Carolina started in 2006, mostly continuing the models that were produced in Gilroy. Polaris bought the brand in 2011 and moved production to their Spirit Lake, Iowa facilities. In 2013. The new Thunder stroke engine and the completely new chief motorcycles were released with the Chief classic Chief Vintage and the Chieftain as 2014 models. Under Polaris, it's been the most successful resurrection of the brand since 1953. The scout returned in 2015 as a water cooled mid-sized cruiser. A flat track inspired FTR model was released in 2019 and a water cooled performance bagger called the Challenger was released in 2020 with 122 horsepower and 128 foot lbs of torque. In 2022, a record 43,000 bikes were sold by Indian. Now, like Harley, the demand for cruisers has been slowing. In 2024 saw a big decline to about 25,000 units.

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now, while Harley has stuck with their classic engines, Indian been a bit more performance oriented, especially with the FTR line, and this has allowed them to carve out a slightly different segment than Harley and one which seems to appeal to a younger audience. They've had success with the King of Baggers race series and the liquid cooled performance V-twin introduced in the Challenger as the power plus 108. Just recently it was being added to the Chieftain and road crafter models with fork mounted fairings and it's now available in 112 cubic inch or 1835 CC Displacement making 126 horsepower and 133 foot lbs of torque. Not bad for a company that was about a performance in the early days and seeing its return.

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Meanwhile, in England, another brand gets its start with bicycles. Siegfried Bettman, a German immigrant, started the Triumph Cycle company in 1886, focused on bicycles that he was importing and with an investment from Dunlop Pneumatic Tire Company. The company was renamed as New Triumph Company Ltd with a fellow Nuremberg native, Moritz Schulte, joining as a partner. Now site in Coventry was bought in 1888 where they began producing Triumph branded bicycles in 1889. Recognising the advantages of adding a motor to bicycles. Triumph built their first motorcycle in 1902, just one year after Royal Enfield, and Indian Motocycle, had produced their first motorcycles.

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Now, the first few years of triumph were based on designs by other manufacturers, but by 1905, they had developed their first completely in-house design.

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After World War One, Schulte wanted to replace bicycle production with cars and left the company due to that disagreement. Ironically, Triumph ended up buying a former car factory and began producing cars in 1923, and by the 1920s, Triumph was producing as many as 30,000 motorcycles and cars each year. With the Depression impacting Europe too triumph sold off the bicycle manufacturing arm. Triumph still struggled to make a profit from cars, so the company was split.

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In 1936, the motorcycle operations were bought by Jack Sangster, who also owned Ariel motorcycle, and they began exporting to the U.S., which quickly became the biggest market. World War Two had a devastating impact as the factory in Coventry was destroyed by German bombing. So a new factory was built in Meriden in 1942. The company was sold to their rival BSA in 1951 and of course the 1953 film The Wild One with Marlon Brando, featuring the actors own Triumph Thunderbird 6T, spearheaded and got everybody excited about triumphs. And in fact, in the 1960s, more than 60% of all triumphs were exported, along with 80% of BSA. It was popular around the globe. now the wild one, probably helped sell a ton of triumphs because by the end of the 1960s, roughly 50% of the U.S. market for bikes over 500 CCS were Triumph's. However, there was a lack of progress on features like electric start issues, with the electrical systems leaking oil and the labour intensive approach of building the motorcycles at Triumph made it difficult to compete, and the Japanese expansion took its toll on the British motorcycle industry. The change in the 1970s for US bikes to use the now standard gearshift and brake pedals to match the Japanese configuration, required extensive retooling and with the parent company BSA losing money, it eventually went bankrupt in 1972. Norton now took over control of BSA Triumph as an NVT. Now, the new company didn't fare much better, and by 1974, they announced they would close the Meridian Factory. But a cooperative of workers impacted by the factory closing was able to buy the marketing rights for Triumph after NVT collapsed in 1977. And despite efforts to keep it going, it went into receivership. By 1983, when it was bought by John Bloor.

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And in 1988, a new factory was built in Hinkley. a new range of bikes was introduced in 1990 to 1991, and a factory initially built for subassemblies was created in Thailand in 2002.

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Two more factories in Thailand were built in 2006 and 2007, with a capacity to build 130,000 motorcycles every year. By 2017, Triumph was selling over 60,000 motorcycles a year, and it announced a partnership with the Indian firm Bajaj to build small capacity bikes. and in 2023, the new Speed 400 and Scrambler 400 were launched from that partnership. Triumph's model line was supported by the modern Retro line of the Bonneville Series with a parallel twin engine and the ADV line called Tiger sporting triples ranging from 660ccs to 1200 cc's. The Triumph also had to go directly against the ego of the typical big capacity American cruisers and released the Rocket three initially sporting 2300 cc's when released in 2004, but now offering 2500 cc's with a 180 horsepower with enormous cylinders, each having over 800 cc's of capacity. It truly is a sight to behold that massive, massive motor. And today triumphs are regarded as some of the best engineered motorcycles on the market with appealing designs and tons of character.

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And in 2024, Triumph sold over 130,000 motorcycles globally, with more than 85% of those for outside of the home UK market.

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Of course, being based in the United States, I can't ignore the best selling brand of Harley Davidson. Founded in 1903 by childhood friends William Harley and Arthur Davidson, both from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Today, it's mostly associated with the V-twin, but the early models were actually single cylinder engines. The first prototype, V-twin, wasn't displayed until 1907, and it was an 880 CC variant, producing about seven horsepower for a top speed of about 60 miles an hour. Indian had, of course, released their racer in 1905 and had a production version by 1907. So Harley's iconic engine config actually was first released by their biggest competitor. Now, it wasn't until 1913 that the majority of Harley-Davidson motorcycles were actually v-twin, but by 1920, Harley-Davidson was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world with more than 28,000 machines built and sold in 67 countries. But the depression took its toll and production dropped to a little bit over 4000 units in 1933. In fact, Harley and Indian were the only two motorcycle manufacturers in the United States to survive the Great Depression. And World War Two saw the company produce bikes for the Army. But eventually Jeeps replaced motorcycles as the preferred general purpose vehicle for the army With Europe's industrial base destroyed during the war, Harley was in a good spot to keep producing lots of bikes. But Japan quickly started building back up, and by 1952, Harley asked the U.S. Tariff Commission for a 40% tax on imported motorcycles to avoid losing market share. Harleys at the time were expensive and lower performance than the Japanese bikes, and both sales and quality declined. In this unsteady time, resulting in a company that at the time was best known for automated bowling equipment, calling AMF, buying Harley Davidson. AMF built a lot of items in the early 1970s, ranging from bicycles and Harleys to skis, tennis rackets, boats like the Sunfish and even scuba diving gear. The AMF years didn't do much to address the quality issues that Harley Davidson had been suffering from.

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And in 1981, a group of investors led by Willie G.

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Davidson, grandson of the original founder of Harley Davidson, bought the company from AMF. New designs, along with some successful tariff protections granted by the Reagan administration, helped Harley to win back against the Japanese rivals. Models that are well-known today came out of these efforts like the fat boy, soft tail and the introduction of the Dyna models. The fat boy was featured in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Terminator two in 1991, and unit sales climbed to a peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Fast forward to today, though, and Harley has been suffering many of the same issues that they had in the past. Other brands were cheaper, better performing and had newer models. Now, while sales were around 350,000 units per year in 2014, by 2020, they declined to around 180,000.

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Harley did attempt to move forward with bikes like the Revolution Engine in the VRod back in 2001 and the Livewire in 2019 as an all electric bike.

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Plus, they brought out the Pan America, the first ADV bike for the brand in 2020. but Harley's customers weren't moved. And if it wasn't an air cooled 45 degree v-twin they weren't buying. But Harley's owners are some of the most passionate riders out there, and many of them have been unwilling to even consider buying or riding another brand. The brand is a big part of their identities, with plenty of branded merchandise ranging from apparel to ornaments for home and garage toys, and even tie ins with brands like Ford for some of their pickup trucks. But today, Harley's are still hovering at around 170,000 units annually, and many of their customers are aging out. So the question is, will the passion die with them or is there a chance for a new generation of Harley enthusiasts?

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So we've covered the first four iconic motorcycle brands, all of whom began manufacturing motorcycles within two years of one another.

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Now, the next wave of iconic brands followed World War One, and the first was in starting in 1921. Carlo Guzzi in Mandello, Italy with the Eagle as its logo created Moto Guzzi.

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And they are the oldest motorcycle brand in continental Europe. By 1925, they were building 1200 bikes each year, and by 1934, they were the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Italy. During World War Two, almost all of their production was dedicated for the military, and by 1946, the company went public and began building a twin stroke small engine named the Motoleggera 65 with 50,000 units sold in the next three years. In 1954, the wind tunnel was established at Mandello to aid the racing program. And in 1965, the longitudinal 90 degree v-twin that today is thought of as defining the brand was released. Like the BMW Boxer engine, this design has both cylinders sticking out the sides of the bike right in the airflow, helping keep cooling effective.

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Unlike a flat twin, though, the V has the cylinders a bit higher, but it still retains the shaft drive. And today this engine configuration is iconic across the Moto Guzzi range. The 1970s see the now famous V7 range released along with the Moto Guzzi California. Peak production occurs in 1971 with just under 50,000 units. Aprilia ended up acquiring the business in 2000 and added electronic injection to the engines in 2001.

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By 2004, it became part of the Piaggio group best known for their scooters, including the iconic Vespa. Today, unit sales tend to be less than 10,000 units annually. And while never a high volume brand, owners of Moto Guzzi tend to be passionate and celebrate the distinct character of the engine and the benefits of shaft drive for touring and maintenance. With similar characteristics to the Boxer twin common on BMW, many BMW riders actually also own MotoGuzzis.

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Bavarian Motor Works or BMW had been an aircraft engine manufacturer, but following World War One, they were restricted from producing any more aircraft engines. So they started to turn toward other type of engines. In 1920, an M2B15 flat Twin Motor was released as an industrial engine, but it found its way into use by other motorcycle manufacturers.

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BMW actually merged with one of those manufacturers named BFW in 1922 and using the design of their Helios motorcycles as a start. The R 32 was released in 1923 the R 32 used a 486 cc flat twin engine mounted in the now familiar longitudinal orientation, eliminating the cooling issues that the Helios bikes with the transverse mounted and limited airflow in the rear cylinder had had.

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Having each cylinder out in the wind gave optimal air cooling.

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This also meant that the crankshaft ran in-line with the bike, so a driveshaft was used to transfer power to the rear wheel. Today the boxer twin with Shaft Drive is what most people think about with BMW motorcycles and that basic powertrain layout has been used for more than a century. Other models quickly followed the R 32 like the R 37 r 39, the r two. r used in the model designation was a reference to rad or cycle in German, and is still used today 1935. BMW introduced the R 12 and R 17 and these were the first motorcycles to use a hydraulically damped telescopic fork 1937, Ernst Henne set a new speed record of 173.7 miles per hour on a BMW 500 compressor racing motorcycle. And that record stood for 14 years. Just before the war, the big BMW R 71 had 746cc and was well engineered but expensive, and less than 3000 were built before World War Two disrupted production and less than 500 survived today. Following the war, East Germany was controlled by the Soviets, along with a factory in Eisenach that produced motorcycles after World War Two. IMZ-Ural either licensed or just copied the design of the R 71 and you'll see that layout available in Urals like the Gear Up to this day. German factories had been damaged in the war and following World War two strict rules on what could be produced limited BMW in West Germany. It wasn't until 1947 that they were able to receive permission to restart motorcycle production with the factory in Munich destroyed and the plans and production equipment stuck in East Germany.

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BMW had to start from scratch.

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1948 R 24 was reverse engineered from a pre-war R 23 with a few improvements, but it was powered by a small 237 cc single cylinder engine. flat twins finally resumed production in 1950 with the R51/2 and later the R51/3. 1955 model range, included the Earl's forks, which, unlike the telescopic forks, placed the pivot point behind the front wheel. This reduced fork drive, typical with telescopic forks and today is reflected in the Telelever front end designs used on many of the BMW motorcycles. motorcycle sales plummeted in Europe as the 1950s progressed. low cost option of a motorcycle and sidecar was replaced by the car.

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While BMW produced 30,000 motorcycles in 1954. By 1957, it was less than 6000. Fortunately, sales of motorcycles were strong in the U.S. in the 1950s. Some U.S. models, like the R50US, R60US and R69US were sold in the US for 1968 and 1969 with telescopic forks instead of the Earles forks. The model range was revamped in 1969 with the slash five. This involved a 500 cc R50/5 600 cc R60/5 and the 750 cc R75/5. These were the first BMW with electric start.

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Although the kickstart was maintained, they eliminated the Earles fork and returned the telescopic forks instead. And today these engines are referred to as airhead models, reflecting their use of air cooling. Now I have a 1972 BMW R75/5 with the toaster tank, which was a smaller four gallon tank with chrome side panels. It really wasn't that popular when it first came out, though. It has gotten a bit of a second wind in later years and is now a very sought after version. But to be honest, the four speed transmission, the cable actuated drum brakes front and rear, along with an engine that maybe when it was new produced about 50 horsepower does limit the performance, especially when you compare it to modern bikes. But later models in the 1970s did improve the design. With more gears and front disc brakes. The slash six series included the R 90 S, a sport motorcycle produced from 1973 through 1976, and this bike placed first and second at the first AMA Superbike race at Daytona International Speedway in 1976, BMW, introduced the world to a new category of motorcycles. In 1980, with the release of the R 80 GS, this gelande strasse model was an off road and on road design with a larger capacity twin engine. Today we call these adventure bikes and the GS is still the gold standard against which other bikes are compared. With 60 years of the flat twin engine design and pressure from Japanese makers and their four cylinder powerplants. BMW introduced the K 100 in 1983 and they had originally intended to replace all the boxers with this inline water cooled four cylinder design. But just as Harley had faced backlash from customers, BMW did as well. And today the K bike is a solid but lower volume line of bikes from BMW and BMW of this time period were well appreciated as touring bikes. But let's just say the aesthetics are an acquired taste.

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The 1988 K1 was a fully faired sport bike and was one of those love it or hate it designs that seem so commonplace on BMW is today. The 100 horsepower wasn't anything to complain about, but the bright color schemes were very controversial, so the boxer twin soldiered on. But the limitations of that airhead engine, especially compared to the performance available in the water cooled K bikes, was forcing a change. So in 1993, the R1100RS Sport tourer was released with the new air oil cooled design, now called the Oil Head with the GS and RT models following. And in 1997, BMW released the R 1200 C, which was BMW first entry into the cruiser market. And like the K1, the design was divisive, especially since it had a small 1200 cc boxer engine driveshaft and Telelever front suspension.

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Three elements which were a bit too different from the large American cruisers. while Harley's at the time were 80 cubic inches or about 1350ccs, the R 1200 cc bike was often derisively referred to as too small and despite being featured in a James Bond film, it never really took off. I test rode the R 1200 C back in 1999 and while I liked it, I was at an age where speed mattered more and the 61 horsepower that it produced felt too little compared to the R1100GS that I had at the time. I ended up buying a K 1200 RS with 130 horsepower to try to satisfy that need for speed. By the late nineties, the R 1150 GSA was used in the film Long Way round with Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor, followed by the R 1200 GSA in the follow up film Long Way Down. KTM was approached to provide bikes but turned it down.

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I still own a 2012 BMW r 1200 GSA, very similar to the one used in long way round. this is something that has really spearheaded, I think, the adventure motorcycle market.

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This. These series of films are really inspired people to see what was possible and certainly helped from a sales perspective for BMW. Now, BMW is even with that 130 horsepower K bike still had a stodgy old man perception about them. They were good touring bikes and they could take you around the world on an adventure model like the GS. And while their cars had a perception of performance and sportiness that didn't really cross over to their motorcycles until 2009, when the BMW s 1000 RR was released to compete in the Superbike World Championship.

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Not since 1976's R90S had BMW been so sporty. The 999 cc transverse four cylinder engine produced 193 horsepower. With this broader model range, BMW was able to hit a new record for sales in 2015, with nearly 137,000 motorcycles sold. The GS was and is the sales leader though, and I bet KTM is kicking themselves that they didn't offer their bike for long way 2020 BMW once again tried to enter the cruiser market with the release of the BMW R 18. Now this bike reaches back in the catalog to the 1932 R5 for inspiration, and many of the design elements from that model are evident on the R 18. Except for the engine size, largest boxer twin ever produced by BMW or any other motorcycle brand for that matter, is 1802 ccs or more than 900ccs per cylinder.

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Boxer motors were already known for torque and this R18 super sizes it. I love my BMW r 18 classic. Out of my entire collection. It is probably the bike that I reach for the most often. That bike has tons of character. you ever get a chance to go ride one, it's a lot of fun. Now BMW has continued to increase unit sales, setting new records almost every single year.

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They just announced the numbers for 2024, and this was another new record of more than 210,000 bikes sold globally, putting them well ahead of Harley Davidson. Indian and even triumph. Now the new R 1300GS is a big part of that story. And it shows that ADV bikes continue to be a market leader more than 40 years after BMW created the category with the 1980 R80G/S.

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the brands that we've covered thus far.

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Royal Enfield is the current unit sales leader with nearly 1 million bikes sold each year, followed by BMW with about 210,000 bikes. other brands all sell less than 200,000 units annually, but our next brand makes these numbers seem insignificant We talked about how Japanese manufacturers decimated the British bike industry in the 1960s, and they were a giant thorn in the side of Harley Davidson, who had even pushed for tariffs for them to stay afloat in the 1980s.

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So we have to discuss the most iconic Japanese brand Honda, founded in 1946 by. Soichuro Honda. It built upon some earlier experience that he had had as a parts supplier for Toyota. Like many of the early motorcycle manufacturers, he started by grafting engines onto bicycles, using some surplus generator engines at first. The first motorcycle fully made by Honda, including the frame and the engine, was the 1949 D-type.

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1961, Honda had achieved the first Grand Prix victories with the 125 and 250 categories. And this racing pedigree would be a big part of the brand across both bikes and cars. began exporting motorcycles to the U.S. and other markets in the 1960s. With the ad campaign, you meet the nicest people on a Honda. This contrast to the negative stereotype of biker gangs was very successful. With a focus on economies of scale, Honda and other Japanese manufacturers were able to outcompete British makers. Honda was now the largest motorcycle manufacturer globally by 1964.

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expande to cars, ATVs and even aircraft over the years. 1982 was the peak sales year for Honda motorcycles, with almost 3 million motorcycles sold annually. But this had decreased to just over 500,000 by 2006, and it seemed like they might be out of the running. But Honda began to focus on markets where motorcycles were used more as basic transportation than just for leisure. By 2017, India became the largest market for Honda and sales have continued to climb throughout Asia. In 2024, Honda sold almost 18.7 million motorcycles globally.

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Now, that volume of bikes belies the sheer breadth of offerings from Honda. You can get dirt bikes, dual sports adventure bikes, standard scooters, sport bikes, even cruisers from Honda.

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while Honda has the shortest history of the brands we've covered in this episode, it's also the highest volume. And dealers for them can be found around the world.

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We've covered seven iconic motorcycle manufacturers from around the globe. These brands have been making motorcycles for at least 70 years and in some cases more than 120 years. We covered the earlier innovators in England and the United States with Royal Enfield, Indian Motorcycle Triumph and Harley-Davidson. We also covered the second wind brands of Moto Guzzi and BMW based in Continental Europe, and still making some distinctive bikes with some unique engine configurations. Finally, we covered Honda, the largest motorcycle manufacturer today that produces everything from the tiny Dax 125 and the Grom to ATVs, marine engines, cars and even jet planes. And these brands represent the original innovators in the motorcycle industry. And each has a strong, passionate following of enthusiastic riders. my question for you is what is your favorite iconic motorcycle brand and why?

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The rich history of iconic motorcycle brands

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