One of the biggest names in motorcycle history is Honda. The Honda company has been manufacturing automobiles and motorcycles since 1959, when it was founded by Soichiro Honda. Honda was born in 1906 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. His father, Gihei Honda, was a blacksmith by trade, but he spent most of his time running a bicycle repair shop. Honda became involved in helping his father at a young age. However, it wasn't until he saw a demonstration of an airplane by pilot Art Smith that he began to start thinking of his own inventions.
Because of his love of machinery, Honda dropped out of school at age 15 and moved to Tokyo to look for work. He found an apprenticeship at a garage, where he worked on automobiles for over six years before leaving to start his own repair business at the age of 22. Later, in 1937, he created Tokai Seiki, a company with the sole purpose of creating piston rings for Toyota. However, this plant was bombed during World War II, and the satellite plant was destroyed in the 1945 earthquake. He sold what was left of these plants to Toyota and, in 1946, used the money to open Honda Technical Research Institute. Two years later, he would be producing motorcycles under the banner of the Honda Motor Company.
Honda remained president of the company until he retired in 1973, although he remained director and 'supreme adviser'. He spent much of his time working with the Honda Foundation, a non-profit attached to the company. He and his wife, Sachi, both held pilot's licenses and loved flying, skiing, and ballooning. Honda died in 1991 from liver failure.
