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109-423: The Honda VFR750F is a motorcycle manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda from 1986 to 1997. The motorcycle is a very sporty sport tourer , and is powered by a 750 cc (46 cu in) V4 engine developed from the earlier VF750F models. The VFR was announced in 1986, after an initial press viewing at the 1985 Bol d'Or . The previous VF700/750F models revealed Honda's new devotion to

218-497: A 16-valve 748 cc (45.6 cu in) liquid-cooled cast aluminium alloy 90° V4 engine, with carburettor fueling, and gear-driven DOHC cams. Its crankshaft has a 180° throw, instead of the 360° crankshaft in the VF and VFR750R (RC30). The VF's bore and stroke of70.0 mm × 48.6 mm (2.76 in × 1.91 in) was kept for the VFR. The gear drive for the cams

327-406: A 2-day week until the end of May as the manufacturer struggled to source supplies from Japan. It's thought around 22,500 cars were produced during this period. For the fiscal year 2018, Honda reported earnings of US$ 9.534 billion, with an annual revenue of US$ 138.250 billion, an increase of 6.2% over the previous fiscal cycle. Honda's shares traded at over $ 32 per share, and its market capitalization

436-424: A cam sensor which was omitted from all later versions. US and Canadian models had round gauges while all other models had square gauges. The 700cc VFR700F "Tariff Buster" was introduced to meet Japan's home-market 700cc limit. Almost identical to its VFR750F sibling, it had a shorter stroke, different cams, altered ignition timing, an upgraded rear shock and fork internals, square instruments, and no "750" graphic on

545-552: A coil-over spring. In other words, the spring for the rear suspension is a coil spring that is installed over, or around, the shock. In terms of adjustment, rear shocks span the range from no adjustments whatsoever to pre-load adjustments only to racing shocks with adjustments for length, pre-load, and four different kinds of damping. Most shocks have internal oil reservoirs, but some have external ones, and some offer air-assisted damping. A number of companies offer custom-built rear shocks for motorcycles. These shocks are assembled for

654-829: A developer studio are part of the Honda Innovations group, formed in Spring 2017 and based in Mountain View, California . Through Honda Mobilityland , Honda also operate the Suzuka Circuit and Twin Ring Motegi racing tracks. Following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Honda announced plans to halve production at its UK plants. The decision was made to put staff at the Swindon plant on

763-428: A dual-sided alloy swingarm with Pro-Link progressive linkage to a single central Showa shock absorber. Rear spring pre-load adjustment could be done remotely. RC36 MkII VFR750 bikes had non-adjustable 41 mm (1.6 in) cartridge-style Showa front forks, a single-sided rear "Pro-Arm" swingarm with a remotely pre-load-adjustable Showa shock absorber. The suspension was later upgraded to include pre-load adjustment on

872-698: A global recall of about 4.5 million vehicles, including 2.54 million in the U.S., over fuel pump failures, following earlier recalls in 2021 and 2020 for the same issue. Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo , Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange , as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka , London , Paris, and Switzerland. The company has assembly plants around

981-593: A lighter alloy frame and swingarm. Other changes included different brakes, new wheels and silencer, a new riding position, adjustable rebound damping for the rear shock, a 10kg weight reduction, and a larger capacity tank (increased from 5 to 5.5 gal (19 to 21 L)). Other VFR750F variants only for the Japanese domestic market included: Finland / Switzerland models 2,205 mm (86.8 in) Australia models 2,120 mm (83 in) US 2,125 mm (83.7 in) 5th 4.64sec 6th 5.20sec Related models include

1090-569: A major redesign with a new frame and a single-sided swingarm. New forks featured cartridge dampers , and wheels were widened to 5.5 inch for wider tires. Alas, weight increased by 17 kg. The MkII RC36-2 (the last of the VFR750F models before the introduction of the VFR800Fi in 1998) received some 200 modifications in 1994: a stylish new front fairing (not unlike the Honda NR750 's) and

1199-671: A mechanic at the Art Shokai garage, where he tuned cars and entered them in races. In 1937, with financing from his acquaintance Kato Shichirō, Honda founded Tōkai Seiki (Eastern Sea Precision Machine Company) to make piston rings working out of the Art Shokai garage. After initial failures, Tōkai Seiki won a contract to supply piston rings to Toyota , but lost the contract due to the poor quality of their products. After attending engineering school without graduating, and visiting factories around Japan to better understand Toyota's quality control processes known as " Five whys ", by 1941 Honda

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1308-423: A simple damper-rod system, in which damping is controlled by the passage of fork oil through an orifice. Though cheap to manufacture, it is hard to tune such forks, as they tend to give too little damping at low slider speeds, yet too much damping at higher slider speeds. Any adjustment setting will always be a compromise, giving both over-mushy and over-stiff damping. Since forks act as hydraulic dampers, changing

1417-505: A single shock absorber rear suspension, a single shock absorber connects the rear swingarm to the motorcycle's frame. Typically this lone shock absorber is in front of the rear wheel, and uses a linkage to connect to the swing arm. Such linkages are frequently designed to give a rising rate of damping for the rear. In 1972, Yamaha introduced the Mono-Shock single shock absorber rear suspension system on their motorcycles competing in

1526-575: A small 356 cc straight-4 gasoline engine, it was classified under the cheaper Kei car tax bracket. The second production car from Honda was the S500 sports car, which followed the T360 into production in October 1963. Its chain-driven rear wheels pointed to Honda's motorcycle origins. Over the next few decades, Honda worked to expand its product line, operations and exports to numerous countries around

1635-400: A specific motorcycle and rider combination, taking into account the characteristics of the motorcycle, the weight of the rider, and the rider's preferred riding style/aggressiveness. Twin shock refers to motorcycles that have two shock absorbers. Generally, this term is used to denote a particular era of motorcycles, and is most frequently used when describing off-road motorcycles. During

1744-552: A two piece to three piece, a 2-position flip up screen, exhaust redesign, stronger fork legs (up to 41mm from 37mm) while retaining anti-dive on the left leg, a more reliable ignition system, and 17 inch wheels front and rear. Other changes included larger engine valves (for improved midrange) and larger carbs. The gearbox shift mechanism was upgraded to that on the VFR750R (RC30). A clock and fuel gauge instruments were added. Pillion footrest mounts were changed from being integral to

1853-525: Is a Japanese multinational conglomerate that manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, and battery-powered equipment, founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda and headquartered in Minato, Tokyo , Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a production of 400 million by 19 December 2019. It is also the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Honda became

1962-851: Is based in Alliston, Ontario . Honda has also created joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles in India, Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, Boon Siew Honda in Malaysia and Honda Atlas in Pakistan. The company also runs a business innovation initiative called Honda Xcelerator , in order to build relationships with innovators, partner with Silicon Valley startups and entrepreneurs, and help other companies work on prototypes. Xcelerator had worked with reportedly 40 companies as of January 2019. Xcelerator and

2071-417: Is called "total sag" or "race sag". Total sag is set to optimize the initial position of the suspension to avoid bottoming out or topping out under normal riding conditions. "Bottoming out" occurs when the suspension is compressed to the point where it mechanically cannot compress any more. Topping out occurs when the suspension extends fully and cannot mechanically extend any more. Increasing pre-load increases

2180-414: Is characterized by a swingarm that extends from the bottom of the engine/frame to the centre of the front wheel instead of a fork. The advantages of using a hub-center steering system instead of a more conventional motorcycle fork are that hub-center steering separates the steering, braking, and suspension functions. With a fork the braking forces are put through the suspension, a situation that leads to

2289-415: Is important in that it provides classes used for vintage motorcycle competition. For example, vintage motocross races are held for older motocross motorcycles. To prevent the better-performing monoshock motorcycles from dominating the competition, there are separate competition classes for monoshock and twinshock motorcycles, which prevents them from competing directly against each other. On a motorcycle with

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2398-453: Is located between the cylinders. Lubrication is wet sump with a chain-driven, dual-rotor oil pump and an oil cooler. The transmission was a constant-mesh 6-speed gearbox with a wet multi-plate clutch and chain drive to the rear wheel; (an exception was the 5-speed VFR750P, which had a spacer in place of one of the gears). Valve adjustment on first-generation VFR750Fs was by screw and locknut, which changed in 1990 to shim-under-bucket, along with

2507-479: Is to use a reactive link or torque arm to connect the braking components to the motorcycle frame via the triple clamp. Some fork designs mitigate dive, eliminate it, or even reverse it without affecting the front suspension adversely. The Earles fork is among the latter; when braking the front brake hard, the front end of the motorcycle actually rises. BMW's Telelever fork is designed to nearly eliminate dive, and could have been designed to eliminate it completely if

2616-540: The Bimota Tesi, and Vyrus motorcycles. Scott produced a motorcycle with telescopic forks in 1908, and would continue to use them on some models until 1931. In 1935 BMW became the first manufacturer to produce a motorcycle with hydraulically damped telescopic forks, although the Danish Nimbus company had un-damped telescopic forks in production in 1934. Most motorcycles today use telescopic forks for

2725-612: The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was commissioned by the UK government to write a report explaining why and how the British motorcycle industry had been out-competed by its Japanese competitors. The report concluded that the Japanese firms, including Honda, had sought a very high scale of production (they had made a large number of motorbikes) in order to benefit from economies of scale and learning curve effects. It blamed

2834-863: The Civic GX as the greenest car in America for seven consecutive years. Honda currently builds vehicles in factories located in Japan, the United States of America, Canada, China, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Turkey, Argentina, Mexico, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Honda is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan and has been since it started production in 1955. At its peak in 1982, Honda manufactured almost three million motorcycles annually. By 2006, this figure had been reduced to around 550,000 but

2943-713: The Fit and Accord. Honda's first hybrid electric vehicle was the 1999 Insight . The Civic was first offered as a hybrid in 2001, and the Accord followed in 2004. In 2008, the company launched the Clarity , a fuel cell car . In 2008, Honda increased global production to meet the demand for small cars and hybrids in the U.S. and emerging markets. The company shuffled U.S. production to keep factories busy and boost car output while building fewer minivans and sport utility vehicles as light truck sales fell. Its first entrance into

3052-481: The Honda Valkyrie featured USD forks. Motorcycle suspensions are designed so that the springs are always under compression, even when fully extended. Pre-load is used to adjust the initial position of the suspension with the weight of the motorcycle and rider acting on it. The difference between the fully extended length of the suspension and the length compressed by the weight of the motorcycle and rider

3161-580: The Motocross World Championships . The suspension which was designed by Lucien Tilkens, became so successful that other motorcycle manufacturers developed their own single shock absorber designs. Honda 's version is called Pro-link , Kawasaki 's is Uni-Trak , and Suzuki 's is Full-Floater . Honda's Unit Pro-Link , used first on the Honda RC211V MotoGP racer, and then on the 2003 Honda CBR600RR sport bike,

3270-483: The VFR400R (NC30) , RVF400R (NC35) , VF1000F/VF1000R (SC15/16/19/20) , VFR750R (RC30) , RVF750R (RC45) , NR750 (RC40) and VFR800Fi (RC46) . Although this particular model was not designed as a race bike, it has been used in various races. In 1986, British racer Ron Haslam took a standard VFR750F to third place in a soaked Transatlantic Challenge race at Donington Park , UK. A modified, 'special' VFR750F called

3379-413: The '6X', a 135 hp@13000RPM 188 mph full HRC prototype using, RVF cycle parts and containing titanium valves, magnesium cases and flat-slide carburettors, weighing 165 kg (364 lb) (dry), less than the factory RVF that was first ridden by Wayne Gardner at a Suzuka test against TT F1 machinery. Wayne broke his four-stroke lap record by 1.5 seconds. Six examples of the '6X' were built, 4 for

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3488-761: The 1909 A.S.L. which had both front and rear pneumatic suspension, the 1913 Indian Single with a swingarm suspended from a leaf spring and the 1913 Pope with wheels supported on a pair of plungers which were each suspended by a coil spring . Several motorcycles before and immediately after World War II used plunger suspension in which the vertical movement of the rear axle was controlled by plungers suspended by springs. Notable manufacturers of motorcycles with plunger suspension include Adler , Ariel , BMW , BSA , Indian , MZ , Saroléa , Norton , Cossack/Ural and Zündapp . Although plunger suspension could be sophisticated, with springing and damping in both compression and rebound, it had three disadvantages (compared to

3597-555: The 1940s) and bottom leading link designs, not common since the 1960s. Some manufacturers (e.g. Greeves) used a version of the swinging arm for front suspension on their motocross designs. A single-sided version of the idea is also used in motor scooters such as the Vespa . The hub-center steering as developed by Ascanio Rodorigo , on a concept associated to Massimo Tamburini is a complex front swingarm alternative system that entails suspension and steering, as seen in projects such as

3706-553: The Accord and Civic (with the exception of its USA-market 1993–97 Passport which was part of a vehicle exchange program with Isuzu (part of the Subaru-Isuzu joint venture)) have always employed Front-wheel drive powertrain implementation, which is currently a long-held Honda tradition. Honda also installed new technologies into their products, first as optional equipment, then later standard, like anti-lock brakes , speed-sensitive power steering , and multi-port fuel injection in

3815-650: The Civic is the second-longest continuously running nameplate from a Japanese manufacturer; only its perennial rival, the Toyota Corolla , introduced in 1966, has been in production longer. The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude , comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded. Having gone through several generational changes, the Civic has become larger and more upmarket , and it currently slots between

3924-650: The Domestic Championships and two for the American Championships. The VFR '6X' was raced at the Isle of Man TT by Geoff Johnson , coming in 2nd to Joey Dunlop in both the F1 and Senior TT. In the United States, Fred Merkel and Wayne Rainey contested the 1986 AMA Camel Pro Championship, which at the time had both Superbike and F1 races but only one championship, with the best finish of

4033-473: The U.S. market was a story of "miscalculation, serendipity, and organizational learning" – in other words, Honda's success was due to the adaptability and hard work of its staff, rather than any long-term strategy. For example, Honda's initial plan on entering the US market was to compete in large motorcycles, around 300 cc. Honda's motorcycles in this class suffered performance and reliability problems when ridden

4142-587: The US to suspend production in its factories. It resumed automobile, engine and transmission production at its US plants on 11 May 2020. Honda and General Motors announced in September 2020 a North American alliance to begin in 2021. According to The Detroit Free Press, "The proposed alliance will include sharing a range of vehicles, to be sold under each company's distinct brands, as well as cooperation in purchasing, research and development, and connected services." In 2021, Honda announced its intention to become

4251-429: The US. Honda power equipment includes: Suspension (motorcycle)#Fork damping The typical motorcycle has a pair of fork tubes for the front suspension , and a swingarm with one or two shock absorbers for the rear suspension. The most common form of front suspension for a modern motorcycle is the telescopic fork . Other fork designs are girder forks, suspended on sprung parallel links (not common since

4360-476: The United States and Canada due to an issue with seat belts in the car not latching correctly. Among the models recalled were the 2017-2020 CR-V, the 2018 and 2019 Accord, the 2018-2020 Odyssey, the 2019 Insight, and the Acura RDX from 2019 and 2020. According to the recall, the seat belts in the front seats would break open on impact increasing the risk of injury in a crash. On 21 December 2023, Honda announced

4469-480: The V4 engine format, but the engines had proved unreliable because of the infamous "chocolate cams". Honda, having suffered a dent in its proven reputation for reliability, felt that the successor should be over-engineered to restore that damaged reputation; the resulting VFR was an exceptional and highly -regarded motorcycle. Compared to its VF750F predecessor, the VFR has significant improvements: The Honda VFR750F uses

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4578-592: The VF-series engines. The 1986 VFR750F has an alloy twin spar frame which uses the engine as a stressed member. The cast aluminium headstock connects to the rear castings via 28 by 60 mm (1.1 by 2.4 in) hollow extrusions. (The VFR750F was said to be the first of the 750 class of bikes to have such a frame). Front suspension on the RC24 Mk1 & Mk1a VFR750 comprised conventional Showa anti-dive 37 mm (1.5 in) telescopic forks; rear suspension used

4687-459: The air-cooled N360, called the Honda Life , which was water-cooled. The Honda Life represented Honda's efforts in competing in the kei car segment, offering sedan, delivery van and small pick-up platforms on a shared chassis. The Life Step Van had a novel approach that, while not initially a commercial success, appeared to be an influence to vehicles with the front passengers sitting behind

4796-518: The air-cooled, four-cylinder, gasoline-powered Honda 1300 which was introduced in 1969. The Civic was a hatchback that gained wide popularity internationally, but it wasn't the first two-door hatchback built by Honda. That was the Honda N360 , a Kei car that was adapted for international sale as the N600. The Civic, which appeared in 1972 and replaced the N600 also had a smaller sibling that replaced

4905-410: The almost universal swingarm that succeeded it), as follows: (i) wheel travel was limited, (ii) the wheel could move out of the required vertical axis, and (iii) it was more expensive to produce and maintain. The basic motorcycle swingarm is a quadrilateral, with one short side connected to the motorcycle's frame with bearings so that it can pivot. The other short side is the rear axle around which

5014-596: The company. Honda also aided the war effort by assisting other companies in automating the production of military aircraft propellers. The relationships Honda cultivated with personnel at Toyota, Nakajima Aircraft Company and the Imperial Japanese Navy would be instrumental in the postwar period. A US B-29 bomber attack destroyed Tōkai Seiki's Yamashita plant in 1944, and the Itawa plant collapsed on 13 January 1945 Mikawa earthquake . Soichiro Honda sold

5123-411: The damping function. The emulator has a very small orifice for low fork-speed damping, and an adjustable shim-stack for high fork-speed damping. Gas-charged cartridge forks , which became available in 2007, consist of gas-charged cartridges fitted within standard forks. This kit is suitable for supersport classes of racing, where regulations prohibit a complete fork replacement but allow modification of

5232-612: The day counting. Merkel just rode in the Superbike while Rainey did the F1 as well. Merkel won two races and Rainey seven, but the championship was won by Merkel by two points. For 1987 Merkel's bike was passed to Bubba Shobert who took 3rd place in 1987, being beaten by Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz . The points he earned during the 1987 season gained him victory in the AMA Grand National. In 1988 Shobert won three of

5341-515: The decline of the British motorcycle industry on the failure of British managers to invest enough in their businesses to profit from economies of scale and scope . The second explanation was offered in 1984 by Richard Pascale, who had interviewed the Honda executives responsible for the firm's entry into the U.S. market. As opposed to the tightly focused strategy of low cost and high scale that BCG accredited to Honda, Pascale found that their entry into

5450-681: The desire to create a more environmentally friendly company image. The Honda Aircraft Company as established in 2006 as a wholly owned subsidiary to manufacture and sell the HondaJet family of aircraft. The first deliveries to customers began in December 2015. On 23 February 2015, Honda announced that CEO and President Takanobu Ito would step down and be replaced by Takahiro Hachigo in June of that year; additional retirements by senior managers and directors were expected. In October 2019, Honda

5559-517: The early 1980s. This desire to be the first to try new approaches is evident with the creation of the first Japanese luxury chain Acura , and was also evident with the all-aluminum, mid-engined sports car, the Honda NSX , which also introduced variable valve timing technology, which Honda calls VTEC . The Civic family is a line of compact cars developed and manufactured by Honda. In North America,

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5668-463: The effectiveness of the suspension. The length of the typical motorcycle fork means that they act as large levers about the headstock requiring the forks, the headstock, and the frame to be very robust adding to the bike's weight. The endurance racer "Nessie", built by the Mead & Tomkinson racing team, used an adapted version of Difazio hub-center steering , whereby braking forces were directed to

5777-422: The end of this period, most of these motorcycles had rear wheel travel of approximately 12 inch (30 cm). At the beginning of this period, various rear suspension designs were used to reach this degree of performance. However, by the end of this period, a design consisting of using only one shock absorber (instead of two) was universally accepted and used. The performance of single shock absorber suspensions

5886-445: The engine, a large cargo area with a flat roof and a liftgate installed in back, and utilizing a transversely installed engine with a front-wheel-drive powertrain. As Honda entered into automobile manufacturing in the late 1960s where Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota and Nissan had been making cars since before WWII, Honda instilled a sense of doing things a little differently than its Japanese competitors. Its mainstay products like

5995-668: The engines ran out, Honda began building their own copy of the Tohatsu engine, and supplying these to customers to attach to their bicycles. This was the Honda A-Type, nicknamed the Bata Bata for the sound the engine made. In 1949, the Honda Technical Research Institute was liquidated for ¥ 1,000,000, or about US$ 5,000 today; these funds were used to incorporate Honda Motor Co., Ltd. At about

6104-725: The establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet , which began production in 2012. Honda has two joint-ventures in China: Dongfeng Honda and GAC Honda . In 2013, Honda invested about 5.7% (US$ 6.8 billion) of its revenues into research and development. Also in 2013, Honda became the first Japanese automaker to be a net exporter from the United States, exporting 108,705 Honda and Acura models, while importing only 88,357. Throughout his life, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda (1906–1991), had an interest in automobiles. He worked as

6213-506: The first Honda to go by the name Dream. In 1961, Honda achieved its first Grand Prix victories and World Championships in the 125 cc and 250 cc categories. Honda Motor Company grew in a short time to become the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964. The first production automobile from Honda was the T360 mini pick-up truck, which went on sale in August 1963. Powered by

6322-511: The first-generation Odyssey and the CR-V , and a refocusing away from some of the numerous sedans and coupes that were popular with the company's engineers but not with the buying public. The most shocking change to Honda came when Kawamoto ended the company's successful participation in Formula One after the 1992 season, citing costs in light of the takeover threat from Mitsubishi as well as

6431-583: The following iterations: The RC30 and RC45 750cc V4 models were road-legal racing motorcycles , so comprehensively different from the standard VFR750 bikes as to be altogether separate entities: Production of the VFR750F ceased in 1997, its replacement being the fuel-injected VFR800Fi . The VFR750F (Mk1) was a completely new model (based on a thorough redesign of the VF750F) with a full fairing, alloy twin-spar frame, gear-driven camshafts, and 16 inch front and 18 inch rear wheels. The VFR750FG also had

6540-477: The fork oil. This valve has a number of such shims of varying thicknesses that cover the orifices in the valve to control the damping of the fork on high and medium speed bumps. Some of the shims (or "leaf springs") lift with little force allowing fluid to flow through the orifice. Other springs require greater force to lift and allow flow. This gives the fork digressive damping, allowing it to be stiff over small bumps, yet relatively softer over larger bumps. Also,

6649-699: The forks to be turned in order to steer the motorcycle. The bottom of the forks carries the front wheel's axle. On conventional telescopic forks, the lower portion or fork bodies ( "fork sliders" in the UK), slide up and down the fork tubes ( "fork stanchions" in the UK). The fork tubes must be mirror-smooth to seal the fork oil inside the fork. Some fork tubes, especially on early roadsters and off-road motorcycles, are enclosed in concertina plastic/rubber protective "gaiters". "Upside-down" (USD) forks , also known as inverted forks, are installed inverted compared with conventional telescopic forks. The slider bodies are at

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6758-504: The forks, and damping adjustment on the rear damper. The single-sided swingarm allows easy rear-wheel removal (with no need to remove the drive chain nor rear axle). Chain adjustment is similarly simplified. wheel alignment . On later RC36 VFR750Fs the "Pro-Arm" swingarm was modified to reduce weight. The VF750F was the successor to the VF750F, the new bike being a comprehensive redesign of the earlier unreliable model. The VFR750 appeared in

6867-415: The frame via a pivoted fork (rather than through the steering head ). This allowed neutral steering and an absence of brake dive. While front suspensions were almost universally adopted before World War I, several manufacturers did not use rear suspension on their bikes until after World War II. However, motorcycles with rear suspension were offered to the public before World War I. Notable among these are

6976-401: The front end will feel stiffer, in the 1980s various manufacturers attempted to get round this by methods of anti-dive such as: With the advent of cartridge forks, which allow more low speed damping and less high speed damping than the previous damping rod forks, separate anti-dive mechanisms have generally fallen out of use. Another method to reduce or eliminate brake dive in telescopic forks

7085-409: The front forks, it can also cause handling and braking problems. One of the purposes of a suspension is to help maintain contact between the tire and road. If the suspension has bottomed out, it is no longer moving as it should, and is no longer helping to maintain contact. While excessive brake dive is disconcerting, and bottoming out can cause loss of traction, a certain amount of brake dive reduces

7194-405: The front suspension. The forks can most easily be understood as simply encased long coil springs with hydraulic damping of excess spring energy. They allow the front wheel to react to imperfections in the road while isolating the rest of the motorcycle from that motion. The top of the forks are connected to the motorcycle's frame in a triple tree clamp (known as a "yoke" in the UK), which allows

7303-429: The front wheel is transmitted through the forks, which compress. This shortening of the forks causes the front end of the bike to move lower, and this is called brake dive . Telescopic forks are particularly prone to this, unlike leading link designs. Brake dive can be disconcerting to the rider, who may feel like he or she is about to be thrown over the front of the motorcycle. If the bike dives so far as to bottom out

7412-464: The globe. These plants are located in China, the United States, Pakistan, Canada, England, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, México, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Taiwan, Perú and Argentina. As of July 2010, 89% of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the United States were built in North American plants, up from 82.2% a year earlier. This shields profits from

7521-408: The initial force on the spring thereby reducing total sag. Decreasing pre-load decreases the initial force in the spring thereby increasing total sag. Some motorcycles allow adjustment of pre-load by changing the air pressure inside the forks. Valves at the top of the forks allow air to be added or released from the fork. More air pressure gives more pre-load, and vice versa. Basic fork designs use

7630-405: The inlet valves). A new ECU amended ignition advance by 5°. Carburetters could be were modified or (optionally) replaced altogether. Kit options included a new radiator, an optional secondary radiator, modified bodywork, wider wheels, upgraded suspension (forks, shock and linkage), and handlebars to replace the standard clip-ons. The 1988 MkIA VFR750 had several revisions, with fairing redesign from

7739-420: The late 1970s and 1980s, motorcycle rear suspension design and performance underwent tremendous advances. The primary goal and result of these advances were increased rear wheel travel, as measured in how far the rear wheel could move up and down. Before this period of intense focus on rear suspension performance, most off-road motorcycles had rear wheel travel of about 3.5–4 inch (9–10 cm). At

7848-626: The lower fairing). The VFR700F was also sold in the USA. Not to be confused with the VFR750R (RC30), the VFR750RK was the HRC race-kitted version of the VFR750F, designed for TT F1 endurance, and AMA Superbike racing. The HRC kit raised the claimed power output from 105PS@10500 rpm to 125PS@12000 rpm as a result of engine changes: new titanium rods (steel for AMA), pistons which raisedcompression to 11:1, and cams with larger valves (optional titanium for

7957-479: The manufacturer chose to do so. Leading link front forks, such as used on some Ural motorcycles , can also be designed either to reduce or eliminate dive. The Saxon-Motodd (marketed as Telelever by BMW ) has an additional swingarm that mounts to the frame and supports the spring. This causes the rake and trail to increase during braking instead of decreasing as with traditional telescopic forks. The Hossack/Fior (marketed as Duolever by BMW ) separates completely

8066-543: The models TRX 90X, TRX 250X, TRX 400x, TRX 450R and TRX 700. Power equipment production started in 1953 with H-type engine (prior to motorcycles). Honda power equipment reached record sales in 2007 with 6.4 million units sold annually. By 2010 ( Fiscal year ended 31 March) this figure had decreased to 4.7 million units. Cumulative production of power products has exceeded 85 million units annually (as of September 2008). In September 2023, Honda ceased sales of gasoline lawn mowers and some other power equipment in

8175-456: The original forks. Applying the brakes of a moving motorcycle increases the load borne by the front wheel and decrease the load borne by the rear wheel due to a phenomenon called load transfer . For a detailed explanation and a sample calculation, see the braking section of the Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics article. If the motorcycle is equipped with telescopic forks , the added load on

8284-1258: The pickup segment, the light-duty Ridgeline, won Truck of the Year from Motor Trend magazine in 2006. Also in 2006, the redesigned Civic won Car of the Year from the magazine, giving Honda a rare double win of Motor Trend honors. It is reported that Honda plans to increase hybrid sales in Japan to more than 20% of its total sales in the fiscal year 2011, from 14.8% in the previous year. Five of United States Environmental Protection Agency 's top ten most fuel-efficient cars from 1984 to 2010 come from Honda, more than any other automakers. The five models are: 2000–2006 Honda Insight (53 mpg ‑US or 4.4 L/100 km or 64 mpg ‑imp combined), 1986–1987 Honda Civic Coupe HF (46 mpg ‑US or 5.1 L/100 km or 55 mpg ‑imp combined), 1994–1995 Honda Civic hatchback VX (43 mpg ‑US or 5.5 L/100 km or 52 mpg ‑imp combined), 2006– Honda Civic Hybrid (42 mpg ‑US or 5.6 L/100 km or 50 mpg ‑imp combined), and 2010– Honda Insight (41 mpg ‑US or 5.7 L/100 km or 49 mpg ‑imp combined). The ACEEE has also rated

8393-407: The rake and trail of the motorcycle, allowing it to turn more easily. This is especially important to racers trail braking on entrance to corners. Brake dive with telescopic forks can be reduced by either increasing the spring rate of the fork springs, or increasing the compression damping of the forks. However, all of these changes make the motorcycle less pleasant to ride on rough roads, since

8502-480: The rear axle can usually be adjusted forward and back in relation to the swingarm, to adjust chain tension, but a few models (such as some 1971/72 Triumph and BSA four-strokes and Ducati 860 GTS and Darmah 900s ) make the adjustment at the swingarm's pivot point. The hydraulic shock absorbers used on the rear suspensions of motorcycles are essentially the same as those used in other vehicle applications. Motorcycle shocks do differ slightly in that they nearly always use

8611-430: The rear subframe to bolt-on cast aluminium assemblies. Larger frame castings reduced the amount of frame welding. Revised fairing side-panels allowed easier access to the engine, and the fairing cutaways for the rider's feet were much reduced in size. The change in wheel size allowed both a greater range of tyre options and a claimed improvement in handling. This model was not imported into the US. The VFR750F MkII RC36 saw

8720-422: The rear wheel turns. The long sides are connected to the motorcycle's frame or rear sub-frame with one or two shocks with coil-over springs. In production motorcycles, swingarms are not exactly rectangular, but their function can be more easily understood by thinking of them as such. When a swingarm is present on only one side of the motorcycle, this is known as a single-sided swingarm . In 1981 BMW introduced

8829-538: The relatively long distances of the US highways. When the team found that the scooters they were using to get themselves around their U.S. base of San Francisco attracted positive interest from consumers they fell back on selling the Super Cub instead. The most recent school of thought on Honda's strategy was put forward by Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad in 1989. Creating the concept of core competencies with Honda as an example, they argued that Honda's success

8938-417: The release of the first EVs scheduled for 2026 in the US under the "Afeela" brand. On 2 February 2023, Honda announced a deal with American car company General Motors to produce cars using a new hydrogen fuel system. The aim is to ramp up the hydrogen powered cells in their Electric vehicles as well as trucks, construction machinery, and power stations. On 15 March 2023, Honda recalled 500,000 vehicles in

9047-403: The salvageable remains of the company to Toyota after the war for ¥450,000 and used the proceeds to found the Honda Technical Research Institute in October 1946. With a staff of 12 men working in a 16 m (170 sq ft) shack, they built and sold improvised motorized bicycles , using a supply of 500 two-stroke 50 cc Tohatsu war surplus radio generator engines . When

9156-402: The same time Honda hired engineer Kihachiro Kawashima, and Takeo Fujisawa who provided indispensable business and marketing expertise to complement Soichiro Honda's technical bent. The close partnership between Soichiro Honda and Fujisawa lasted until they stepped down together in October 1973. The first complete motorcycle with both the frame and engine made by Honda was the 1949 D-Type ,

9265-606: The second-largest Japanese automobile manufacturer in 2001. In 2015, Honda was the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in the world. Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura , on 27 March 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft , power generators, and other products. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with

9374-580: The setup. Notable exclusions are the Ducati 916 which was intended to be taken endurance racing, the MV Agusta f4 which has a hollow interior for reduced weight (a magnesium version is also available), and the Ducati 1098, which was given a single sided swingarm purely for styling reasons. On many shaft-drive motorcycles the drive shaft is contained in one of the long sides of the swingarm. Notable examples include all post-1955 BMW models prior to BMW's use of

9483-604: The seven races to win the AMA superbike championship. The engine developed in the 6X became the basis for the factory racer, the VFR750R. A race kit was available for the 1986-87 VFR from HRC for US$ 4,000, this including a titanium exhaust and was known as the VFR750RK. Honda Honda Motor Co., Ltd. ( Japanese : 本田技研工業株式会社 , Hepburn : Honda Giken Kōgyō Kabushiki gaisha , lit.   ' Honda Institute of Technology and Industry Joint-Stock Company ' , IPA: [honda] ; / ˈ h ɒ n d ə / )

9592-578: The single sided swingarm (mono lever) to motorcycles on their R 80 GS model. Notable examples include the Honda VFR800 and the BMW R- and K-series. Single-sided swingarms make rear-wheel removal easier, though they generally increase the unsprung weight of the rear suspension. This is due to the additional material required to give identical torsional rigidity to a conventional (two-sided) swingarm setup. For this reason sports bikes are rarely seen using

9701-765: The single-sided swingarms, Urals , many Moto Guzzi twins, the Honda Goldwing , the Yamaha XS Eleven , and the Yamaha FJR1300 . The BMW R- and K-series combine a shaft-drive contained in the swing arm with a single-sided swingarm, and the combination is marketed as the Paralever . Newer Moto Guzzi motorcycles use a similar arrangement marketed as the CA.R.C. ("CArdano Reattivo Compatto" - Compact Reactive Shaft Drive). For motorcycles with chain drives,

9810-409: The slogan " You meet the nicest people on a Honda ." In contrast to the prevailing negative stereotypes of motorcyclists in America as tough, antisocial rebels, this campaign suggested that Honda motorcycles were made for the everyman. The campaign was hugely successful; the ads ran for three years, and by the end of 1963 alone, Honda had sold 90,000 motorcycles. Taking Honda's story as an archetype of

9919-417: The smaller manufacturer entering a new market already occupied by highly dominant competitors, the story of their market entry, and their subsequent huge success in the U.S. and around the world has been the subject of some academic controversy. Competing explanations have been advanced to explain Honda's strategy and the reasons for their success. The first of these explanations was put forward when, in 1975,

10028-431: The springs (or shims) only allow flow in one direction, so one set of springs controls compression damping, and another rebound damping. This allows the dampings to be set separately. Cartridge emulators are aftermarket parts that make damper-rod forks behave virtually as cartridge forks. The damping orifice in the damper-rod is made so large that it has virtually no effect on damping, and instead an "emulator" takes over

10137-464: The successful establishment of Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. in Marysville, Ohio . Irimajiri and Kawamoto shared a friendly rivalry within Honda; owing to health issues, Irimajiri would resign in 1992. Following the death of Soichiro Honda and the departure of Irimajiri, Honda found itself quickly being outpaced in product development by other Japanese automakers and was caught off-guard by

10246-399: The suspension being compressed, using up a large amount of suspension travel which makes dealing with bumps and other road irregularities extremely difficult. As the forks dive the steering geometry of the bike also changes making the bike more nervous, and inversely on acceleration becomes more lazy. Also, having the steering working through the forks causes problems with stiction , decreasing

10355-650: The suspension from steering forces. It was developed by Norman Hossack though used by Claude Fior and John Britten on racebikes. Hossack himself described the system as a 'steered upright'. In 2004 BMW announced the K1200S with a new front suspension that is based upon this design. A single-sided front swingarm suspension was used on the Yamaha GTS1000 , introduced in 1993. The GTS used the RADD, Inc. front suspension designed by James Parker. A single sided girder fork

10464-513: The top, fixed in the triple clamps , and the stanchion tubes are at the bottom, fixed to the axle . This USD arrangement has two advantages: (i) it decreases the unsprung weight of the motorcycle; and (ii) it increases torsional stiffness , which can improve handling. Two disadvantages of USD forks are: (i) they are more expensive than conventional telescopic forks; and (ii) they are liable to lose all their damping oil should an oil seal fail. USD forks are typically found on sportbikes , though

10573-537: The truck and sport utility vehicle boom of the 1990s, all which took a toll on the profitability of the company. Japanese media reported in 1992 and 1993 that Honda was at serious risk of an unwanted and hostile takeover by Mitsubishi Motors , which at the time was a larger automaker by volume and was flush with profits from its successful Pajero and Diamante models. Kawamoto acted quickly to change Honda's corporate culture, rushing through market-driven product development that resulted in recreational vehicles such as

10682-632: The valve-clearance inspection interval to 16,000 mi (26,000 km). Compared to the VF750, the VFR750F saw weight shaved off from almost every component. Each connecting rod lost 90 g (3.2 oz), rocker arms 6 g (0.21 oz), the intake valve 0.5 g (0.018 oz), exhaust valves 1.5 g (0.053 oz), pistons 20 g (0.71 oz), piston rings 1.3 g (0.046 oz) per set and valve springs 17 g (0.60 oz) each. The gear-driven camshaft system removed any lingering concerns about cam-chain maintenance, which had dogged

10791-411: The weight of the fork oil will alter the damping rate. Some telescopic forks have external adjustments for damping. A more sophisticated approach is the cartridge fork , which use internal cartridges with a valving system. Damping at low slider speeds is controlled by a much smaller orifice, but damping at higher slider speeds is controlled by a system of flexible shims, which act as a bypass valve for

10900-484: The world's first carmaker to sell a vehicle with level 3 self-driving technology. In March 2022, Honda announced it would develop and build electric vehicles in a joint venture with electronics giant Sony . The latter is set to provide its imaging, sensing, network and other technologies while Honda would be responsible for the car manufacturing processes. The Sony Honda Mobility company was officially announced on 13 October 2022 with pre-orders said to open in 2025 and

11009-507: The world. In 1986, Honda introduced the successful Acura brand to the American market in an attempt to gain ground in the luxury vehicle market. The year 1991 saw the introduction of the Honda NSX supercar, the first all-aluminum monocoque vehicle that incorporated a mid-engine V6 with variable-valve timing . In 1990, CEO Tadashi Kume was succeeded by Nobuhiko Kawamoto . Kawamoto was selected over Shoichiro Irimajiri , who oversaw

11118-593: The yen's advance to a 15-year high against the dollar. American Honda Motor Company is based in Torrance, California . Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is Honda's motorsport division. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in Markham, Ontario , it was originally planned to be located in Richmond Hill, Ontario , but delays led them to look elsewhere. Their manufacturing division, Honda of Canada Manufacturing ,

11227-522: Was able to mass-produce piston rings acceptable to Toyota, using an automated process that could employ even unskilled wartime laborers. Tōkai Seiki was placed under the control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (called the Ministry of Munitions after 1943) at the start of World War II, and Soichiro Honda was demoted from president to senior managing director after Toyota took a 40% stake in

11336-523: Was due to its focus on leadership in the technology of internal combustion engines. For example, the high power-to-weight ratio engines Honda produced for its racing bikes provided technology and expertise which was transferable into mopeds. Honda's entry into the U.S. motorcycle market during the 1960s is used as a case study for teaching introductory strategy at business schools worldwide. Honda builds utility ATVs under models Recon, Rubicon, Rancher, Foreman and Rincon. Honda also builds sports ATVs under

11445-490: Was reported to be in talks with Hitachi to merge the two companies' car parts businesses, creating a components supplier with almost $ 17 billion in annual sales. In January 2020, Honda announced that it would be withdrawing employees working in the city of Wuhan , Hubei , China due to the COVID-19 pandemic . On 23 March 2020 due to the global spread of the virus, Honda became the first major automaker with operations in

11554-452: Was still higher than its three domestic competitors. In 2017, India became the largest motorcycle market for Honda. In India, Honda is leading in the scooters segment, with 59% market share. During the 1960s when it was a small manufacturer, Honda broke out of the Japanese motorcycle market and began exporting to the United States. Working with the advertising agency Grey Advertising , Honda created an innovative marketing campaign, using

11663-653: Was use on the German Imme R100 motorcycle between 1949 and 1951, and the Vespa scooter has a single-sided trailing-link fork . More recently, between 1998 and 2003, the ItalJet " Dragster " scooter also used a single-sided swingarm suspension, though unlike the GTS1000 there was no upper control arm; the upper part of the suspension on the Dragster served only to transmit steering input. Hub-center steering

11772-654: Was valued at US$ 50.4 billion in October 2018. Honda's automotive manufacturing ambitions can be traced back to 1963, with the Honda T360 , a Kei truck built for the Japanese market. This was followed by the two-door roadster , the Honda S500 also introduced in 1963. In 1965, Honda built a two-door commercial delivery van, named the Honda L700 . Honda's first four-door sedan was not the Honda Accord , but

11881-508: Was vastly superior to twin shock motorcycles. Accordingly, this design distinction is readily used to categorize motorcycles. With the exception of Bentley and Draper system ( New Imperial and Brough Superior machines) and the HRD (later Vincent ) system both developed and patented in the 1920s it is only since the 1980s that monoshock motorcycles have been the norm, the term "twinshock" is now used to categorize vintage motorcycles. This distinction

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