The Great Japanese Motorcycle War

I got a Honda 70 in 1992 for 500 dollars road it every ware crashed it bunch of times I'm 40 now so I was 12 then awesome!

Quality

japanese motorcycles then, chinese ev’s now 😂 sayonara!

Oh Yeah. Subaru and Mitsubishi... from Scooter rivalry to Rally rivalry

Love my 1200GS

日本から。　
懐かしい映像をありがとうございます。　私はホンダカブ号の初期に乗った世代生まれ。
　ホンダのエピソードで好きなのは、創設者本田宗一郎氏が最初、奥様の買い物が坂道で大変とエンジンを付けた話。😊
　日本人は徹底的に技術を磨くのが得意な国民性で、又それを讃える環境もあります。
今後とも日本をよろしくお願いします。m(_ _)m

Excellent video

Nice job!

💯📺❤️🤗🤗

Very interesting documentary, Thanks. I live in the UK. My first interest in motorcycles began when I was 16 in 1975, and a schoolmate gave me a go on his Honda PC50 moped.
By that time the British motorcycle industry was all but finished. Motorcycles were all about those beautiful, colourful Japanese machines, and the odd German and Italian ones. Working in a petrol filling station, I'd watch them all fuel up and go.
It was great for a young person, as the Japanese Big Four produced a huge variety of small capacity motorcycles. We were spoilt for choice. The next year I saved up and bought a Suzuki TS100 cash. It gave me fantastic independence and was alot of fun on and off road. It used to get admirers too at times.
So thanks again for the video, for giving the history behind that vibrant 1970s motorcycle scene. It's good also, that 50 years later, while the Big Four is still there of course ,they no longer have complete domination, with the comeback of legendary brands like Royal Enfield, Harley Davidson and Triumph.

Japan 🇯🇵

The Beach Boys song “Honda “ was a big hit. I learned how to ride a motorcycle on a Honda 50 cub in 1960 . Thanks for sharing this great video ! Greetings from the Philippines !

When I was 10 years old I got a Yamaha YB50. I'm 64 years old and still in love with motorcycles.🇧🇷

Excellent video, many thanks Bart.

I had a Bridgestone 350 GTR in 1968. It was miles ahead of anything in its class using innovative technologies. The Bridgestone was a rotary valve two stroke twin with a six speed transmission, oil injection and chrome lined cylinders sitting on 19” wheels. The bike was a true road bike with plenty of horsepower and torque. For the time it was reliable. Loved the bike, but with limited distribution and dealers Bridgestone stopped making the bike and left the market, what a loss in my opinion.

I enjoy these motorcycle documentaries very much. They are well-researched with very good narration. One thing that may not have been stressed enough is the condition of Japan in the years succeeding WWII. There wasn't any money around in a country that had been devastated by the American B-29 incendiary bombing campaign that burned down entire cities. Transportation was primarily by the remaining surface rail stock. Vast numbers of people got to the rail head by walking or cycling. Even today, Japan remains a nation of cyclists and scooter riders. The primary mission of many Japanese companies was to provide an inexpensive tool to get workers to work. Hence the bicycle with a tiny motor. There was a great deal of engineering prowess in Japan at the time. But there was a shortage of machine tools and facilities. The obvious solution to a transportation problem was the manufacture of very small, affordable machines. This solution survives to this day in Japan, and indeed in much of Asia. Still in modern Japan, all, sorts of things from the mail to ramen are delivered to one's door by a tiny two or three wheeled vehicle. Decades ago, a country of 100 million people were struggling to find decent food, working hard to rebuild, and retaining something of a Japanese way of life. This was assisted by all sorts of little machines out of necessity. Still today many people think my 32 year old 400 cc Yamaha SRX is a large motorcycle. Still today, Grandmother is probably out and about shopping for vegetables on her Honda scooter. And it all started in a nation that refused desperation, and just got moving on tiny machines.

Great video, thank you. Subbed. I wonder if the Chinese motorcycle industry will go the same way by buying out and taking over smaller or less efficient brands until there are only three or four big makers. And as the quality improves they become a major threat to the Japanese makers? My bikes are a 1962 Benly CB92 Super Sport 125, Suzuki AC50 Maverick, Suzuki Stinger T125, 1969 Honda CB750 diecast and 1973 Kawasaki Z1.

Hey buddy, what's the name of the bike from your video thumbnail ?

The quality of your videos is astounding

u sound just like fluump!

Cool to see Japanese riding in their own moto culture 70+ years ago. Normalising gambling on bike races incentivising industry smacks of genius.

Sorry, but this is a long, disjointed, rambling account, and no effort is made to align the photography with the story.

japan is probably the last country to STILL place a value on HONOR.& it shows in their products.

getting rid of the emporer's influence was the best thing that could've ever happened to japan.too bad it took being nuked. TWICE!!!

I had no idea there waa a famous female Japanese motorcycle racer before my parents were born. Holy shit.

Isn’t Honda Bentley 110cc. It was very nice motorcycle.

Great video you put together Bart, it must have taken you many many hours of research. My first bike in England at 12 was an old well used and abused Honda s90 that I taught myself to ride on my uncle's farm and then taught my 2 cousins. I should have bought Nobby tyres but instead just slid off so many times, and looking back it probably gave me better balance trying to stay on the muddy slopes of the farm fields with old, almost bald. street tyres. When I was old enough to ride on the streets legally I always bought Japanese in the mid-late 70s and onwards. Never a British bike. Also, myself and all my biker buddies always bought nippy Japanese bikes. Now living in the states and in my 60s I thought it was about time i bought me a Harley........well why not, never thought I would but I'm not looking for a wheelie machine no more or a speed ticket collector.

Born and raised in post-war Japan, I remember some of these now defuncted motorcycle brands. My cousin used to ride one but I forget the brand. We had a favorite noodle & curry shop deliver their orders to us on a Honda cub with a rack. I remember one time I snuck off base climbing under the perimeter fence, and going for a walk in the Japanese countryside. I recognized the noodle shop delivery boy, the shop owners son, approaching so waved hello, and he said to hop on (more innocent times), and he gave me a ride to the noodle shop, and his parents fed me free of charge. He later dropped me off at the perimeter fence where I had earlier escaped. It was the first time I ever rode a motorcycle. I believe it was 1965, and I was just 5 years old, different times. My dad was transferred to Hawaiʻi a year later.
I have been on the list of a local dealer here for a new Honda Cub for a couple years, but no calls yet. They are still hot sellers.

The Japanese takeovere give me the squirts.

I would like to add point to this video...which has nothing to do with the motorcycle wars, lol. The Yamaha logo (which I have heard many people say is 3 sets of motorcycle forks), is actually 3 sets of tuning forks. Yamaha was a stringed musical instrument manufacturer long before motorcycles were even thought of, well, maybe they were thought of, lol. Okay, back to your regularly scheduled program, lol. Peace!

excellent documentary

Yeah, I guess You meet the craziest people on a Suzuki wouldn't work as well as Honda's attempt.

I didn't quite get the jump from machines around 200cc to the law that allowed 16yolds to ride a small motorcycle upbto 15 hundred ccm. So larger than a standard Harley. Nothing in between?

Japanese companies simply paid attentionm they actually READ the same reviews in the publications the buying public were subscribed to and they TRIED...they took chances went down one rabbit hole after another fearlessly afraid of failing but willing to chance it. It seems like to me european and American companies have more the we will sell what build and if they slow the buying we shall just sell harder. But the market was savvy and frugal. If it was faster AND cheaper? AND more reliable? Well that overcomes all sorts of previous brand loyalty and sort of changes how a machine looks even ...When function finally trumps and begins to dictate FORM....That is untill bone headed generations that stopped caring so much about function and honed in on harely FORM function be damned ....with the latest generation not even caring I dont even know WHAT the hell is going on now!

In Indian market, similar Internal agreement between Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha may be there

Honda would focus on 110 cc highest selling Activa and not make a competitive 125cc Activa.
Suzuki would focus on 125cc Access and not make competitive 110cc Access.
Both Suzuki and Honda would not lauch competive 150cc bike, which Yamaha would focus on ... They are not trying to compete strongly with each other.

nihongo best motorcycles and many more , my is cbr 600 , i trust them i would also look for a nihongo friend

I wish I was there that I could have replaced that caliper and pads in the parking lot of a parts store for you. Well all squared away now, what would travel be without travail?

Youre wrong about taking down british companies bsa,triumph, norton, ccm, royal enfield were all making bikes where as in the time quoted there was only hd in the usa even now great britain ie england. Still make the above m/ cycles except the indian owned royal enfield

I grew up in the late '60s and early 70's. We had a Honda motorcycle store/shop right down the street from our house. I saw, first hand, the rising tide of the Japanese motorcycle in the US. For about 6 years I would frequent the shop and marvel at the ever increasing offerings that Honda had to offer. I bought my first trail bike, a Honda CT-70H, in 1971. Other than just a few Kawasaki models, I've always owned Honda motorcycles. Their level of engineering and product design is still tops in the industry. It was no surprise to me when the British, American and German motorcycle companies lost market share to their Japanese competition. Great overview of the topic related specifically to interplay within the Japanese manufacturing world. Just ordered my copy of the book you referenced. Hope you're getting a commission! ;-)

Thank you for this video, it's a nice summary of the die hard competition that was going on. Also nice footage! Maybe would have been nice to add a little more info on the 'company espionage' aspect. As well as the crazy story about how east-german (!) two-stroke engineering catapulted japanese two-strokes to domination

My first bike was a Honda 50 scrambler I think. I had to lay down on the tank and put my feet on the rear pegs to do about 35 mph. A good bike to learn on, except for the exhaust pipe which would give you a nasty burn when turning around.

the story of how suzuki stole the 2 stroke technology from a east german company is very interesting

Please do a video about Harley-Davidson and the AMF years!

Now what will happened when Toyota Acquired Harley-Davidson?

The culture of the Japanese people where their is honor is built onto their products added to the reliability and value for your dollar is what led me to Japanese bikes and later cars. Oh, and don't forget, they did not leak oil like most British and American bikes did out of the crate. Oh, don't forget that they built their v-twins so they were better balanced and did not try to escape from their frames at idle.

My first 2 motorcycles i found at tag sales, non running, an early 1960s honda 90 ( yes, red with argent fenders, not chrome ) and an old 1960s Kawasaki that was blue, and had street knobbies and a dual rear sprocket ( looked alot like a honda dream 125), worked on them for a few years meticulously tracking down parts as i could afford them, ( surprisingly still rather easy to find!) But, never got to finish either, as i got married and had kids, so, the toys had to go.... Had i known what the bitch eventually did to me, id have kept the bikes and got rid of her! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Starting in December 1966, I had my first bike, a Honda S90 which I kept for 18 months. Then I doubled up to a CB175 and kept that one for a year before doubling up again to a 1969 CB350, which I kept for 1 year before having to get a car. Sadly, I could not keep my dearly beloved CB350, and it was 24 years later that I got another bike, this time a V4 750 Sabre, followed by a V4 Interceptor, CB600 F4 and 250 Rebel. Now, at age 77, too old for sportbikes and bikes that are too heavy to pick up, I ride a Hero Hunk 150, an Indian bike that has Honda DNA, and it is as good as a Honda.
I have fond memories of that period Dec 1966 to July 1970 when owned and rode those 3 outstanding Hondas, especially the 1969 CB350, one of the best bikes Honda made.

"16 year olds could ride a motorcycle up to 1500cc.."???? Even if they were allowed, there were no 1500cc motorcycles back then for them to ride. Surely you mean 150cc, and it's shocking that you could make such a big boo boo. Don't you review your videos before posting crap?

At this moment, Kawasaki W650 or W800 are the same better bikes for me. 😊 Other - are very nice too...😅

Japanese have already dominated the world motorcycle market since the 60's.