Soichiro Honda's First Bike

[halifax]

You could make the argument that Honda has always copied Harley...even in the beginning, the first Hondas weren't that far removed from Harley's early designs.



Maybe this was because Soichiro Honda's first motorcycle, purchased as a teen, was a 1917 Harley Davidson.

[MOFO YO]

So....he took a good thing and made it better..IMO...

[jordan.harris]

Well when the first motorcyles were based on bicycles, I don't think there's a lot of room for ground breaking ideas

[rieckena]

That's actually a great looking bike.

[KPJ]

I don't think it was Harley he was copying. Legend has it he rode a Scout 101.

[MikeB]

Well when the first motorcyles were based on bicycles, I don't think there's a lot of room for ground breaking ideas

Exactly. How many variations on the theme of two-wheels-and-an-engine-in-between can there be? Even today motorcycles haven't changed the basic design a whit, even though many better ideas have come along over the years.

[superdiver]

I agree with the above... he was comping a motorized bicycle... they evolved for there... you could argue the same for most cars of any era as well.

those are some flipping SWEET old bikes!

[kacealraid]

In our day and age, is anything honestly "original" anymore? Everything is a copy of something else, just find one you like and enjoy it. That goes for nearly any kind of item, especially motorcycles.

[MikeB]

In our day and age, is anything honestly "original" anymore?

I'm willing to give the Can-Am Spyder props for thinkng outside the box. Yeah, there have been three-wheelers before, but they were mostly in automobile form.

[superdiver]

Is there anyone out there who makes reasonably priced replicas of these old style bikes. I would LOVE one with a side car maybe too!