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Honda's good reputation?

How? When? and by whom did this rumor get started?

Update:

I intended this for motorcycles, but the input on their cars is appreciated.

Update 2:

do you think they deserve it? personal experience either way?

23 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Honda built a reputation after buying a set of plans for a really decent motor, from a little known US manufacturer called Harley Davidson. Before this, all foreign bikes were small in comparison to the American bretheren, and really more modified scooters than actual motorcycles.

    The new engine allowed Honda to expand it's grip on a market, something Harley would come to regret.

    During the 70's, in a motorcycling heyday of Baby Boomers and initial purchasing power, the Japanese in-line 4's were all about horsepower and speed. Poor inventory control and government supported companies allowed motorcycles to be sold on the American market for a fraction of their worth.

    What did Honda do beyond everyone else? Parts. You could get your Honda parts at every dealer, and they were usually on the shelf. How do i know, I used to work as a motorcycle mechanic, back in the early 80s.

    Honda ensured most of the parts that could be, were interchangeable (turn signals, grips, footpegs, etc). Lower costs for manufacture, and increased quality attention immediately paid off.

    Longevity (a key component to quality), hardly. The IL4 was doomed in it's original hyped over, air cooled build. 15-20K miles was it before the engine would require a major top end rebuild.

    Water cooling was a must. So this added complexity, but also better durability. Still, it's similar to everything in life, it's hard to erase a first impression.

    So Honda and all the 70's IL4's were marked for their speed and relative "quality of build". I can still recall the Daytona 200 that Yamaha finished 1, 2, 3 on 2 stroke 400's. Significantly down on power for the year, but the tweaked 750's of all the other manufacturers broke before the finish. So, look around, 70's import motorcycles are worthless, and if they break, repairs are difficult if not impossible. Parts for bikes that were built as disposable, good only for a few seasons of riding, are awefully hard to come by in the 21st century. (Just last year I finally got rid of my CB1100F).

    Looking at the other end of the bashing spectrum, Harley was built back then, also. Due to the understressed nature of the design of the manufacture, a lot of the bikes built back then by HD are still on the road. Why, because the engine isn't tweaked to all get out. It's producing power at about 1/2 of the horsepower to displacement range of your standard import. Less power, less stress. Motors only hand so much stress. (Think about telling a drag racer he needs to go a whole season with a single motor build.)

    Harley had one major issue, poor casting quality. Despite great builds, the pre-Evo motor was so porous, often new bikes leaked before the motors left the shop. Since the 80's, the Evo brought quality to the HD motor line. This is why now, Harleys are known to long term bikers as long term motorcycles, and draw the premium at resale. A Harley with 20-30K miles is just getting broken in. I have buddies with over 80K on their bikes. Read many a report of owners with up to 200K miles on a Harley. I'm not saying it's impossible for an import, just unlikely.

    Just for the naysayers, I don't own a Harley. I do respect quality manufacturing, and Honda and Harley both are very good examples of this, just different ways to get to the same end point (selling a quality product). Both are famous manufacturers, with reasons for their fan's loyalty.

    Basically, I am saying first impressions are often the ones folks remember. For decades now, Honda has built a very reliable motorcycle, with a great parts system to keep it on the road. This leaves a very strong good impression, hence the rep.

    Source(s): riding since 1966... SL350 CB 125 DT400E Seca 750 CB750F CB1100F Buell X1 Buell XB9R
  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    I would argue that the newer Hondas have just about the same quality mechanically speaking as they have in the past. The difference is safety regulations requiring models to meet higher standards. Then from there it's features to compliment the newer design and compete with other makes. I've noticed that there are electrical features that Honda has lacked where other makes incorporate those features only for something to go wrong with them. I will say that if nothing else, the workmanship and design of the bodies on Honda is FAR better then is was as recent as 8-10 years ago.

  • R
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    Honda had a brilliant marketing plan at the start. This was back when people associated (and i realize it's undeserved) Harleys with the violent biker gang image. Honda's ad campaign read "You meet the nicest people on a Honda!" and it almost immediately had people rushing out to buy a honda cub. Honda bikes are very reliable, this is not to say that the other metrics aren't. I currently own a honda goldwing, a suzuki intruder, and a harley dyna. I LOVE every one of them. As far as honda cars go, i've owned 3, and a honda accord has made it in the Motor Trend's top ten cars of the year almost every year since they started making them.

  • 1 decade ago

    They were just the first of the good Jap Bikes over 30 yrs ago the CBs and goldwings some are still running I cant say anything about their price tags today But I even built dozens of Jap Choppers and got as much as a Harley"in those days" I am thinking about 2 right now a Kaw 1000 & and a Honda 750 .But I dont think I will get 16 to 20K for them

    Source(s): Good points Parrot but rem Hughes Avation also sold them the O Fighter-Dive bomber they attacked Pearl With a bit worse than Bikes
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  • 1 decade ago

    they got their reputation with their original 50cc to 305cc motorcycles. they were much more durable than European & American bikes of the same size.

    they spent more on advertising campaigns than they did building their excellent products & made sure any defects that showed up were quickly corrected. new models were regularly introduced & parts to keep old models running were not made so there were very few old worn out unreliable ones to be seen on the roads. by the early 70s their reputation was established & carried over to their newly introduced cars.

    since the 70s their quality has been no better or worse than any other manufacturer but their reputation continues, at least with the original owners.

    their marketing strategy has always been to keep new models in front of the public & get old ones off the market through offering high trade in values & limiting parts availability for older models.

  • mushki
    Lv 5
    1 decade ago

    Honda has earned this reputation. I have owned quite a few bikes over the years and have never had to repair any of my Hondas. I currently own two of them, no problems, leaks other than regular maintenance. Just got my first Honda car and I hope to enjoy the same luck.

  • 1 decade ago

    It's not a rumour.

    All the Jap manufacturers have been building quality bikes and for that matter cars for well over 30 years now.

    Basically, you get a well equipped bike for your money that goes, corners, stops and doesn't as a rule break down or dump the contents of it's oil sump on your driveway.

    Whether you like Jap bikes is another matter of course but their reliability is hardly open to question.

    We have a 30 year old Honda in the garage....30 years is damn good for a bike.

    And we do speak from the experience of owning and riding bikes.

  • 1 decade ago

    Honda makes a very good product. Both cars and motorcycles. The only complaint I have about them is that they build in things that make it difficult for the average guy to work on his vehicle and for the aftermarket to produce OEM parts, thereby increasing their profit margin. Things like "Endless drive chains" I remember installing a new chain and sprocket on a friend's Honda twin. Chain had no masterlink. manual said "See your Honda dealer who has a special tool" I used a hacksaw.

  • 1 decade ago

    i wont answer your question directly because you don't know me and who am i, just another person on the internet. what i will say is go to every atv and motorcycle shop that do not sell new bikes to avoid bias answers. the shops that just sell parts and service them. about 95% of them will tell you that honda has the best quality bikes. they and i know this because we work on them all every day. i will also say that the other brands have come a long way in the past 10 years but they have not matched honda yet.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    So far I've had 26 bikes and I personally haven't seen where any one Japanese brand has been more reliable than the next and I've had several of all 4. You see a lot of stupid crap like that here, Honda's are more reliable, Yamaha's corner better, Kawasaki's are faster, or whatever. It is obviously just pure ignorance. Many people giving advice on this forum don't even own a bike but they will make a statement with utmost confidence like they actually know what they are talking about.

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