Without the early success of motorcycles like the Super Cub, Honda would not be the global manufacturing powerhouse that it is today. Honda introduced its first bike in 1949, just a year after the Honda Motor Company was founded; since then, it has produced more than 500 million motorcycles. In its back catalog sit a range of successful models, with iconic nameplates like the Fireblade, Gold Wing, and Africa Twin still offered by the company today. Honda's current lineup accounts for around 40% of all
global motorcycle sales, with the majority of its motorcycles sold in key Asian markets like India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Honda is also the bestselling motorcycle manufacturer in many of Europe's most populous countries, as well as seeing strong sales in South American countries like Brazil. With that level of global popularity, it shouldn't be a surprise to find out that the company builds its motorcycles all over the world. Honda currently manufactures motorcycles in more than 20 countries, with several of its plants capable of churning out more than 1 million motorcycles yearly.
Many of these large plants are in Asia, with Honda having major production facilities in Vietnam, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Thailand, and China. Honda also has the capacity to build over a million motorcycles per year in its plant in Manaus, Brazil. The brand's only Japanese motorcycle plant is in Kumamoto, which has been in operation since 1976.
Read more: 13 Of The Best Motorcycles For Riders Over 50
Honda Used To Make Motorcycles In The US
Today, Honda imports all of its U.S.-market motorcycles, but the manufacturer made motorcycles in the U.S. for several decades. The first American-built Honda motorcycle left the brand's plant in Maryville, Ohio, in September 1979. It was a CR250R motocross bike, chosen because it had relatively few parts compared to Honda's other motorcycles and thus was easier to procure parts for and assemble. However, in April 1980, the plant started building one of Honda's most popular motorcycles in America at the time, the Gold Wing GL1100.
Honda's intention was always to first build motorcycles in Ohio before expanding production to include cars; by 1982, Honda had built its first Accord at the plant. In the decades since, Honda's automobile manufacturing operations in Ohio have gradually expanded, and today the U.S. plant produces several popular Honda models, including the Accord and CR-V. By the 2000s, Honda's American motorcycle manufacturing division was only a small part of its U.S. operations, and in 2008, the company announced that it would shut down U.S. motorcycle production within a year. The last U.S.-built Honda motorcycle, a Gold Wing GL1800, left the factory in 2009, after which Honda moved production to its Kumamoto plant in Japan.
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