Honda Just Changed the World

what do manufacturing piston rings and baking a cake have in common and how many times do you fail before you give up let's find out today we're talking about a dreamer a man who chased his dreams and ignored conventional thinking this man was soyichiro honda the man who built honda into the world's largest motorcycle and seventh largest car company in the world but it wasn't easy soichiro failed again and again this is the story of why you should never give up on your dreams our story begins in the early 1900s a small village near hamamasu japan a young boy hears the roar of a motor car it's something he has never heard or seen before as it passes he runs after it never forgets the smell that leaves behind the boy is so ichirou honda he is the son of d hey honda a blacksmith who runs a bicycle repair shop his mother mika is an accomplished weaver who designs her own looms to weave complex patterns the young boy spends much of his time helping his father in his bicycle shop kind of like the wright brothers who invented the plane he isn't interested in school and he doesn't do well one time he decides to hide his bad grades from his parents there's one problem the report card must be stamped with the family name and return to the teacher he solves this problem by making his own stamp from a rubber bicycle pedal cover it works well but then he starts making stamps for his classmates too but he doesn't realize the stamps need to be a mirror image his family name is symmetrical when written vertically but often other names are not so he's discovered by the teacher his father punishes him not for making the stamp but for making it incorrectly another time so ichiro takes one of his father's bicycles and rides 12 miles to the wachiyama military airfield to watch an aerobatic display he does not have enough money for the entrance fee but climbs a nearby tree to watch the plane sarichiro is an independent thinker and somewhat of a rebel so he becomes a bit of an outsider at school but instead of trying to blend in he embraces his non-conformity he starts wearing bright colors like red and pink when all the other boys wear gray or green later in the business world he continues to wear colored shirts to prove the point that inventors have the courage to break away from convention he doesn't believe in conventional learning his dream is to make things that are original this thinking will result in him building the most popular motorcycles in the world but it will also make his life difficult there would be much failure and hardship along the way now it's 1922 and soichiro leaves school at 15 years old he finds an apprenticeship at art shoga an auto repair shop in tokyo in the beginning he cleans cooks and babysits after a year he's allowed to use a spanner when the great kanto earthquake strikes 1923 the garage catches fire so ichiro who's never driven before drives three cars out of the burning garage then he helps rebuild the garage nobody starts manufacturing racing cars the first model is the art daimler which has a daimler engine for the next car they use a second hand engine from an american curtis a1 biplane sirichiro is just 17 when he joins the racing crew as a mechanic the car wins the fifth japan motorcar championship it's now 1928 soichiro has finished his apprenticeship and is awarded with the opportunity to manage the art shokai branch and hamamatsu now soichiro has freedom to follow his dream of inventing things his repair workshop does more than just repairs he becomes known as the edison of hamamatsu he makes an automobile stand himself so that workers do not need to crawl underneath the car it's 1935. there are more than 30 people working at his branch this includes his new wife sachi who helps with meals and accounts he is still racing but has an accident during the opening race at japan's first race trip the tamagowa speedway he hits a car that's leaving the pits and is thrown clear luckily uninjured he takes part in another race later that year but then gives up racing at the request of his wife and father sounds like my father he hated me having a motorcycle motor racing dies out anyway during the war with china in the second world war he discovers he is colorblind so it's not called up to be in the military maybe another reason the shirts are so loud so ichiro decides he wants to make piston rings having been in the repair business he knows how often there's a shortage of piston rings he can't get anyone at the art show guy to support his venture so he starts a new company the tokai sekou heavy industry and develops piston rings at night whatever he does in a day he works tirelessly and invests all the savings he even pawns his wife's jewelry i wonder what she thought about that but he encounters many technical challenges first he has problems with the molds then he casts his first rings and they turn out hard and brittle like granite remember we talked about how manufacturing piston rings is a little like baking a cake you have the ingredients the flour the eggs the sugar and milk you mix them all together but the cake flops and flops again it could be the order in which you mix them could be the temperature of the oven it could be many things wouldn't it just be easier to look at a recipe maybe then you'd discover you're missing one small but vital ingredient baking powder making piston rings isn't simple they have to be done exactly right as they are critical to the engine's power let's take a closer look at what a piston ring does in order to understand why then we'll find out what ingredient so each hero is missing piston rings are put under a lot of pressure which is why they have to be strong they're made from cast iron or steel they're designed to seal the gap between the piston and the cylinder well if the gap is too small the engine will cease when the things get hot and expand on the other hand a large gap means the piston won't seal properly this will result in reduced engine power the sliding motion of the rings also causes friction losses so a good design compromises between minimizing friction while achieving a good seal so back to the story so ichiro's piston rings keep cracking and eventually so does he he doesn't know enough about metallurgy just like the baking powder in the cake the piston rings are lacking a vital ingredient he needs to add silicone to his recipe he realizes he needs more knowledge and enrolls in metallurgy class at the technological school at amamatsu but once again he's a poor student he refuses to take notes or write exams the principal of the school tells him he will not receive a diploma but he's not interested in a diploma only in getting knowledge diplomas don't do the work he says he's eventually expelled from the university but gets himself a private tutor so he can shard his own course cerichiro does things his own way on his own terms he thinks out of the box long before the term becomes popular in the 1970s and 80s nowadays people are encouraged to think out of the box as it's linked to company success as we will see it will play an important part in honda's success but back to the story sir ichiro is ready to begin mass production of the piston rings and he joins kokai seka as presidents he has a large order from toyota he submits 50 ranks for quality checking only three meet toyota's rigid quality requirements again he doesn't give up within two years he employs more than 2 000 people he is supplying both toyota and the nakajima aircraft now it's 1941 and the pacific war begins the ministry of munitions takes control of the company then toyota takes over 40 percent of the company's equity and so ichiro loses his position as president things are tough his workers are leaving to join the military he replaces them with inexperienced female workers so each hero calibrates the machines themselves to keep them safe he also devises a way of automating the production of the piston rings then hamamatsu was completely destroyed in an air raid the yamashita plants are destroyed and an earthquake destroys another plant so each hero buys an alcohol tank which he installs in the yard and spends the next year playing his shakohachi a type of flute and kodo a harp and treating his friends to homemade rice whiskey he spent some time traveling around japan on a motorcycle that managed to survive the war it's in 1948. so ichiro honda is visiting the home of a friend when he happens to see a small generator engine thousands of these engines were manufactured during the war to power the wireless radios of the army this tiny engine gives soichiro a big idea he sells most of what's left of his old piston manufacturing company to toyota to finance his new idea but he keeps one of the only buildings left standing and sets up the honda technology research institute so what's his idea well he thinks how easy it would be to use these small engines to add some auxiliary power to a bicycle it's not a new idea people have been attaching auxiliary power to bicycles for a long time this was exactly how the first motorcycle was invented way back in 1867 in the united states by a man called sylvester howard roper the roper velocipede was powered by steam its inventor sadly died from a heart attack in 1896 in the saddle of his motorcycle while racing nobody knows if it was a heart attack that caused him to topple over with a top speed of 40 miles an hour causing him to have a heart attack good luck on a modern motorcycle at 200 miles an hour the first internal combustion petroleum-fueled motorcycle was the daimler wright wagon built by gottlieb daimler the same man who founded daimler many of these brands were being exported to japan before the war and there were also japanese manufacturers in the local market but things deteriorated in japan after the warned bicycles became a common means of transportation after the war fuji brings out the rabbit six months before vespa is introduced in italy and mitsubishi releases the silver pigeon not the greatest name but many people can't afford these machines so while soichiro's idea is not new it's more practical for many people it's something they can afford he gets working on a prototype he grafts the generator engine to the bike and uses a hot water bottle he finds in his house as a fuel tank this one horsepower rotary valve two-stroke 50cc modified engine is the beginning of the honda motor company it quickly gets nicknamed chimney thanks to its tall single cylinder and the fact that it also makes a lot of smoke fuel is scarce so cerichiro makes homemade turpentine fuel from tree pulp this isn't the first time tree fuel is used to power motorcycles and we know it won't be the last but it will be another 50 years before anyone looked at the pulp industry as a source of biofuel so ichiro's wife sachi is the first test pilot surichiro wants to see if it's suitable for women she wears her best montpar which are baggy trousers and test drives hit around the main streets that are crowded with people hermann pay gets dirty from oil so each hero fixes the problem then he buys as many of the small radio generators that he can find once stock of the radio engines starts running out suicidal decides to develop an original two-stroke engine of his own design he could have copied the design of the small radio engine but suichiro does not like to copy things he wants to create original ideas the fuel tank is cast aluminum in the shape of a teardrop the idea came from the cast aluminum hot water bottles this is the first original honda a type moped take a look at the engine the grand mark of a figure racing across the heavens is only just visible can you make out who the figure is maybe honda's logo from 1948 will give us a clue now we can see the winged figure over the years the logo changes but the wings remain a reminder that cerichiro was inspired by the goddess nike the ancient greek goddess of victory in a little over 20 years a new shoe company in portland oregon usa will also choose this goddess for their name and we all know how it turned out for them it is something that honda and nike have in common they both found inspiration in the goddess of victory now it's august 1949 so ichiro meets takio fujisawa through mutual acquaintance they have crossed paths before when takio worked at the nakajima aircraft company where cerichiro supplied piston rings so ichiro is now 42 years old tachyo 38 they hit off immediately each season the other something they themselves don't have so each hero does the making the ko does the selling takeo is a marketing genius here's a simple principle tell customers the truth they are a perfect combination and as any car enthusiast knows the perfect combination can be pretty important you get the right combination of fuel and air you get the most powerful result this is what happens at honda the official start date of the company is 1948. within 11 years they will become the number one motorcycle manufacturer in the world but let's not drive too far ahead it's still 1949. the d-type is released it no longer looks like a bicycle with an auxiliary engine but is a full-fledged motorcycle the d stands for dream so each hero is always talking about his dream of honda becoming a world-class manufacturer so someone starts calling it that and it sticks one year later the four-stroke e-type marks a turning point for honda this is the bike so ichiro always wanted to make it start shipping 500 units a month compared to the d-type which shipped only about 160 per month at its peak then it gets fitted with the third gear and orders rise to 2000 a month three years later orders are at 32 000. so how does this company move so fast perhaps we can find a clue in the company's slogan which is 120 quality the idea is that you aim for 100 you'll always miss but if you aim at 120 you can achieve perfection it's an idea that is not conventional conventional wisdom says 100 is the best you can do but so each euro is not conventional his goal at this point is to exceed international standards one of the things he does is make a decision to purchase the world's best machine tools it doesn't make sense at the time because the company is too small but so each hero dreams big how can you exceed international standards without the best tools he thinks very differently about things some companies focus on efficiencies and performance which works but so each hero focuses on joy well i'll tell you the truth that's how motorcycles are are you really into him it is joy he writes an essay in the honda monthly magazine for his employees it's called the three joys eventually become immortalized as the company's principles what are the three joys first is the joy of buying well americans can relate to that one this means making products that exceed customer expectations second is the joy of selling this means that those who sell their service honda products have a relationship with customers based on trust third is the joy of creating this is the pride of doing the job well the one thing so each hero doesn't find joy in it's two-stroke engines he finds their high pitch sound annoying remember he plays the flute and the harp so sound is very important to him so when it comes to the next motorcycle he insists on having a four-stroke engine but takio is not looking for a larger motorcycle to market he wants a motorcycle that will have mass appeal both in developed and developing countries while traveling together in europe tequila looks for ideas for a new bike so each hero is more interested in racing at the isle of man hey i'd be that way too they see the popularity of mopeds and lightweight motorcycles which is exactly what the kio has in mind but the motorcycle will be a 50cc motorcycle nowhere else in the world is the 50cc being made with four-stroke engine once again so each row doesn't follow convention the design is lightweight but has a four-stroke engine it's 1958. honda is one of the leading motorcycle manufacturers in japan now it's time to conquer the world soichiro honda and takeo fujisawa sent kiachiro kawashima to look for sales opportunities in different parts of the world kiachiro has been with honda for many years he joined fresh out of the hamamatsu institute of technology and is now a personal friend of soichiro when kiyochiro goes to america he finds it's kind of the land of automobiles with all its vast distances americans need cars kiachiro feels it will be a hard market to enter the motorcycle market is also small in america sales are only between fifty thousand to sixty thousand motorcycles per year this is only one-tenth of the market in japan in japan people are riding motorcycles every day and everywhere they ride them on and off the road to get to work into the shops average americans don't ride motorcycles they drive motor cars the small number of people who do ride large motorcycles of 500 cc's or more they use them for over-the-road distance drivings where power size and speed are vital motorcycles also have a negative image in america this has been influenced by the image of groups like hell's angels motorcycle shops are dark and greasy and not inviting back in japan kiachiro tells suichiro and takeo that honda should begin with south east asia he thinks it will be very hard to compete in america tequila says let's do america it's the center of the world's economy the feeling is if they succeed in america they will succeed worldwide kia cheero arrives back in los angeles later that year and america honda opens its doors in september 1959 with the lineup of the dream bentley and the super cub bikes which did enormously well in japan but kiachiro doesn't have high hopes for the super cub in america the super cub is a tiny 50cc scooter what would americans even use it for the team plans to focus on the more powerful motorcycles like dream and bentley there are different stories about why the honda team in america changed their selling strategy there are problems with the dream and the bentley some reports say they aren't handling the tougher conditions or speed down highways shipments are returned for problems to be investigated the team therefore has nothing else to sell but the super cubs another story goes like this kiachiro was frustrated with the problems he's experienced he and the team take their super cubs into the hills to let us some steam off-roading isn't something people in america are doing back then some people see the honda team and want to try dirt biking too word spreads and soon the honda team finds they've invented the whole new market in america quite by chance people start using these small bikes on trails and campgrounds this pretty much kickstarts dirt bike riding as we know it today it's likely that both stories are true honda continues to focus on selling their smaller motorcycles to the on-road market to do this they must transform the image of motorcycles in america completely they also continue to expand the dirt bike market they created in the end honda does not only introduce dirt biking in america it also transforms the image of motorcycles in america completely in just a few years motorcycles no longer belong to motorcycle gangs and serious bikers but to everyone they become part of ordinary american life you meet the nicest people on a honda was there mode this is how they did it they run bright catchy ads that don't even use the word motorcycle the super cub is advertised as nifty thrifty honda 50. honda staff wear business suits to look professionals their own showrooms are spotless and they encourage dealers to market in a similar way then honda launch is another memorable advertising campaign created by their agency gray advertising you meet the nicest people on the honda suici rohanda doesn't like convention one of the films begins with the words you can be conventional and use four wheels then it shows how you can try something different avoid traffic avoid uphills on a bicycle and save money on a honda gray advertising convinces them to sponsor the academy awards honda's the first foreign corporation to do so this is also unconventional and becomes a topic of conversation the idea that nice people can ride motorcycle catches on sales of the super cub are honda 50 as it's known in the u.s take off it is broad appeal it's small and easy to ride with a quiet four-stroke engine not a smelly loud two-stroke it appeals to men and women and becomes popular with students it has a wide step which stops the wind lifting up a woman's skirt price is 250 dollars it's reasonable and 75 less than harley-davidson by the end of 1962 america honda is selling 40 000 motorcycles a year kiachiro also arranges to have the super cubs sold in sports good stores and camping stores honda starts manufacturing motorcycles especially for dirt bike racing they make suspension stronger and increase traction with larger tires competitors quickly follow keen to get on the action too but honda keeps moving ahead ever wondered what the difference is between a motorcycle and a motorbike why do we call it a dirt bike riding and not dirt cycle riding a common myth is that a motorbike is less powerful than a motorcycle but actually the two are completely interchangeable the word motorbike came a lot later and grew popular in the 1950s when people preferred fewer formal words but it never really caught on especially in america it's used in the uk and australia in america motorbike is associated with smaller kids bikes everything's opposite in england anyway they call public schools private schools and private schools public schools motorbikes motorcycles everything's backwards there but back to honda by 1964 has become the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles it didn't take them long this brings us to the next chapter in the honda story it's finally time for surichiro's dream of making cars to become a reality too turns out that this is already happening honda's first automobile is the t360 mini pickup truck it's three months later and the x 500 sports car is released it has chain driven rear wheels that show its motorcycle origins it's based on s 360 roadster which they'll develop for sale in 1962 was never produced now it's 1969. the n600 model is launched honda uses its established dealerships to sell in the beginning the four-wheel n600 is displayed amongst the motorcycles the cars don't have the same logo as the motorcycles the logo is simply h for honda not much is known about the origins of the logo we know today it was created somewhere towards the end of the 20th century some say the h is broader at the top to symbolize reaching for one's dreams you could also imagine two wings if you're really imaginative and if you're even more measured you can see the wings closing in to form the a logo of acura honda's luxury brand in the u.s the official story is that it's just an h for honda some people wonder if hyundai copied honda's logo the answer is no hyundai is a korean word that means modern the h not only represents the company name but also the customer and company shaking hands the ovo represents global expansion yeah well if you ask me it really looks a lot like honda that's their take not mine but this story is not about hyundai so let's get back to honda it's 1964. the honda r8271 is japan's first formula one race car it debuts at the german grand prix the following year it wins in mexico suicidal and takeo retired together in 1973. srichiro stays on his director and is appointed supreme advisor in 1983. people magazine dubs him the japanese henry ford it's now 1974 the honda civic is launched with its groundbreaking cvcc engine it's the first vehicle to meet emissions in the u.s clean air act and it does it without a catalytic converter the marketing anthem is leave blue skies for our children two years later the accord arrives it starts as a humble hitbit but it's a big hit it's one of the best selling passenger cars in america and after a few years honda develops the world's first car navigation system while this is happening both so ichiro and his wife sachi enjoy skiing racing cars hang gliding and even ballooning at the age of 77. they both agreed that their sons should not join the company suicidal honda dies in august 1991 he's posthumously appointed the order of the rising sun and inducted into the automobile hall of fame near detroit over the next 20 years the honda aircraft company is established and the first time the jet takes to the skies honda launch is the first hybrid car available in north america if you've watched our video on toyota you'll know that prius launch is seven months later but overtakes the insight and sales because of its four doors then fcx clarity fuel cell vehicles introduced the world's first fuel cell sedan what began as a bicycle with an auxiliary motor used to generate wireless radios has become the world's leading motorcycle manufacturer and one of the world's leading car brake soichiro honda was a man who believed in the unconventional and in the power of dreams the man may be gone but his dream continues

Channel: Scotty Kilmer

Views: 764,256

Rating: 4.8755126 out of 5

Keywords: auto, diy, scotty kilmer, here's why, car review, who makes the best cars, car company, car companies, how to, game changer, most reliable car, best car, best cars, honda reliability, here's why honda, honda, honda cars, is honda reliable, new honda, should I buy a honda, does honda make good cars, game changing, storytelling, storytime, honda car review, motorcycle, motorcycles, best motorcycle, best motorcycles, honda motorcycles, honda civic, honda just changed the game

Id: QX4bhni0PE8

Length: 28min 56sec (1736 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 21 2020