Harakiri

[Verismo]

Do any of you gentleman have any insight about the inside history of the Goldwing engineering? I've always wondered about it.

My dad and Uncles were Goldwing guys. My first motorcycle was a 1984 GL1200 Standard. I still own it, and even though the carbs are currently apart, when they are on the bike it runs as smooth as ever and is an amazingly refined machine, even by today's standards. I've always been in love with the horizontally opposed motorcycle platform and what Honda has done with it, and don't know how the first ideas made their way into Honda engineering, and would love it if any of you guys had any knowledge about this and could shed some light.

Jason

[Phantom]

Do any of you gentleman have any insight about the inside history of the Goldwing engineering? I've always wondered about it.

My dad and Uncles were Goldwing guys. My first motorcycle was a 1984 GL1200 Standard. I still own it, and even though the carbs are currently apart, when they are on the bike it runs as smooth as ever and is an amazingly refined machine, even by today's standards. I've always been in love with the horizontally opposed motorcycle platform and what Honda has done with it, and don't know how the first ideas made their way into Honda engineering, and would love it if any of you guys had any knowledge about this and could shed some light.

Jason

Welcome to the forum.

Volkswagon beetles had the flat 4 design first then they expanded their engines to fit their Porsche sibling line that needed flat 6's,
German engineering copied by the Japanese. Subaru's have flat 4 and flat 6 engines. Ferrari had a flat 12 at one time.

[Verismo]

Welcome to the forum.

Volkswagon beetles had the flat 4 design first then they expanded their engines to fit their Porsche sibling line that needed flat 6's,
German engineering copied by the Japanese. Subaru's have flat 4 and flat 6 engines. Ferrari had a flat 12 at one time.

Thanks for your response. I was aware of the prior employment of the horizontally opposed engine in several cars. Just not in motorcycles, especially in the American segment. I'm more interested in how the Japanese engineers went about this transition, especially considering what a radical departure it was from American twins.

Jason

[shortleg0521]

Thanks for your response. I was aware of the prior employment of the horizontally opposed engine in several cars. Just not in motorcycles, especially in the American segment. I'm more interested in how the Japanese engineers went about this transition, especially considering what a radical departure it was from American twins.

Jason

May want to check out a few BMWs for some more info on the cylinder lay out.
They used it for years. I had an old BMW with what was called earls forks
and having a side car that had a spare tire mounted on it.
That spare tire fit the bike front and back, also fit the side car.
Now that there is innovation.
It was a flat two cylinder air cooled.

[Verismo]

May want to check out a few BMWs for some more info on the cylinder lay out.
They used it for years. I had an old BMW with what was called earls forks
and having a side car that had a spare tire mounted on it.
That spare tire fit the bike front and back, also fit the side car.
Now that there is innovation.
It was a flat two cylinder air cooled.

Got any pics? Would love to see it. I did some reading based on your recommendation and the Germans were definitely ahead of that curve with both the opposed motorcycle engines and shaft drive. I haven't yet dug enough to find out whether any were water cooled. But I did learn something super interesting to me, at least. Harley Davidson was commissioned, by the U.S. military during World War Two, no less, to build a horizontally opposed engine with shaft drive to copy the ingenuity and reliability of the Germans. They came up with the XA, of which they built 1000. Can you imagine what the conversations must've been like in the Harley workshops at the time? Being asked by Uncle Sam to copy the Germans for their superior bikes during World War Two?! Wow. Also, what would Harley currently be like if they had followed up with their XA design and improved upon it, instead of going with the V Twin, which ran 100° fahrenheit hotter.

I love treasure hunts like this.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson_XA

Jason

[F6Dave]

I was just reading my October AMA magazine, and there was an article about the Honda RC161. The engine was a 250 cc, 16 valve, DOHC inline 4 with a 6 speed transmission. It made 38 HP and redlined at 14,000 RPM. Amazingly, Honda built this bike in 1960!

[willtill]

"Seppuku, sometimes metathesized as harakiri is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment.....

Why do you use harakiri as a title for your post?

[Verismo]

"Seppuku, sometimes metathesized as harakiri is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment.....

Why do you use harakiri as a title for your post?

Because the ritual has made it into Japanese corporate culture before, and I've often wondered if this kind of pressure or something akin to it was ever present, and if so to what degree, at Honda.

Jason

[willtill]

Because the ritual has made it into Japanese corporate culture before, and I've often wondered in this kind of pressure or something akin to it was ever present, and if so to what degree, at Honda.

Jason

I think your reading way too much into Honda motorcycle product development.

I'm going to bow out of this thread. It's just too deep.

[Verismo]

I think your reading way too much into Honda motorcycle product development.

I'm going to bow out of this thread. It's just too deep.

Lol, you think wondering if a part of Japanese culture made it into a Japanese company is "reading too much into" it?

Lol, Alrighty..

Jason