Not sad, but emotional since I started on two wheels wih Honda. Attended the World's Fair in Seattle in 1960-61 and saw their GP racer motorcycle, all high tech for the time, finely handmade by craftsmen. They were king of the GP against more experienced riders and manufacturers. Honda was very generous to other brands, buying a Chevrolet passenger car and developing 3-valve head for the V-8 engine that exceeded the smog standard for 74 by two years. They GAVE the car back to GM and gave them the license to use the design! GM suffered then as it does now by NIH: Not Invented Here. Then there is the Kymco story starting in 1963 we all know. Honda design and manufacturing is throughout our scooters including part numbers! 31600 is the basic number for both Honda and Kymco regulator-rectifiers! Honda engineers and managers were the top of the world standard for comptence and honor sparking the "global" nonsense of the 80's where American companies tried to mimic Honda success without the honor. Sochiro Honda was in business for many years before WWII. Even some of his stuff then was inspired. Segue forward to the Kymco video of old guys sittin' around in their old-age misery with piles of meds and pain, gazing forelornly out the window. Too suddenly say, " Let's ride motorcycles!" Sparked an annual event of riding Kymcos around Taiwan. All this floods through watching this video of Honda triumphs from a kid's motorscooter to the jet plane. Nostalgia....
