itwould take him several years to perfect the process, his company would eventuallymake the best piston rings in all of Japan, if not the world (History of Honda). Thissounds good, but all was not beer and Skittles up to this point. Because Hondastarted his company in the thick of WWII, resources were scarce. Not content tojust close up shop, Honda ordered his workers to go out and collect the empty gascans the army had left behind. In doing this, Honda got enough metal collected tocontinue improving and manufacturing of his piston rings (Your InspirationMoment - Soichiro Honda). Toyota, then the largest car manufacturer in Japan,took notice of Hondas innovation, and bought the company for 450,000 Yen. (equivalent to $ 1,000,000 today) (History of Honda)After he sold his company, Honda planned to kick back and retire, but hecouldnt get cars out of his system. In 1946 he founded the Honda TechnicalResearch Institute (History of Honda). This was an extremely inopportune time tostart a motor vehicle company, as all of Japan was still reeling from WWII. Food,water, medicine, and especially gasoline were in very short supply. At the time, acar would have used too much gas, and all the public transportation had beendisrupted by the war. Honda knew that to be successful, his creation would have 7to be compact and very efficient on gas. To bring his idea to life, Honda boughttiny gas engines that were surplus from the Japanese Imperial Army and attachedit to a bicycle. This small motorized bicycle quickly spread all over Japan. Honda wanted to expand his company, but he did not have the capital. Hefound a backer in Takeo Fujisawa, a wealthy war veteran. He had high expectationsof Honda and his fledgling company, and was not going to accept a loss (History ofHonda). The Honda companys first motorcycle was completed in August 1949. Itwas a 98cc 2-stroke machine, and was named the Dream Type D, as it was thefulfillment of one of S...
