The Most Motorcycles Made—Honda Builds 400 Millionth Bike

Honda enthusiasts are gleaming worldwide with the announcement that the 400 millionth production motorcycle rolled off its assembly line earlier this year.

"For 70 years, Honda has provided to customers worldwide motorcycles that make life easier and enjoyable,” says Honda Motor Company’s CEO, Takahiro Hachigo. “As a result, we have achieved our 400 million-unit milestone. I am grateful to all of our customers, and everyone involved in development, manufacturing, sales, and service of our products. We will continue to do our best to provide attractive products that meet the needs and dreams of our customers worldwide."

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Founded in 1948, the Japanese manufacturing giant built its first production motorcycle the following year with the Dream D-Type. Fifteen years later it expanded operations outside of Japan, opening a production facility in Belgium. This marked its first international manufacturing operation. In 1979, Honda established manufacturing roots in North America, in Marysville, Ohio.

Fast-forward to today, and Honda builds a wide array of powersport products, on two and four wheels, from 50cc scooters to 1,800cc touring motorcycles, at 35 plants in 21 countries across the globe.

Despite a flourishing 71-year-old business, Big Red only recently notched these impressive manufacturing milestones having produced 100 million motorcycles in 1997, and tripling that number five years ago.

In 2018, Honda produced more than 20 million bikes, globally, in one calendar year—establishing a new record. This doubled its production output from 14 years earlier. For reference, Harley-Davidson built 228,665 motorcycles worldwide during 2018, while Yamaha Motor Company assembled 5,390,000 motorcycles in 2017.