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Honda's motorcycle R&D Center in Asaka Center
A
Guarded Visit to Honda HRC
Sept
16,2004 - In comjunction with the Motego MotoGP round in Japan,
a group of journalists were given a unique opportunity - the chance
to see inside the headquarters of HRC (Honda Racing Corporation
and MSD (Motor Sports Developments) at the Honda R&D Asaka
Center.
Located
within the boundary of Tokyo’s never-ending conurbation,
the HRC headquarters hosted 16 journalists, from six countries,
who were given a guided tour of HRC’s management offices,
plus technical insights into the design, bench testing, development
and assembly departments.
The
front lobby at HRC has small display of current racing machines:
The RC211V, a CBR1000, a Trials bke and a Mountain Bike with transmission.
With 50 HRC and 70 MSD staff on site, and the MSD staff a small
part of approximately 2,000 Honda R&D workers in total, the
outright scale of operations was something of a surprise to those
who imagined never-ending rows of computers, personnel and top-secret
ante-rooms.
The scope of operations undertaken by HRC and MSD is nonetheless
unparalleled, with off road and track racing machines sharing
space on the various shop floors, plus cyberspace time on the
computer aided design screens.
A
typical dyno room with a production bike on the dyno. No trick
protypes get shown to the press.
The
design floor of HRC is where the ideas generated inside the company
are first given substance, albeit only as a visual 3D version
in the first instance. Sophisticated software is then used to
produce the final design parameters, for all components on the
machines.
After production of the actual parts, the engines and complete
machines are assembled, ready to be tested on one of numerous
dynamometers, of rolling road, static bench test and chassis evaluation
varieties.
This
might be a production CBR1000 being built for a major consumer
event like the Tokyo motorcycle show in December. The multi-adjustable
radial front forks with racing Brembo brakes are too costly for
production, but a nice touch for a show bike.
In
the assembly department machines are painstaking prepared, with
full factory RC211V engines brought to life alongside the ongoing
meticulous assembly of a customer SWS two-stroke, or a four-stroke
World Trials machine – or even a downhill racing mountain
bike, complete with integral gearbox.
This naked ed RC211 was being used as a doorstop to impress the
visitors. Left Side BIG
• Right Side BIG
The
entire visit was designed to prove HRC’s modernistic philosophy,
that it should be an open and approachable company, with the only
real secrets being those under development by the leading edge
engineering groups in HRC and MSD.
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