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| The initial A-Type auxiliary bicycle engine now preserved in
the HCH originally had an aluminum fuel tank that was made by sand casting in
two parts, upper and lower. In order to prevent fuel leaks through pinholes that
often resulted from this casting technique, the tanks are said to have been given
a coating of Japanese lacquer. The brand mark from Hondas founding period, which
shows a “nude figure racing across the heavens,” is still faintly discernible. |
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“‘Don’t make anything that gives
your customers trouble!’ This is something I heard constantly from the Old
Man, more often than I care to remember, ever since I started working here,”
said Kawashima. “‘When you’re making something, think about the
person who’ll have to be spending the most time with it.’ And, ‘The
person who spends the most time with it will be the customer, right? Next is the
repairman at the place that sells the product. Next is the people in our plant.
Even though you’re the one who makes it, the designer spends the least time
with it of all. If you put yourself in the place of the person who’ll be
using the product over a long time, then you won’t be able to design an unfriendly
product.’ This was typical of the way the Old Man talked to us.”
When the chimney engine was being reconstructed, Mr. Onda also examined its sister
product, the A-Type engine, very closely.
“I was just amazed,” he said. “All through the engine I saw the
signs of what we call a friendly design. I noticed it when I dismantled the engine.
‘What?’ I thought, ‘When I remove a nut from this machine, no parts
fall off anywhere. What’s going on?’ For example, there are locknuts
on the crankshaft and speed reduction gearbox bearings. In other words, these
were screws that hold on the rotating shaft, and they were designed so they wouldn’t
cause immediate trouble even if they somehow got loose. Either the screw wouldn’t
come out completely, or it was arranged so that the mechanism wouldn’t break
down right away if the screw did come all the way out. It was designed to hold
at least until the driver realized something was not right, and the problem was
noticed. This shows a concern for safety. In those days, screws were low-precision
items, and everyone accepted that no matter how well you tightened a nut, it was
going to work itself loose. That must be why they thought up this design.
The same kind of detailed care was taken with maintainability.” As Onda observed:
“People weren’t equipped with the kinds of specialized tools you find
today, so we designed it to make things easy for repairmen, to make it so they
could dismantle the machine and reassemble it without using special tools. In
effect, this was also a kindness to the customer.”
Rediscovering the thoughtful design that, still a goal today, had been built into
the A-Type engine, Onda was deeply impressed. |
