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HONDA'S 'GOLDEN' ANNIVERSARY: Mr Soichiro Honda would be so proud of Honda's fifty (50) years of achievements at the Isle of Man TT Races, I believe he would have approved just a little bit more involvement 'directly' from the Factory to ensure that TT 2009 included a great deal more Works Motorcycles from past years, sadly with his passing I believe Honda tend to be aimless at times, this was such a special occasion. After considerable study and asking the local Isle of Man people where a certain 'long demolished' Onchan location was, (locals did NOT know), I attended the unveiling of a plaque at the site of the now demolished original Honda Onchan Workshop, visited the Manx Museum 'Honda The Golden Age Exhibition' and met the original Honda Factory Rider at the rear of the grandstand. Hopefully my records of these events are of interest....
THE ONCHAN PLAQUE: Detective work finally uncovered the location for the unveiling of the Plaque by Honda Representatives, I subsequently discovered the wall in picture is all that remains of 'Stables' forming part of Birch Hill House which later became the Old Nursery Hotel. Having said that it might have been prudent for the advertiser of this event to describe where to attend based on today's description of adjacent buildings and streets as local Onchan residents didn't have a clue, not surprisingly certain 'current' Honda Riders arrived somewhat late and missed the unveiling! Most disappointing to me was that two motorcycles were strategically placed either side of the dais, both were current HM Plant Fireblades, at least 'one' machine should have been from Honda's early days at the TT, my choice would have been a Honda 250/6, a replica '6' was on the Island, however it was tucked away in the Manx Museum! Details of the Japanese Honda Representatives depicted in this section are Ms Kaiko (Kay) Carran (Interpreter and Meals Preparation for the Honda Team), Mr Nichihiko Aiko (former World Team Race Manager) and Mr Shigeru Takagi (Senior Managing Director, Honda Motor Co. Ltd, President, Honda Motor Europe Ltd).
MANX MUSEUM - HONDA 'THE GOLDEN AGE': Congratulations to the Manx Museum for the 'Golden Age' Exhibit, the displays were somewhat limited but certainly worth the visit. With the greatest respect to the Museum and take note Honda, this Exhibit should have been at the Nobles Park Pavilion, something along the lines of the excellent Ducati Exhibition there in 2008. Sadly I missed a gathering with David Hailwood at the Museum, incredibly the gathering was at the very beginning of the TT fortnight before most fans had arrived on the Island.
THE TT PADDOCK AREA: Unfortunately the 'only' Honda Racing Motorcycles on show within the TT Paddock, linked in any way to the 50th Anniversary, were Colin Edward's WSBK VTR1000 Twin (the beautiful Stars and Stripes effort from Laguna Seca) and John Kocinski's WSBK RVF RC45 (Castrol Race Colours), maybe it's me but these 'specific' machines had nothing to do with the TT! I did however make an instant mental note as to why for example, Joey's RC45 and SP1 were NOT there for this special occasion. No particular announcements were made regarding Mr Naomi Taniguchi's appearance at the Honda Motorcycle Stand, nor his signing area nearby, just a hand written note on a table, all very low key. Honda could and should have done a lot better. Mr Taniguchi was a Honda Works Rider in the original 1959 Team.
MORE TT2009 COVERAGE: Please continue my 'TT2009 coverage' by selecting from the following pages...
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I LOVE NEW TECHNOLOGY, TABLETS, LAPTOPS, DIGITAL CAMERAS, MOBILE PHONES/WIRELESS BROADBAND, GPS, ETC. ALL SO COOL AND 'PORTABLE'......
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