Ten iconic mini-motorcycles from Honda’s trainee engineers

A group of trainee Honda engineers were tasked with creating ten replicas of some of Honda’s most iconic motorcycles to prove they can overcome diverse challenges – and here’s what they’ve come up with.

In Japanese the project is called 模 刻, which broadly translates to the art of sculpture. Buddhists do something similar as part of the training for their younger monks, commissioning them to perform small scale reproductions of the Buddha, so that they are able to memorise all their traits.

Similarly, Honda asked its trainee engineers to produce reproductions of ten of the iconic Japanese brands most memorable models, using a Delta minibike as a base bike. Regardless, because of the differences between frames, size of wheels and tyres, the designers were forced to pretty much start from scratch, as they attempted to ensure that the replicas were well proportioned and could pass as an original model.

Here’s the full list of models;

Honda RC143 1961

Honda RCB1000 1976

Honda NR500 1979

Honda NSR500 1989

Honda NR 1989

Honda NSR250R 1990

Honda VFR800P 1998

Honda GL1800 Gold Wing 2001

Honda RC212V 2007

Honda CBR1000RR 2008

Admittedly, the replica models have been created using the same working methods that are used to produce a ‘real model’ on a ‘normal’ scale. Starting from a computer design, designers then create a clay model of the final design to allow errors to be corrected before creating the final bodywork, paintwork and accessories.