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+--- Thread: My Honda is a ... (/showthread.php?tid=753)
RE: My Honda is a ... - j3gq_imp - 11-06-2020
Thanks Guth,
I am glad that my innocent, initially not so well received naming question in the end triggered your response which in turn - I think - will many of the forum members appreciate.
Certainly I will remember for a long time that my CB, may be one of the last built, and last of her kind, is a
Beauty,
built with traditional Craftsmanship,
and handled with Ease like no other.
Short she is a Honda a BeaCEa (pronounced B C, the inverse of CB).
美匠楽
Thanks again !
My Honda is a ... - run-tmc_imp - 11-06-2020
But thunder cannon was a pretty close second, right?
![[Image: 959707b31f59db19a67c6b9c9af758bc.png]](https://cb1100forum.net/forum/uploads/imp/202011/959707b31f59db19a67c6b9c9af758bc.png)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
RE: My Honda is a ... - GoldOxide_imp - 11-06-2020
(11-06-2020, 04:17 AM)run-tmc_imp Wrote:(11-05-2020, 09:13 PM)Guth_imp Wrote: I own both volumes of the book Honda DESIGN Motorcycle. These two volumes cover the years from 1957 to 2013, focusing on the design processes involved (as well as the designers themselves) behind a variety of notable Honda motorcycles built during this timeframe. The designs of Mitsuyoshi Kohama are spread throughout both volumes. For me personally, the most notable of all his designs would of course be the CB1100.
In the book's coverage of the design process that lead to the CB1100 as we know it, Mr. Kohama reveals a lot about what went on behind the scenes. At one point he mentions that the CB1100 needed to capture what he called "Honda-ness", yet that this had to be expanded to include a more adult sense of values. Later on the book discussed just the sort of word play that run-tmc and bioman have alluded to. (A number of years ago some of this information could be found on Honda's main website but sadly it has since been removed as newer versions of the CB1100 came around.)
In one of Kohama's initial sketches for a new CB, he included three Kanji characters along with his design. These three characters would later be used to guide the entire team working on the CB1100 project. Everything that they did pertaining to the CB1100 were to relate to these three characters in some way. They are as follows.
美 BI: Beauty
匠 TAKUMI: Craftsmanship
楽 RAKU: Ease
While this might not be the sort of thing that a marketing team has a field day with when it comes to creating a flashy product name, it obviously covers the CB1100 perfectly.
By the way, I've done my best to get everything above correct including the Kanji characters. But me being me, there is always a chance of error so please forgive any mistakes that I might have made. Also, none of this is to imply that I don't appreciate a good product name. As mentioned by others, Honda has had a number of them over the years. As a point of reference, I almost never referred to my previous motorcycle as a NT650. Instead it was always a Hawk GT, or simply the Hawk. Great motorcycle, great name.
I love this Guth, thanks for adding it in. If I ever get my butt in gear on customizing Heiko, I’ll have to consider emblazoning those characters on the custom rear seat cowl I hope to design/paint. Thanks for all the suggestions Bioman. Am I pronouncing Heiko correctly when I say “hike oh?” I realize I’m missing a symbol above the ‘o’ but not sure what that means phonetically.
Tom
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Like "Seiko", the watch? But with an "H".
(11-06-2020, 06:42 AM)peterbaron_imp Wrote: I named my CB today: め けえ わ
Okay [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=3454]PB, so your bike is a pussy cat?
RE: My Honda is a ... - Roper_imp - 11-06-2020
(11-05-2020, 09:13 PM)Guth_imp Wrote: I own both volumes of the book Honda DESIGN Motorcycle. These two volumes cover the years from 1957 to 2013, focusing on the design processes involved (as well as the designers themselves) behind a variety of notable Honda motorcycles built during this timeframe. The designs of Mitsuyoshi Kohama are spread throughout both volumes. For me personally, the most notable of all his designs would of course be the CB1100.
In the book's coverage of the design process that lead to the CB1100 as we know it, Mr. Kohama reveals a lot about what went on behind the scenes. At one point he mentions that the CB1100 needed to capture what he called "Honda-ness", yet that this had to be expanded to include a more adult sense of values. Later on the book discussed just the sort of word play that run-tmc and bioman have alluded to. (A number of years ago some of this information could be found on Honda's main website but sadly it has since been removed as newer versions of the CB1100 came around.)
In one of Kohama's initial sketches for a new CB, he included three Kanji characters along with his design. These three characters would later be used to guide the entire team working on the CB1100 project. Everything that they did pertaining to the CB1100 were to relate to these three characters in some way. They are as follows.
美 BI: Beauty
匠 TAKUMI: Craftsmanship
楽 RAKU: Ease
While this might not be the sort of thing that a marketing team has a field day with when it comes to creating a flashy product name, it obviously covers the CB1100 perfectly.
By the way, I've done my best to get everything above correct including the Kanji characters. But me being me, there is always a chance of error so please forgive any mistakes that I might have made. Also, none of this is to imply that I don't appreciate a good product name. As mentioned by others, Honda has had a number of them over the years. As a point of reference, I almost never referred to my previous motorcycle as a NT650. Instead it was always a Hawk GT, or simply the Hawk. Great motorcycle, great name.
Okay. Time for a geeky derail. But please be patient. It might be worth it.
I lived in Japan for a couple of years and learned enough Japanese to get by. Kanji characters have two pronunciations. There's kunyomi, which is Japanese pronunciation usually used when the Kanji character is by itself. There's onyomi, which is a pronunciation linked to Chinese, which is usually used when the character is combined with another character.
For example:
美 means beauty. Alone, it's pronounced "ustukushii." Combined with other characters, it's pronounced "bi" (bee) as in the word bijin 美人, which means beautiful person (akin to "babe" or "hot" in American English.)
匠 is takumi (kunyomi) or shou (onyomi) pronounced "show" with an extended "o" sound.
楽 is raku (kunyomi) or raku (onyomi). They're the same. What's cool about raku is that it can mean ease, comfort, simple, relaxing, trouble-free -- depending on the context.
Leave it up to the Japanese to guide industrial design with a three-word mission statement.
I might start calling my bike "Raku." It's hard to pronounce the Japanese "R" sound. It's made by lightly pressing the tip of the tongue on the upward curve of the alveolar ridge behind the top teeth, and then rapidly dropping the tongue. It's close to a "D" or "N" sound with a little bit of "L" (Japanese tongues are a little wider with a more blunt tip.) I guess the closest we have in the western hemisphere is a single-flapped Spanish "R" -- a light tap like in the middle of the Spanish word "Para". The "U" sound on the end of "Raku" is truncated and barely voiced. (That minor in Linguistics is finally good for something after 30 years
)Anyhoo... 楽 = Raku = maybe Rockette. Or maybe Racquel. Definitely not Rocky. Or just Raku. C'mon Raku, let's go for a relaxing trouble-free ride.
RE: My Honda is a ... - bioman_imp - 11-06-2020
Wow, Roper, that is really impressive. And very interesting as well! Thank you for that.
And as a complete side note, for those among us who want to dive deeper in the Japanese soul without getting up from their couch, here is a Netflix tip: Giri/Haji (which translates in English to Duty/Shame). Possibly the most fascinating show I watched this year!
RE: My Honda is a ... - peterbaron - 11-06-2020
(11-06-2020, 01:32 PM)GoldOxide_imp Wrote:(11-06-2020, 04:17 AM)run-tmc_imp Wrote:(11-05-2020, 09:13 PM)Guth_imp Wrote: I own both volumes of the book Honda DESIGN Motorcycle. These two volumes cover the years from 1957 to 2013, focusing on the design processes involved (as well as the designers themselves) behind a variety of notable Honda motorcycles built during this timeframe. The designs of Mitsuyoshi Kohama are spread throughout both volumes. For me personally, the most notable of all his designs would of course be the CB1100.
In the book's coverage of the design process that lead to the CB1100 as we know it, Mr. Kohama reveals a lot about what went on behind the scenes. At one point he mentions that the CB1100 needed to capture what he called "Honda-ness", yet that this had to be expanded to include a more adult sense of values. Later on the book discussed just the sort of word play that run-tmc and bioman have alluded to. (A number of years ago some of this information could be found on Honda's main website but sadly it has since been removed as newer versions of the CB1100 came around.)
In one of Kohama's initial sketches for a new CB, he included three Kanji characters along with his design. These three characters would later be used to guide the entire team working on the CB1100 project. Everything that they did pertaining to the CB1100 were to relate to these three characters in some way. They are as follows.
美 BI: Beauty
匠 TAKUMI: Craftsmanship
楽 RAKU: Ease
While this might not be the sort of thing that a marketing team has a field day with when it comes to creating a flashy product name, it obviously covers the CB1100 perfectly.
By the way, I've done my best to get everything above correct including the Kanji characters. But me being me, there is always a chance of error so please forgive any mistakes that I might have made. Also, none of this is to imply that I don't appreciate a good product name. As mentioned by others, Honda has had a number of them over the years. As a point of reference, I almost never referred to my previous motorcycle as a NT650. Instead it was always a Hawk GT, or simply the Hawk. Great motorcycle, great name.
I love this Guth, thanks for adding it in. If I ever get my butt in gear on customizing Heiko, I’ll have to consider emblazoning those characters on the custom rear seat cowl I hope to design/paint. Thanks for all the suggestions Bioman. Am I pronouncing Heiko correctly when I say “hike oh?” I realize I’m missing a symbol above the ‘o’ but not sure what that means phonetically.
Tom
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Like "Seiko", the watch? But with an "H".
(11-06-2020, 06:42 AM)peterbaron_imp Wrote: I named my CB today: め けえ わ
Okay [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=3454]PB, so your bike is a pussy cat?
Okay [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=3454]PB, so your bike is a pussy cat?
Very close GO
RE: My Honda is a ... - GoldOxide_imp - 11-06-2020
(11-06-2020, 09:05 PM)peterbaron_imp Wrote:(11-06-2020, 01:32 PM)GoldOxide_imp Wrote:(11-06-2020, 04:17 AM)run-tmc_imp Wrote:(11-05-2020, 09:13 PM)Guth_imp Wrote: I own both volumes of the book Honda DESIGN Motorcycle. These two volumes cover the years from 1957 to 2013, focusing on the design processes involved (as well as the designers themselves) behind a variety of notable Honda motorcycles built during this timeframe. The designs of Mitsuyoshi Kohama are spread throughout both volumes. For me personally, the most notable of all his designs would of course be the CB1100.
In the book's coverage of the design process that lead to the CB1100 as we know it, Mr. Kohama reveals a lot about what went on behind the scenes. At one point he mentions that the CB1100 needed to capture what he called "Honda-ness", yet that this had to be expanded to include a more adult sense of values. Later on the book discussed just the sort of word play that run-tmc and bioman have alluded to. (A number of years ago some of this information could be found on Honda's main website but sadly it has since been removed as newer versions of the CB1100 came around.)
In one of Kohama's initial sketches for a new CB, he included three Kanji characters along with his design. These three characters would later be used to guide the entire team working on the CB1100 project. Everything that they did pertaining to the CB1100 were to relate to these three characters in some way. They are as follows.
美 BI: Beauty
匠 TAKUMI: Craftsmanship
楽 RAKU: Ease
While this might not be the sort of thing that a marketing team has a field day with when it comes to creating a flashy product name, it obviously covers the CB1100 perfectly.
By the way, I've done my best to get everything above correct including the Kanji characters. But me being me, there is always a chance of error so please forgive any mistakes that I might have made. Also, none of this is to imply that I don't appreciate a good product name. As mentioned by others, Honda has had a number of them over the years. As a point of reference, I almost never referred to my previous motorcycle as a NT650. Instead it was always a Hawk GT, or simply the Hawk. Great motorcycle, great name.
I love this Guth, thanks for adding it in. If I ever get my butt in gear on customizing Heiko, I’ll have to consider emblazoning those characters on the custom rear seat cowl I hope to design/paint. Thanks for all the suggestions Bioman. Am I pronouncing Heiko correctly when I say “hike oh?” I realize I’m missing a symbol above the ‘o’ but not sure what that means phonetically.
Tom
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Like "Seiko", the watch? But with an "H".
(11-06-2020, 06:42 AM)peterbaron_imp Wrote: I named my CB today: め けえ わ
Okay [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=3454]PB, so your bike is a pussy cat?
Okay [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=3454]PB, so your bike is a pussy cat?
Very close GO
Okay [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=3454]PB, so your bike is a pussy cat?
Very close GO
Well, an alternative is it kinda sounds like Chinese.
( ... or maybe a cat in pain.)
All good to describe the CB?
RE: My Honda is a ... - lash_imp - 11-06-2020
God I’m boring! I just always called mine “the blue bike”
RE: My Honda is a ... - pekingduck - 11-07-2020
After all this discussion on a "simpler", "friendlier" name, how about one that doesn't have to be translated or otherwise explained with a long obscure story, like CB1100.
RE: My Honda is a ... - Bheezy27403_imp - 11-07-2020
Ummm... I solved this riddle 6 pages ago. Honda Big Girl. What's not to love?