In October 1946, Soichiro Honda founded the “Honda Research Institute of Technology”. The first Honda product was motorized bicycle. The bike had a 50 ccm engine, taken from a radio equipment generator for post-war military trucks. After out of stock situation, Honda made a copy of these engines, thus creating the first model – “model A” later called “Bata Bata”.

The Honda Institute was liquidated in 1946 for 1 million yen and that money was used for creating a new company called “Honda Motor Co.”. Ltd “. At the same time, Soichiro Honda hired engineers Kihachiro Kawashima and Takeo Fujisawa who provided their contribution in the field of business and marketing. The close partnership between Honda and Fujisawa lasted until 1973 when both of them left the company.

The first motorcycle completely manufactured by Honda is “Model D” from 1949. In a short time (until 1964), Honda became the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer.

Since the beginning of the production of motorcycles, Honda has been the largest manufacturer in Japan. As a small company, Honda promoted the Japanese motorcycle market and started the export to the United States. In a short time and thanks to a successful marketing campaign, Honda has sold around 90,000 motorcycles for 3 years.

Honda is a manufacturer that at its peak (1982) produced nearly 3 million motorcycles annually. Today it is reduced to around 550,000, but it is still a figure that is much higher in relation to the main three domestic competitors.

In accordance with the aforementioned dominance in the production of motorcycles, Honda, like its competition, recognized the importance of being part of the increasingly growing, dare we say, leading category of motorcycles – Enduro. This segment enabled end users to use it multifunctionally (off road, city driving, long trips…). All of the above is a base to the story we want to tell. Actually, we bought a motorcycle – Honda Varadero XL 125.

The first Varadero 125 generation was released in 2001. Honda began work on a larger 125cc bike after the 15hp limit on all 125cc bikes, with a marketing study previously done suggesting that riders were interested in the idea of what Honda called a “dual-sport” motorcycle.

The reason why, among other things, the Varadero is in our motorcycle collection is because of its uncharacteristic size compared to other 125s.

Honda has achieved with this model that it is ideal for taller/heavier riders, and in addition, it is easy to drive and therefore accessible to new riders/beginners. Varadero may give the impression that it is a large and stiff engine, you are wrong, it is very easy to drive, with excellent ergonomics it provides the driver with a high degree of comfort while driving. We recommend the Varadero for city driving as it is very vital and handles well in crowds, but we can also recommend it for more remote destinations. The Varadero has 17 liters of fuel tank capacity, so it can go about 250-300 km before refueling, given the excellent and economical consumption of the exceptionally well-made V-twin engine. From the market point of view, an extremely interesting motorcycle – its dimensions rival motorcycles with a much larger volume, yet it complies with the new norms and can be used by drivers with the A1 category.

At the end of the story, we present the Honda XL 125 Varadero. Produced in 2006. Through the pictures and specifications, enjoy the offered model.