It was a sultry late afternoon in Shreveport, Louisiana as the paddle steamer ploughed its way along the Mississippi. On board were some of the elite of Shreveport including the mayor and several dignitaries from the state of Louisiana. The feast was fit for a king: Which is how it should have been since this extravagant party was to celebrate Shreveport's favourite son, the new double world champion Freddie Spencer.
So, this is 1985 and at that time I had produced two films around Freddie’s brief American Honda-sponsored career, hence my invitation. So important was this celebration that it was attended by Shoichiro Irimajiri the president, Honda Manufacturing of America and former president and founder of HRC (Honda Racing Corporation). I was introduced to Irimajiri-san by Freddie and we remained friends throughout the past 35 years.
Shoichiro Irimajiri is a man of significant engineering talent who rose from the designer’s desk to run one of the world’s most significant companies.
His list of notable successes include designing the Honda 50cc RC115 twin engine, the 125cc five cylinder RC147 and most of the 250cc six cylinder RC166 as ridden by Mike Hailwood. He also designed Honda’s first Formula 1 racing engine, the 12 cylinder RA271. More memorable to most street riders is his 1000cc CBX that was introduced in the USA in 1979.
Starr: What were your earliest experiences with Honda?
Irimajiri-san: “When I was at Tokyo University I learned about how you can utilise the intake manifold to increase the inertia of the air to the cylinder
