Page 22 2013 Barcelona Montesa factory and Trial team tour
2013 Montesa Trial factory tour Toni Bou Takahisa Fujinami WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
2013 Montesa Trial factory tour Toni Bou Takahisa Fujinami WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
2013 Montesa Trial factory tour Toni Bou Takahisa Fujinami WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
2013 Montesa Trial factory tour Toni Bou Takahisa Fujinami WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
Ok. At this moment I asked to see the Honda Trials 4RT production line. Oscar looked down at the floor for a couple of seconds and then at me. He said "Ok , but you cannot take any photos". I agreed. We then left the competition department through the same door we entered through and turned left towards the area of the factory you can see through the windows, in the photos I have taken. We followed the walkway on the immaculate green painted floor past the competition department and continued for another 50 yards or so. On my left was a large workers ground floor canteen. The lights were off and no one was in there. There were vending machines and a trophy cabinet. To my right were workers in white coats lifting materials from one area to another. I could not see clearly what they were doing and was not allowed from this walkway. This factory produces both motorcycle and car parts. Vehicles are generally not assembled here. That is done elsewhere in another country, Italy I was told.
Then we walked a little further. On the edge of this huge and busy multi football field sized factory floor was a completely separate detached building. Let me describe it to you, because this is where your 4RT came from.
The building was rectangular in shape and about 75 feet long and 40 feet across. It was single storey. The walls were white panels up to waist height, then there was glass up to the ceiling. Remember this separate building had its own flat roof and was tiny in comparison with the room we were in. There were sensor operated double sliding doors that silently opened providing access to this immaculate area. Through the clear windows I could see everything. I was standing looking in through the windows from outside and wasn't allowed in, but it didn't matter, I could see everything. On the right and rear wall opposite the electric doors were metal topped work tops. Many many different electric and air lines were hanging from the ceiling over the worktops. It was here that they assembled the engines. On the work top was one 4RT engine being assembled. In the middle of the room was a production line capable of dealing with 3 machines at anyone time. It was stationary and did not move like the car production lines we have all seen on TV. 3 men in white coats worked on the 2 machines that were on the production line. The obviously naive picture I had in my head of what I thought the trials production line would be like was NOT the case.
Honda 4RT's are not built on large production lines, they are carefully hand made by Trials machine specialists, who assemble one or 2 bikes at a time from start to finish. Any 4RT would be made by these 3 men.
The manufacturing process of these machines is a very small, intimate and specialist business and Honda keep it separate. The small size of this workshop in comparison to the huge huge factory said a million words.
At the far end of this room was a rolling road with exhaust extraction system for testing the machines.
Trials has always been in Honda's blood. The Japanese love trials and for Honda this no doubt is a huge reason why they stay in the game. Winning also means everything to them.
Then we walked a little further. On the edge of this huge and busy multi football field sized factory floor was a completely separate detached building. Let me describe it to you, because this is where your 4RT came from.
The building was rectangular in shape and about 75 feet long and 40 feet across. It was single storey. The walls were white panels up to waist height, then there was glass up to the ceiling. Remember this separate building had its own flat roof and was tiny in comparison with the room we were in. There were sensor operated double sliding doors that silently opened providing access to this immaculate area. Through the clear windows I could see everything. I was standing looking in through the windows from outside and wasn't allowed in, but it didn't matter, I could see everything. On the right and rear wall opposite the electric doors were metal topped work tops. Many many different electric and air lines were hanging from the ceiling over the worktops. It was here that they assembled the engines. On the work top was one 4RT engine being assembled. In the middle of the room was a production line capable of dealing with 3 machines at anyone time. It was stationary and did not move like the car production lines we have all seen on TV. 3 men in white coats worked on the 2 machines that were on the production line. The obviously naive picture I had in my head of what I thought the trials production line would be like was NOT the case.
Honda 4RT's are not built on large production lines, they are carefully hand made by Trials machine specialists, who assemble one or 2 bikes at a time from start to finish. Any 4RT would be made by these 3 men.
The manufacturing process of these machines is a very small, intimate and specialist business and Honda keep it separate. The small size of this workshop in comparison to the huge huge factory said a million words.
At the far end of this room was a rolling road with exhaust extraction system for testing the machines.
Trials has always been in Honda's blood. The Japanese love trials and for Honda this no doubt is a huge reason why they stay in the game. Winning also means everything to them.
As I looked into the production facility, behind me on the wall were these large photos, so with permission I snapped them.
2013 Montesa Trial factory tour Toni Bou Takahisa Fujinami WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
2013 Montesa Trial factory tour Toni Bou Takahisa Fujinami WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM
2013 Montesa Trial factory tour Toni Bou Takahisa Fujinami WWW.RETROTRIALS.COM