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Today was another very lucky day for us as far as
weather. Last night, everywhere East of Indianapolis was hit with massive rainstorms and flooding. We started off from Eric’s
place at 7am and it looked like we would be in for some wet weather. Once again, Mike said that we could beat it and this
time he was right. As we rode towards the Ohio border we saw some pretty serious flooding from the rains that came last night.
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| These are not ponds folks! Flooded fields and homes were all over the place today |
We crossed the Ohio line and stopped for some pictures.
This makes for a total of eleven states so far that we have placed our Superhawk wheels in.
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| Yes Mike, we're in Ohio now |
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| Proof that we made it this far |
We stopped in Troy to pay a quick visit with Tosh
Konya at the Rider Education Center. Tosh has been with American Honda for over 25 years and has deep roots in Service Education,
my current area of responsibility. It is always great to chat with Tosh as he has many stories t tell about Honda. There are
some major renovations in the works on the riding range there and the weather has put a damper on some of the work. The Troy
facility also houses one of our five training centers that I am directly involved with. I showed Mike around the training
center and then we headed for Marysville where one of the Honda motorcycle factories resides.
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| Tosh Konya looking over the SuperHawks |
Our ride to Marysville was great as the roads were
perfect for our bikes. We arrived in Marysville and met with Lou Ann McKeen who introduced us to a number of Honda of America
Manufacturing (HAM) associates. We were interviewed and had pictures taken of our bikes in front of the entrance to the motorcycle
plant
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| Honda has its own Road to the factory in Marysville |
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| Posing for the cameras in front of the Motorcycle Plant |
We
were then introduced to Dane Espenschied, Vice President/Plant Manager of the Motorcycle Plant. Mike and I had a great conversation
with Dane about the ride and the upcoming Honda Homecoming, which celebrates 25 years of manufacturing products this year.
In 1979, a CR250R Elsinore was the first Honda motorcycle produced in the United States.
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| The 1979 CR250R was the first motorycle off the production line in Marysville |
The Honda Homecoming has become quite an event and this year will be packed with plenty of excitement including tours, a special anniversary celebration
dinner, seminars, an ice cream social, a vintage bike show and lots more!
Here are some interesting facts about Honda of America
Manufacturing:
The Motorcycle Plant has production capacity of
150,000 motorcycles and ATV’s per year.
There are nine motorcycles including the Valkyrie
Rune and one ATV model currently being produced in Marysville.
Including all plants in Ohio, Honda of America Manufacturing
encompasses over 7,671,000 square feet and employees approximately 13,500 associates.
Since 1979, Honda has a Capital Investment of 5.185
billion dollars in its Ohio manufacturing facilities.
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| Production line creating the Valkyrie Rune |
We said our goodbyes Dane and Lou Ann at the Motorcycle
Plant and headed out towards Columbus. Tomorrow we visit the American Motorcyclist Associations museum in Pickerington. I’m
sure that we’ll be plenty busy updating the site tomorrow night!
Today we rode an easy 205 miles. They went by very
quickly and without any pain! This takes us just under our next major milestone of 3000 miles. 2984 miles has been nothing
but fun on these great Honda motorcycles!
Keep the emails flowing! We enjoy hearing from everyone
out there!
Till next time…
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