The not-so-true story of the "1962 Honda Safety Rules"

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The not-so-true story of the "1962 Honda Safety Rules"

Go soothingly on the grease-mud, as there lurks the skid-demon.

If you spend much time browsing the internet looking for bike entertainment, you might well have come across this flowery translation of the “1962 Honda Safety Rules” or “Official Honda Riding Instructions”. They take some form of:

HOW TO RIDE MOTORCYCLES
1962 Safety Rules from Honda

1. At the rise of the hand by Policeman, stop rapidly. Do not pass him by or otherwise disrespect him.
2. When a passenger of the foot hove in sight, tootle the horn trumpet to him melodiously at first. If he still obstacles your passage, tootle him with more vigour and express by word of mouth the warning, “Hi, Hi.”
3. Beware of the wandering horse that he shall not take fright as you pass him. Do not explode the exhaust box at him. Go soothingly by.
4. Give big space to the festive dogs that make sport in roadway. Avoid mix-up of dog with your wheel spokes.
5. Go soothingly on the grease-mud, as there lurks the skid-demon. Pedal the brake of the foot as you roll around the corners and save the collapse and tip-up.

You can appreciate why it keeps getting shared. You understand what is intended, the writing is Jeeves and Woosterish and it’s funny.

It’s not, however from 1962. Nor is it from Honda.

Before posting this we wanted to find the original Honda source but found out something more interesting. A search on Google books shows that these instructions have been printed and reprinted since at least 1920.

Honda didn’t exist before 1948.

The story goes that the article originally appeared in The Motor magazine (a British publication) in 1918. During the First World War the publication kept going but military censorship proved to be a problem, with articles being pulled late in the day.

Apparently the “1962 Honda Safety Rules” were a hastily-penned filler article by a B.A. Hunt following some last minute censorship. You can see the original setting here.

Perhaps one of the first examples of content to go viral, that is still being shared today. Well done B. A. Hunt.