Dahon

In 1975 Dr. David Hon, founder of the Dahon company, was engaged in physics at Hughes Aircraft Corporation in California, working on top secret research projects for the government. He was considered an expert in solid state laser technology, Dr. Hon had already been awarded by numerous patents in the USA for the advances made in laser technology. Later on, he and his team developed an innovative laser technology that would later be used in NASA's space shuttles, these were missile guidance systems and anti-aircraft laser-guided weapons. However, despite his professional success, Dr. Hon finally found the work at Hughes Aircraft unsatisfactory, because his energies and projects were used to make instruments for war, rather than for the betterment of society. When the oil and gas crisis occurred in 1975, Dr. Hon had an idea that was the first seed of the company. One afternoon waiting in the long queues of an hour to buy gas for his car, Dr. Hon became aware of the magnitude of the world's dependence on oil, a non-renewable resource that is likely to run out during the lives of his grandchildren . These reflections led him to return to his main means of transportation at the university, the bicycle. Completely clean and cheap enough for people all over the world to have access to, Dr. Hon considered the bicycle a good candidate as a solution. However, the bicycle, as it existed at that time was not free from defects. While it was perfect for short trips, it was not practical for longer trips. It needed to be improved, transformed, to be more functional. The solution he thought was a portable folding bike. Then came the difficult part, turning your ideas into reality. He worked for seven years, building dozens of prototypes, trying to perfect a folding bike that would maintain the performance of a normal bicycle, while folding fast and having a compact size. Finally, in 1982, Dr. Hon presented his first folding bicycle, the Dahon model, for which he won many awards and great worldwide recognition, but none of the world's major bicycle manufacturers were interested in producing his new revolutionary idea. So he decided to risk everything and start building the bicycles himself. He resigned his job, left for Taiwan and built a factory. In 1983, Dahon folding bicycles left the assembly line. Currently, more than two million bicycles later, it can be said that Dahon has made a difference. Around the world, people are using bicycles to get around. Governments are integrating portable folding bicycles into their plans for mass transit. And each of those big bike companies that Doctor Hon visited 25 years ago have climbed on the folding bicycle manufacturing trolley.