While Honda has had many legendary riders, the move by Jeffrey Herlings from KTM to Honda in 2026, is without question (for me), the most talked about signing for Honda in the history of the brand in motocross.

Lets get one thing straight, “The Bullet” isn’t in his prime, but even just outside his prime, he is still, often, the fastest man in Grand Prix racing, as he showed at the backend of 2025, when he won three of the last five GPs and finished second in the other two. Yes, prime or not, the Dutchman is still super-fast.

But what about this signing by Herlings? How important is it? Well, for me, who has been in the sport since the 1970s, it’s the greatest signing ever. I know that sounds overreacting, but try and find a signing that matches?

The two greatest GP riders of all time, Antonio Cairoli as a three time world champion, moved from Yamaha to KTM in 2010, and Stefan Everts from his two years of injuries to sign with Yamaha in 2001 as a four time world champion. Those were big changes, but nothing like this move of Honda/Herlings.

Of course, Roger De Coster, who was king of the 500cc class in the 1970s on Suzuki, signed with Honda at the backend of his career, but we didn’t have social media back then, and that signing could have been something special had we all got a bigger vibe from social media.

Back in 1979, when Graham Noyce won Honda their first world motocross championship, nobody could have imagined the importance of the red rockets in the sport. From that victory by the blonde Brit, Honda won again in 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992, in what will without doubt remain the greatest era in Honda's motocross history.

Looking back to that era, all their riders were Honda rider when they won their first titles in the premier class, be it Andre Malherbe, David Thorpe, Eric Geboers, or Georges Jobe. All of these men are the highest of high when it comes to legends and all four are known more for their victories on Honda than any other brand.

After a third in the 250cc world championship, KTM entered Andrea Malherbe into the 500cc World Championship for the 1978 season, but his move to Honda in 1979, was the start of what would be a three-title run on the red machines.

Of course, Jobe was signed to Honda from Suzuki, where he had won two world titles, in the 250cc class (for Suzuki). Eric Geboers was a similar story, a Suzuki world champion who turned to Honda to win a 250 title, before his three in the 500cc class. Dave Thorpe also rode Honda to a third place in the 1984 500cc championship, before winning his three in the 500cc championship.

Of course, another all-time great Honda rider was J. M. Bayle, who finished third in the 1987 125cc championship on Honda, before winning the 125cc championship in 1988 and the 250cc championship in 1989.

Trampas Parker and Greg Albertyn with their championships for Honda were not of huge speaking points, Parker with a 250cc title for the red machines in 1991 and Albertyn two titles in 1992 (125cc) and 1993 (250cc).

Stefan Everts move to Honda in 1996 was probably as close to the Herlings move, as Everts was a two-time world champion, with his win for Suzuki in the 125cc class in 1991 and the first ever win for Kawasaki in the 250cc class in 1995. Everts of course would win titles for Honda in 1996 and 1997. Slightly similar to the 500cc era of the 1980s, Honda won four titles in five years with the Everts wins and two from Frederic Bolley in 1999 and 2000.

Amazingly, that win by Bolley was the last by Honda, until Klemen Gercar won a world title in MX3 in 2013 (if you can really count the MX3 as a world title). It wasn’t until Tim Gajser won the MX2 world title in 2015 for Honda, that they seriously returned to GP racing.

Gajser would become the greatest Honda rider of all time, with MXGP championships in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022. And that brings us to Jeffrey Herlings in 2026 and the most exciting signing in the sports history, not just for Honda, but for any manufacturer.

Bavo Swijgers image