How did the Japanese Engines come to Dominance???
Larry xlax Lovisone
wondering how this world class technology came to be. Japan is the last
country in the world anyone could have imagined becoming the motorcycle
center of the world by the closing years of the twentieth century. As
the century opened the nation was in the throws of transforming itself
from an Oriental feudal kingdom to a Western capitalist empire. I dug
into the Busy Little Shops great wall of motorcycle reference
material... and the story proved to be apocryphal... but went a long
way towards explaining why the Japanese succeeded in becoming a modern
power so rapidly while the rest of Asia... in particular mighty China...
failed...
The first motorcycle ever sold in Japan was a Mitchell, two which were
imported in 1903... The year before the very first motorcycle ever seen
in Japan, a Thomas, was brought into the country by an American. The
Japanese were utterly flabbergasted to see these mechanical monsters
smoking and back firing through the narrow medieval streets of their
castle centered cities... What wonder would the big nosed barbarians
unveil next?
The Japanese didn't wait to find out in particular one Torao Yamaba, who
had just gotten the hang of repairing imported Western electrical
products and opened a little fix-it shop was almost run down by a red
hair haired American stunt riding his motorcycle through the streets of
Okayama. What constituted stunt riding in 1908 is anyone's guess, but
what ever it was, it certainly impressed young Yamaba. He could not
afford to buy one of the foreign contraptions, so he decided to build
one himself. He had a foot lathe, some wrenches and a hammer. He round
up every scrap of literature he could on the subject and set to work and
succeeded.
He was part of a trend. That same year in Yokohama the Tagagikyo Siekan
Company put together a motorcycle using an imported Precision motor. And
in Kansai a Mr. N. Shimazu built his own experimental gasoline engine.
The next year 1909 he constructed what is generally considered to be the
first motorcycle ever built in Japan.
In 1910 the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department requested Miyata Small
Arms, recently successful in developing a bicycle, to build a
motorcycle. The company's first attempt in 1910 was powered by a
horizontally opposed twin. It was a failure. Two years later the company
produced a machine powered by a Triumph based 3.5 hp four stroke single.
After a year of development work the police accepted delivery of several
of the machines dubbed Asahi (morning sun) but the 480 yen price tag was
just too expensive to the bike attractive to other customers and
production ceased after the police run.
While this was going on the Nihon Motorcycle Company established itself
and designed a 250cc cast iron two stroke motor to power a machine that
boasted leaf spring suspension up front. At 200 yen a throw the company
sold 20. That figure tells you motorcycles were scarcely inundating the
Japanese countryside.
In 1916 37 of the beasts were registered in Tokyo. There were still few
roads in that island country and most travel was done by boat. After WW1
however that picture began to change. Success at exporting textiles and
a variety of mechanical trinkets brought foreign exchange into the
country and the rise of a well off middle class with modern ideas.
Motorcycles became quite popular among this new group of people...
Motorcycles were, as a rule, generally cheaper than cars and being
considerable narrower, had no difficulty negotiating the alleys and
pathways that constituted "highways" then. A law of that era decreed
that no automobiles manufactured in the country could exceed 39 inches
in width. No wonder bikes proved popular.
But Japanese brands weren't popular, foreign bikes were. ABC, FN,
Sarolea, Scott, Cleveland flooded Japan and all but killed the
struggling Japanese home industry. Only a few Japanese persisted in
their efforts to match Western technology and build decent bikes.
In 1921 Mr. Watanabe of Osaka designed and built the first over head
valve engine made in Japan. Displacing 150cc the engine worked
reasonably well but had disappointedly little power. So he redesigned it
as a 300 coupled with a two speed transmission and sporting chain drive
he called his machine the Thunder.
In 1923 Musashino Kogyo manufactured a single cylinder two stroke
powered machine for which it made an incredible claim; every part was
made in Japan. If it were true it would have been an astonishing first
but as a matter of course items as magnetos, carburetors, transmissions,
were routinely imported to bolt on engine blocks cast in Japan. None of
the domestic machines were particularly successful. They were as a rule
handmade in tiny shops by bands of dedicated amateurs who had great
dreams and almost no know how. They had no chance of competing with
European and American factory built designs of consistent quality. The
simple task of designing spare parts to fit an already manufactured
engine was almost beyond them. When your piston rings wore out that was
the end of your motorcycle in many cases.
Then the government did something that eventually changed everything.
The Military Vehicle Subsidy Law of 1924 allowed the government to give
subsidies to makers or owners of motor vehicles suitable for military
use, provided it was made in Japan. The immediate result was the entry
of major industrial concerns into the manufacture of motorcycles. The
first was the Murata Iron Works a company known today as Kawasaki.
Murata built two copies of the pocket of the pocket valve Harley
Davidson and offered them to the army, which tried them out and returned
them without comment, a very high insult in Japan. The Imperial Army was
already using imported Harleys. Toyo Kogyo (Mazda) also tried to build a
motorcycle for the army and that effort failed as well.
In 1925, while these two companies went back to their drawing boards,
Mr. Shimazu, the gent who built the first Japanese motorcycle back in
1909, unleashed the Arrowfast. A 633cc side valve single cylinder motor
spinning the rear wheel through a hand shifted three speed
transmissions. A reverse gear was also fitted for side car work. The
bike sported girder front suspension, electric lighting, and a gas tank
enclosing the frame tubes, all in all a most modern motorcycle.
In 1926 a 250cc version of the Arrowfast was marketed and it sold in the
hundreds to become Japan's first mass produced motorcycle. The three
speed transmission later Arrowfasts used was a Japanese item made by
Meguro, a subsidiary of Murata Iron Works. After its failure to build a
motorcycle for the army the company decided to concentrate on one
aspect of modern motor technology, the transmission, learn how to build
that well, then tackle the whole machine after they’d gotten that down.
Their logical scheme might have proved successful except for one
problem: nobody in Japan then, including Shimazu, could make a
motorcycle engine that was as reliable or as powerful or as repairable
as Western machines, in particular American machine, and in more
particular, Harley-Davidson. In those days imports held about 80 percent
of the Japanese motorcycle market, and most of the foreign bikes were
Harleys. Homemade brands just couldn’t compete.
These imports fueled a worsening balance-of-payments deficit that
threatened to bankrupt the country. Not only the developing motorcycle
industry, but Japan’s entire scheme of industrialization was about to
collapse. The government, now increasingly dominated by the military,
was desperately concerned to develop a domestic motor industry, so the
country could be independent of the West.
In 1928 the Ministry of Commerce and Industry established the Committee
for the Promotion of National Industries in an effort to cut imports. In
1929 the Ministry had the Committee investigate the establishment of a
domestic motor industry. In 1930 the Committee reported Japan’s
dependence on imports was “intolerable”, and urged the establishment of
protectionist measures. Then Japan’s 1931 conquest of Manchuria made
the army’s need for motor transport acute. In 1935 the Automobile
Manufacturing Law was enacted, specifically excluding foreign companies
and foreign capital. A cabinet opinion leading up to the enactment
stated, “The motor vehicle industry is of major importance both for
industry and national defense. Entrusting this industry to the control
of foreigners is unthinkable.” From now on anyone wanting to engage in
the motor vehicle trade would have to be licensed. Domestic makers
would get tax rebates. Importers would face stiff tariffs-in l936 the
tariff on engines and parts was jumped and in l937 the import duty on
motorcycles leaped over 700 percent.
Did all this help the Japanese build decent motorcycles? In the short
run, no. In the long run, yes. Harley-Davidsons were still enormously
popular. H-D motors in particular were rugged and powerful, and spare
parts fit. Sales to Japan were a significant percent of total Harley
sales. So when the Depression of 1929 sent Harley staggering towards
bankruptcy, a suggestion from their Japan sales rep that they sell
rights to manufacture an obsolete model to a Japanese company met with
approval. Harley just needed some cash and could never imagine they
were creating a Frankenstein monster that would some day drive them to
adopt new standards.
Harley sold the Japanese not only the blueprints and machine tooling
they needed to build the big vee-twin, but also sold them the secrets
for successful heat treating, and sent their Assistant Factory
Superintendent to show them how to set up a modern factory. The
Japanese learned about workshop cleanliness for the first time, about
precision manufacture of spare parts, about assembly line operations; in
short, about all the things you need to know to mass produced
sophisticated machines. The Harleys the Japanese company built were
dubbed Rikuo (Continent King) and became the standard mounts for the
Japanese army. The Japanese began adapting the machines for military
use straight away, and soon had a highly successful ATV with sidecar
drive and plenty of ground clearance.
In the meantime industry officials from all areas of Japan’s burgeoning
manufacturing empire toured the Japan-Harley plant and took home
valuable lessons. In l937 Meguro, the transmission people, built their
first motorcycle, the Type 97. It was powered by a 500cc ohv single
producing 13 horsepower. A handful of other manufacturers also suddenly
became successful in the late Thirties, including Miyata, still hanging
in there, which successfully marketed a 175cc two-stroke developing five
horsepower. A company called Cabton began turning out 500cc singles. I
can’t swear the success of all these companies was the result of a
walk-through of the Rikuo factory, but the coincidence is intriguing.
When war broke out with China in l937 all civilian production ceased. By
l941 when the “Greater East Asian War” began, the army had not only
Rikuo building Harley-based machines, but also several other companies,
including Mazda. Before the war ended in l945 over 18,000 Rikuo army
motorcycles has been built.
When the war ended Japan was a bombed out ruin, all industry wrecked.
Although it didn’t seem so, that harsh fact was to prove a mighty
blessing. The rail network, only so recently built to tie the country
together, was in shambles. Transport within cities was nonexistent. The
Army’s needs no longer dictated what industry built, in the period of
confusion following the country’s surrender and military occupation; it
became at once obvious that in order to get anything done, to literally
get the country moving again, an economical means of transportation had
to be developed fast. The two-wheeler fit the bill.
Aircraft makers found they had stockpiles of materials and engineering
know-how which could be profitably put to use meeting transportation
demands. Nakajima, Mitsubishi, Kawanishi and Kawasaki all turned their
talents to two-wheelers. Typical of the kinds of machines they turned
out was Nakajima’s Rabbit, a scooter, the body of which was fashioned
from leftover scraps of aircrafts duralumin sheeting. The engine was
off an auxiliary electrical generator and the wheels, the only ones
which could be scrounged, were really tail wheels from Navy Ginga attack
bombers. The device was successful enough for Nakajima to establish a
separate company to turn out scooters and later cars. Today the outfit
is known as Subaru.
Zero makers Mitsubishi also slapped together a scooter, but neither the
clumsy scooter, nor the postwar civilian version of the Rikuo Harley,
was what was needed. Nor was Meguro’s 500. Rikuo and Meguro got by
selling to the police and allied occupation forces. Only Miyata, which
still made its 175cc lightweight was not and answer either.
What people wanted were motorized bicycles. Supplies of surplus military
auxiliary engines were snapped up by enterprising back alley factories
that turned out any kind of jury-rigged contraption that could be
persuaded to propel a rider at anything over a slow walk. Fuels used
ranged from pine tree sap distillates to aviation gasoline… anything
that could be scrounged and persuaded to explode in a cylinder.
Most of the surplus engines these machines used had been built by
Tohatsu and Mikuni today’s world supplier of carburetors. The Mikuni
engines had been designed to power field radio generators.
The Tohatsu units were tank auxiliary generators motors. Army specs list
these engines as having 300 to 500 watt generating capacities. The
Tohatsu engines were 78cc 45 by 50mm single cylinder air cooled two
strokes developing something between 1.5 and 2 hp. The similar Mukunis
were rated at 1.2 hp.
By 1948, the year I was borne, the supply of surplus engines was almost
used up. Earlier, for seeing the drying up of this natural resource,
Bridgestone, the tire company of today, designed and put into production
a light engine and as the surplus finally disappeared, came to dominate
the field. Even some early Hondas used the Bridgestone engine. This
engine, a two stroke, had a bore and stroke of 42 by 45mm, giving it a
displacement of 62cc. It developed 1.2 hp at 3000 rpm.
Mean while aircraft maker Kawanishi unleashed their 64cc two stroke
engine and shortly thereafter Tohatsu got back on its feet and began
manufacturing its tank auxiliary engine again. But already the era of
the motorized bicycle was passing. In 1948 a company called Honda began
building its own engine, an 89cc two stroke delivering 1.2hp at 4,500
rpm. This was used to power the Honda “A” motorcycle; in fact, had been
designed specifically for it, a post war first!
The Honda was not particularly successful, mainly because Honda had
limited motor engineering back ground. Another company did much better.
Kawanishi Aircraft, now building its 64cc bile motor, reorganized itself
as Shin Meiwa in 1948 and got really serious about motorcycle engines.
And it had the know how to succeed. During WW2 it had built the huge
Emily flying boats and the B-29 killing Shiden fighter.
The 64cc engine was mounted on the new Miewa motorcycle so the crank
shaft was vertical, and had no transmission. The engine was considered a
marvel because, here the aircraft heritage showed, it was made entirely
of aluminum instead of the more usual cast iron. It was significant
first. Shortly, to boost performance, a two speed transmission operated
by a single plate dry clutch.
In 1949, Meiwa introduced a 142cc side valve producing 2.5hp and 2750
rpm. It’s no coincidence that lowly 2750, the upper limit where an
aircraft engine may spin a propeller before the tips go supersonic, was
chosen! Shortly after this the company brought out a 250cc ohv engine
which powered the first post war Japanese sports bike the Pointer.
Eventually the company name used the name for all its motorcycles.
Pointers were rugged, reliable-for their brief era-machines that sold
well. One of the most popular was the 250 Ace.
By 1953 Meiwa was building 700 of these machines a month, a huge number
for the day, and, along with sales of their 64cc motor and the side
valve, made Meiwa the largest motorcycle maker in Japan.
The Ace engine has been called the best early post war Japanese design.
The dry sump square 68 by 68 mm power plant was undoubtedly a solid
piece of engineering. With a compression ratio of 6.5 to 1, the two
exhaust port pushrod engine developed 12 whole hp at 5500 rpm. Driving
through a three speed transmission engaged by a dry multi plate clutch,
the Ace was propelled at an astonishing 60 mph-mercy! That may not sound
impressive by today’s standards, but a contemporary Japanese magazine
compared the Pointer Ace with the BMW R25 and found the Ace was both
quicker and faster than the R25 and was able to negotiate a long up hill
grade, two up, a feat by which the R25 couldn’t match, having overheated
early on.
Besides having an aluminum engine-which may explain why it didn’t
overheat-the Pointer could boast a battery and coil ignition, one of the
first seen on a Japanese motorcycle. All was not peachy-keen with the
Pointer, however. The crankshaft was lucky to survive 10,000 miles and
transmission main shafts shattered with annoying regularity. Spontaneous
breakage also plagued various parts of the bikes mechanicals. The
Pointer was much worse in this regard than the bike which was quickly
becoming its chief rival, the Honda Dream E.
In 1949 Honda introduced a 147cc single. The “E” soon grew to 220cc. The
engine was an I-type squish head ohv with a bore and stroke of 70 by
64mm. It sported two inlet valves and two carburetors, but only one
exhaust valve. The camshaft was placed aft of the cylinder, the push
rods passing through a cast in tunnel. The compression ratio was 6.5 to
1, producing 8 whole ponies at 4,700 rpm. The wet sump held one quart of
oil. The three speed transmission could help propel the mighty “E” to an
astonishing 55 mph-jeepers! The Honda engine was described by road
testers as “not ingenious” and it was noted the motor had a healthy
appetite for oil. It seemed to gulp as much oil as gas to some riders.
However the big advantage Honda had over the Pointer and other rivals
was its durability. Honda had early on equipped its single lowly factory
with the very latest equipment and most modern European and American
machine tools. Thus the little Hondas, indifferently designed as they
were, could be depended upon, and when repairs were needed, spare parts
could be guaranteed to fit. Hondas became an instant success based on
this strategy.
The Honda and the Pointer were only two brands out of over 100
motorcycle manufacturers that suddenly sprang up to meet the
insatiable demand for motorized transportation in the early post war
years. And Honda was not the only company to make a name for itself by
buying the latest Western machine tools to turn out its designs. Showa,
in particular, was one of the first Japanese companies to import
automated factory equipment to turn out machines.
Showa was also one of the most innovated of the early Japanese makers.
The company built the first chain driven overhead camshaft motorcycle
seen in Japan-the SH. The engine was a 55 by 63mm 150cc unit with a
compression ratio of 6 to1, pumping out 5 ponies at 4,800 rpm. A two
speed transmission propelled the bike to 50 mph. An improved version
soon pumped 6.2 hp and coupled with a three speed transmission, defeated
a Honda factory team on Dream Es and the Nagoya TT of 1953 and set Honda
thinking about the advantages of the overhead cam design.
Showa, in the meantime, found its OHC was a nightmare for its dealers to
service. The cam chain snapped routinely, and oil seeped and squirted
from every mating surface no matter what gasketing they employed. Honda
took notes carefully, for it was 2 full years before they unveiled their
first OHC motorcycle the SA. The SA’s single cylinder engine displaced
246cc producing 10.5 hp at 5,000 rpm, and, with its four speed
transmission could propel the little wonder cammer to over 60mph. Honda
also made its first venture onto the heavyweight motorcycle class that
year by bumping the SA up to 350cc and calling it the SB. Actual
displacement was 344cc with 14.5 ponies at 5,400 rpm. The significance
of this was not the extra 4 hp this machine offered, but the fact Honda
had decided money could be made making “powerful” motorcycles that would
not appeal to the economy minded commuter and delivery person, but to
the sporting rider with a heavy throttle hand. It was, in a way, a
momentous decision reflecting Soichiro Honda’s sporting nature…
1955 was a milestone year in Japanese engine development. Besides the
first OHCs Hondas, Suzuki, which had begun making moped motors a couple
of years earlier, introduced its first genuine motorcycle, the Porter
Free. The engine was a pretty sad 100cc two stroke single. The 52 by
49mm engine stomped out 4.5hp at 4,500 rpm. Equipped with a two speed
transmission, it would hurl the Suzuki to a top speed of 35mph.
Chief rival of the Porter Free was to be the Yamaha YA-1. Yamaha jumped
into the motorcycle business in 1955 and unleashed a splendid motorcycle
right at the start. The YA-1 engine was a two stroke revelation to the
average rider-it worked! A bore and stroke of 52 by 58mm gave the engine
a displacement of 125cc and 5.6 ponies at 5,000 rpm. But equipped with a
4 speed transmission 50 mph was achievable. Riders were astounded by the
huge 20mm Amal carb and the fact it drank a 15 to 1 gas-oil mix rather
than the typical 20 to 1 elixir.
Showa meanwhile, after an unsuccessful excursion into side valvery to
replace its unreliable OHC, also leaped on the two stroke bandwagon. In
1956 the company marked its Light Cruiser, a 125cc single with reed
valve induction, the first time reed valves were used on a Japanese two
stroke. With the same displacement and bore and stroke as the Yamaha,
the Showa reed design gave the Light Cruiser one more pony than the
YA-1. The same year Showa also marketed the first Japanese two stroke
twin, a 350 with bellyrium copper reed valves. Bore and stroke was 62 by
58mm. The compression ratio was 6 to 1, horsepower an astounding 22 at
5,500 rpm. It made the Honda 350 look weak.
Honda counterattacked by developing the C70, its first twin, which it
marketed in 1957. The engine on this machine was an OHC, a design Honda
was never to forsake, producing 18 ponies. Within a year it sported an
electric starter.
The trend was on for twins. Suzuki marketed its first twin the same
year, too, the 16 hp 247cc TT250. And in 1957 Yamaha built its YD-1, a
two stroke twin much like the Suzuki; in fact both machines were copies
of the German Adler.
And there I said that nasty word “copy”. Not too long ago anything made
in Japan was derided as a copy. In many cases the charge was true, but
often it wasn’t, and it ignored the fact Western manufactures have
always copied each other with enthusiasm. So what if Yamaha’s YA-1 was a
dead ringer for the DKW? So were the BSA Bantam and the Harley Davidson
Hummer. If someone else has a better idea, it will be stolen, that’s the
way of the world, or so it seems from this inventors view point. In
motorcycling that’s meant that the first NSUs out of Germany looked like
Norton singles, that the Brough Superiors vaunted Castle forks were rip
off copies of the Harley Davidson item.
The Japanese copied too, if they hadn’t, they never would have gotten
anywhere. Honda copied, Yamaha copied, Suzuki copied. They all copied.
And here lies an interesting curiosity; all the engine designs based on
German and Italian originals were made by companies still with us: the
above 3. But there were other companies: Hosk, Meguro, and a host of
others, once hugely successful in Japan that long vanished. The one
thing they had in common? They all based their engine designs on British
hardware. England’s grand era of motorcycle engineering had already
passed, even in the 50’s, and it was coasting on a momentum it was never
to regain. The Germans were still innovating, however-Horex, Adler, MZ,
Zweirad Union: they were all going great guns. Same for the Italians:
Benelli, Ducati, Gilera. And once the Japanese makers got a handle on
modern technology, they took off and outran everyone period.
How had Japan been able to do that, to develop their engineering skills
to world class level without being swamped by imports and bankrupt
before they even got started? Simple. The Japanese government encouraged
domestic makers and didn’t let imports in. As early as 1952 an import
prevention campaign had been officially undertaken after a group of
makers had gotten together and petition the government to adopt policies
discouraging imports. The way the government discouraged imports was by
slapping a 40 percent import duty on them, then on top of that, imposing
a 30 to 50 percent commodity tax. A general “Buy Japanese” campaign was
begun and the government soon required all official agencies to purchase
only Japanese made motorcycles. Since the post office and telegraph
offices used hordes of motorbikes, this was a significant rule. Many
companies were able to survive only because they had assured government
contracts. In 1955, that momentous year, the Japanese government all but
cut off the allocation of foreign currency for motorcycles imports,
parts as well as machines. What that meant was that if, say, you wanted
to buy a BSA, you had to go to the Japanese import-export bank and ask
then to change your yen to pounds so you could send a draft to England
to pay for your bike. You could do that before 1955. now they would
refuse your request. Since it was illegal to take yen out of the country
back then, you were screwed. You bought a Japanese bike or you walked.
Period. A harsh program, but it very obviously worked.
There were one very important exception to the anti foreign program, say
Honda wanted to get its hands on a foreign bike, say a Mondial, to take
its engine apart and see what made it tick, why the government would
say, “go for it” and charge no import duty of commodity tax whatsoever.
In fact, if you needed a loan to get the foreign bike they helped you
get it. That was very smart thinking.
You might think ill of the Japanese for doing this, but they were only
acting as other nations had before them. In the 1920s American
motorcycles were the finest in the world, and the modern factories they
were made in could have swamped the planet with mass produced machines
in short order. England also had a motorcycle industry trying to stay on
its feet, and to protect it Britain established the McKenna tariffs,
which were so high they effectively eliminated American competition not
only from England, but from the entire British Sun Never Sets Empire. In
fact, it was the loss of its lucrative market in Australia and South
Africa as a result of these tariffs that sent Harley Davidson to Japan
to try and find another market for its exports in the years before the
great Depression.
Considering the great influence Harley ultimately had in creating the
Japanese motorcycle industry, I have to say that English fear of
superior American bikes in the 20s led to Japanese motorcycle dominance
in the 60s. History works strange ways. Any way, all this worked out so
that by the end of the 50s Japanese companies were turning out about a
million motorcycles a year, all for domestic use. They had the most
modern factories in the world, all only a few years old, all equipped
with the very latest Western machine tooling, brand new, with the
capacity to grind out bikes as an unheard of rate. In fact, Japan was
already the largest maker of motorcycles in the world. And these
motorcycles were already powered by engines no longer copies, but
improved designs based on the best German and Italian engineering.
Nobody outside of Japan had ever heard of them. Five, ten, 15000 bikes a
year was a goody amount for your average American or British maker. The
Germans and Italians weren’t all that much better. In 1959 a 100,000
bikes was nothing to a big Japanese manufacture. And their home market
was about saturated. It was time to export.
In 1960, Honda, which controlled almost 65% of the home market, ventured
into foreign lands. They opened an office in California and right away
were able to offer some stunning machines, powered by some lovely
engines. The unknown Oriental maker included the CB72, a 24 hp 250cc OHC
twin available with either a 180 degree or 360 degree crank, which could
touch, gasp, 100mph. Shortly after came the CB92, a brilliant single
carbed, overhead cam engine that powered this machine could rev to the
10,500 rpm and spat out 15 ponies, from a 125cc no less! To say
incredible was a giant understatement of the year.
Where had these guys come from? How all of a sudden could some funny
Asian country come up with a bike and engine like this? Well, there was
more development and engineering in fighting going on in the decade just
past in Japan that may have ever occurred anywhere in the world. The
CB92 and the other Japanese bikes and their sweet engines, which were
poised to conquer the world, were a result of this.
It was a tumultuous era. Marusho, Tohastu, Cabton, Spark, Monarch, Ito,
Olympus, Hosk, Meguro. All these companies that made major engineering
innovations had their day and died. But their engine advances were
incorporated into the designs of the surviving companies, in many cases
their engineers went from one company to another, hopping from
bankruptcy till at last they found a securely managed outfit. The vast
knowledge of motorcycle engines they brought with them was invaluable in
ensuring that the Big Four in their turn did not also fail.
There I have it, Japanese engine development did not spring from limbo
onto the world arena, but that they emerged from domestic isolation to
export to the world only when their home market was saturated, and that
they had 5 decades to learn how to make good motorcycle engines. All the
way from Jack to a King, Mr.RC45 combines everything.
Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
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Jim
Ed Light
"Jim" <nos...@myhome.com> wrote in message
news:GSk5c.137000$jx3.8...@twister.southeast.rr.com...
> what a racist, western-centric article. You must be a white guy...
No, I remember how we had to put american aircraft bearings in our japanese
race bikes. Of course, they have caught up with their bearing technology
these days.
He's admiring them all through the article.
I don't think I'm missing anything?
From me, who wouldn't go to Vietnam to kill Orientals for Oil.
--
Ed Light
Smiley :-/
MS Smiley :-\
Send spam to the FTC at
u...@ftc.gov
Thanks, robots.
Mark N
"Ed Light" <nob...@nobody.there> wrote in message
news:yCq5c.1011$Bg.316@fed1read03...
> From me, who wouldn't go to Vietnam to kill Orientals for Oil.
Is that why we fought that war?! I've been wondering for decades...
Ed Light
"Mark N" <menu...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:7tGdneXrBIA...@giganews.com...
It has been a while since I studied it at all, but I believe so.
Mark N
"Ed Light" <nob...@nobody.there> wrote in message
> > > From me, who wouldn't go to Vietnam to kill Orientals for Oil.
> > Is that why we fought that war?! I've been wondering for decades...
> It has been a while since I studied it at all, but I believe so.
Seems like I was told it had something to do with dominoes...
Julian Bond
"I love the smell of two stroke in the morning. It smells like...
...Victory."
--
Julian Bond Email&MSM: julian.bond at voidstar.com
Webmaster: http://www.ecademy.com/
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M: +44 (0)77 5907 2173 T: +44 (0)192 0412 433
Ed Light
"Mark N" <menu...@earthlink.net> wrote
> Seems like I was told it had something to do with dominoes...
We were supposed to think that the commies were taking over and threatening
us in Vietnam, and if we let them live they would take over the world.
Mark N
"Ed Light" <nob...@nobody.there> wrote in message
>
> "Mark N" <menu...@earthlink.net> wrote
>
> > Seems like I was told it had something to do with dominoes...
>
> We were supposed to think that the commies were taking over and
threatening
> us in Vietnam, and if we let them live they would take over the world.
So how did it come out? Did we let them live? If not, why are there all
these assholes running the world anyway?
Bruce Richmond
> "Mark N" <menu...@earthlink.net> wrote
>
> > Seems like I was told it had something to do with dominoes...
>
> We were supposed to think that the commies were taking over and threatening
> us in Vietnam, and if we let them live they would take over the world.
Actually we were helping the poor French hang on to their colony. For
some strange reason the Vietnamese thought they should govern
themselves when the Japanese were driven out at the end of WWII.
Bruce Richmond
I hadn't heard of Kawasaki's early involvement with bikes as the
Murata Iron Works. What I had read was that when Kawasaki Heavy
Industries decided to get into the motorcycle business they started
out by buying up Meguro. That purchase eventually lead to the
development of the W-series 4-stroke Kawasakis of the 60's. They also
purchased another company that lead to the development of their
screaming 2-strokes.
Kawasaki's Z1 was actually on the drawing boards as a 750 in the late
60's. When it was obvious Honda would make it to market first, they
shifted their focus to the 2-stroke triples. While there was quite a
bit of copying in the early days, by the late 60's the big four seemed
to make it a point not to copy each other.
What lead to the dominance of Japanese designs was, IMHO a difference
in philosophy. Others had set out to build the best bike they could,
and having come up with a decent design set about making bikes. As
long as the bikes sold reasonably well there was no need to change the
design. The Japanese got used to the idea of development being a
never ending process. Whether it was playing catch up to the foreign
design, or staying ahead of the local competition, they knew they had
to keep getting better or perish.
Bruce
Dean
Personally I found it informative and interesting. Thanks Larry.
Enlighten me. To me it sounded complimentary and implied admiration of
the efforts the Japanese undertook to turn a fledgling industry into a
world beater.
I suppose IMHBT. If so IHL and you have thus validated your pathetic
existence.
If not, I look forward to your reasoning, if you are willing to share.
After all, if I was the author, I would hate to post what seems to be
a reasonably well balanced, informative article and be accused of
being a racist. Maybe you should inform us with your cutting incisive
analysis of why the article is racist. After all, your opening post
was rife with accurate pointers to the articles obvious racist
overtones.
Cheers
Dean.
"Jim" <nos...@myhome.com> wrote in message news:<GSk5c.137000$jx3.8...@twister.southeast.rr.com>...
Larry xlax Lovisone
Dean wrote:
> I'm sorry Jim, how can this article be construed as racist?
>
> Personally I found it informative and interesting. Thanks Larry.
You're welcome Dean...
Larry xlax Lovisone
Bruce Richmond wrote:
> [snip] An excellent post with a lot of info.
Thanks Bruce...
inlin...@yahoo.com
Larry xlax Lovisone
Bram Stolk
Don't forget it to add to your website at
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/stories.html
Along with the '2 wheel ordeal'.
Bram Stolk
1977 GS750
--
"For the costs of subsidized agriculture in the EU, we can have all 56 million
European cows fly around the world. First Class." - J. Norberg
Ryan Cousineau
bsr...@my-deja.com (Bruce Richmond) wrote:
> [snip] An excellent post with a lot of info.
> What lead to the dominance of Japanese designs was, IMHO a difference
> in philosophy. Others had set out to build the best bike they could,
> and having come up with a decent design set about making bikes. As
> long as the bikes sold reasonably well there was no need to change the
> design. The Japanese got used to the idea of development being a
> never ending process. Whether it was playing catch up to the foreign
> design, or staying ahead of the local competition, they knew they had
> to keep getting better or perish.
I think the substance of the Japanese advantage can be summed up in one
anecdote.
Before Japanese bikes came on the market, motorcycle magazines used
adjectives to modify the phrase "oil-tight". A bike might be "adequately
oil-tight", or if it was very good, "remarkably oil-tight", etc.
Once the Japanese got serious, their bikes needed no adjective to modify
"oil-tight." Not long after, it suddenly became completely unacceptable
for a new motorcycle to leak oil.
And that's a good thing,
--
Ryan Cousineau, rcou...@sfu.ca http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club
Dr Ivan D. Reid
wrote in <rcousine-D3876B...@morgoth.sfu.ca>:
I haven't been following this thread, so apologies if it's been
mentioned before: another anecdote had HD disassembling a Honda engine to
ascertain the level of their technology -- and being amazed at the
tolerances achieved, esp. piston/cylinder clearances. HD had been working
to normal US automotive (read V8) tolerances up until that time,
apparently.
--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan...@brunel.ac.uk Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD. "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO# 003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".
JWilliam
cogs, Yamahas can go through cranks and small end bearings and Hondas
don't handle high mileages that well. Seriously though (if that isn't
serious enough), the Japanese make great top ends with accuracy to the
micron but poor cranks and gearboxes. These days they are no longer
using premium metals but a lot of recycled metal and are very
selective on the engine parts that get the higher quality material.
You can see this when Honda introduce a 'hollow crank' for a VT1000
Racer, can't maintain the quality - have another idea.