Report From Japan
REPORT FROM JAPAN
W. B. SWIM
THIS HAS BEEN THE dead month in reportable motorcycle activities from Japan. With the annual Tokyo Motor Show coming up next month, makers are all playing it close to the chest as is the custom around this season. Several new prototypes, which will give a good idea of what to expect from the various factories next season, are expected to be on display at the show. Before that, however, it's "mum's the word" with the makers.
Honda did come out with a new OHC 50cc and Yamaha countered with an Autolube 50cc since the last report. The Honda is dubbed the CS-50, which will probably be changed to S-50 before it reaches the U.S., as is Honda's custom. This is the first time the company has put out a really competitive 50cc sportster, and the OHC engine makes quite a difference even though the frame is practically unchanged. The new model boasts 5.2 horsepower @ 10.250 rpm and a top for the 4-speed motorcycle of 53 mph. Bore and stroke are 39 x 41.4 mm for 49cc.
Yamaha's new 50cc, the model U-5 dubbed the "Yamaha Mate" in a nationwide naming contest, as reported in last month's column, in addition to Autolube oil injection system has a 3-speed transmission with a top speed of 44 mph. The underbone frame, from which the U-5 appellation originates, supports a swinging arm in rear and a weight of only 154 pounds. A "square" 40 x 40mm bore and stroke give 50cc capacity with a claimed 4.3 hp @ 6,500 rpm for this two-stroke single and top torque at 5.000 rpm of 3.7 ft-lb. It is not slated for the export market at present.
Honda came up with a new SU type carburetor for their 125cc model C IV-92. This vacuum type is similar to the carbs on the CB-450 Super Sports and the 600cc sports car. Other details are unchanged.
This has been mountain climbing month in Japan for the hardier (or more foolish) motorcyclists. A group of five Kawasaki factory employees managed to get two model J1 85cc machines to the top of Japan's premier peak, the famous Mt. Fuji. They rode as far as the motorcycles would pull and then pushed and dragged them the rest of the way. Meanwhile, one of the more foolhardy members of the staff of the Motorcyclist magazine in Tokyo made the mistake of bragging that his 90cc Yamaha model H-l could make it to the top of 8,338-foot Mt. Asama, an active volcano. Other staff members eagerly took him up and egged him on, but not strongly enough, as the best he could do in the loose volcanic ash was 7,052 feet. The machine was completely standard and had less than 1.000 miles on the speedometer when the climb started.
If the factory news has been scant this month, the racing scene has been running overtime to make up for it. Biggest event of the month was the typhoon-postponed 13th All Japan Moto-Cross, to which the sponsoring Motorcycle Club Federation of All Japan (MCFAJ) invited and paid the expenses of Tim Gibbes from New Zealand. The Federation ended up way out on the limb and out of pocket, however, as the 250cc Greeves, which the former International Moto-Cross and Fnglish Six Days Trial Team member brought with him, refused to run once it got here. He
managed to get around the course, which he laid out for the Federation, a couple of times in the Open class heat race but did not transfer on Saturday. The next day he couldn't even start in the 250cc final, despite several hours of hard work the night before by Japan's Mr. Moto-Cross, Kazuo Kubo, his elder brother and half of Suzuki's top race mechanics. The Greeves was leaking compression from the crankcase, and just wouldn't go. Three Americans entered the postponed event, and David Dean of the AJMC managed to place 10th in the novice 250cc race on a Yamaha. On the whole it was a Suzuki program, with five winners out of nine races; Yamaha picked up two and Bridgestone and Kawasaki one each. Suzuki took all the novice events. Open winner was Yamaha's Tadao Suzuki, who also won the 250cc senior class race. Kawasaki's Yoshio Okabe nabbed the 125cc senior. Kazuo Shimizu on a Bridgestone took the 90cc, and Takeo Enomoto shoved his Suzuki home ahead of the field in the 50cc for senior riders. Suzuki's Hideo Automura could do no wrong in this one, winning the novice 125cc, 90cc and 50cc races and in the process nabbing the club prize for his organization, the Tohoku Suzuki Speed Club. The other novice winner, also Suzuki mounted, was Masataka Nakazawa in the 250cc race, which Atomura did not contest. It's a cinch that 19-yearold Atomura will be upped to junior classification next season. Of the 66 trophies handed .out, Suzuki garnered nearly half, totaling 31. Yamaha was a bad second with only 12, followed closely by Kawasaki with 11. ßridgestone had 8, Tohatsu picked up 3 and a lone Honda rider went home with the silver.
The big road race of the month was the Motorcycling Federation of Japan (MFJ) 2nd Junior event at Suzuka Circuit. Fiftynine entries started in the five classes. The only American rider, C. T. Christman, pushed his Yamaha in to 6th place in the 250cc race. On the whole, however, it was a Honda day with that firm winning 4 out of the 5 events. Suzuki took only the 50cc race. Kunio Terada and his hot Hondas were in fine fettle, winning both the 350cc and 125cc events. Honda's Fukumi Kotake took the 250cc race, and their Minoru Sato won the 90cc. The 50cc went to Suzuki rider, Hiroyuki Kawasaki.
Most exciting race of the day was the 90cc event, when five riders remained tightly bunched throughout the 10-lap race and it wasn't until the final 100 yards that Sato's Honda managed to nose out two Kawasaki riders. The first four flashed by in the order of two Hondas and two Kawasakis, but the average speed of the winner was only 68.775 mph against the fourth man's time of 68.694 mph, which shows how closely the top four were running. Thirty trophies were handed out, and Honda grabbed 18 of them, leaving only six for Yamaha, four for Kawasaki and two for Suzuki.
The U.S. Armed Forces Chitóse International Motorcycle and Karting Club, of all things, recently garnered a big gob of favorable publicity for the motorcycling sport when the Armed Forces popular Far East Network stations broadcast a lengthy on-the-scene recording from the final race of the season on cold Hokkaido Island up north, in the middle of the network's top listener rated, two-hour Sunday afternoon program. This small military outpost has been quite successful this season in promoting events on a one-mile track. They drew 76 entries for the last in the series, which compares favorably with the MCFAJ's All Japan entry of 353. Top rider of the day was Masaaki Toida, a local schoolteacher, who outpaced the track favorite, Toshimitsu Okimoto.
Some 220 riders, including 20 Americans stationed in Japan with the U.S. Armed Forces, showed up for the 6th Speed Scrambles in the rocky Irima River bed some two hours from Tokyo. It wasn't the Americans' day, however, and none of them managed to take home a trophy. Suzuki and Bridgestone each won three races of the nine on the program, leaving two for Kawasaki and one for Yamaha.
So in the three big races this month, two moto-cross and one road race, Suzuki went home with 52 trophies, Yamaha gathered in 31, Honda, Bridgestone and Kawasaki were bunched with 25, 24 and 23 respectively and Tohatsu, which hasn't made any motorcycles for more than a year and a half, got 8, which is a pretty good indication of how the racing gold goes in this country.
Biggest speculation among enthusiasts here now is which foreign riders will still be participating in the Grand Prix races next season, and who will be riding what. It looks like 500cc Champion Mike Hailwood might desert MV, as he is entered to ride a Honda in the 250cc race at the Japan Grand Prix next month. Speculation is that both Suzuki's Hugh Anderson (for moto-cross racing) and Honda's Jim Redman (for automobile formula racing) may not be riding next year. Both have won Championships for several years in a row. Sadly, there is still no World Champion caliber Japanese rider on the scene.
