Report From Japan
REPORT FROM JAPAN
W. B. SWIM
BOTH SUZUKI and Yamaha are reported to be rushing work on sports models in the 65cc class. Honda got the jump on them, and already have a 65cc sports and a "nifty fifty" style step-through 65cc on the market. Again, as with the 55cc and 60cc bored out versions of 50cc machines, the licensing laws in Japan are the cause of this new class.
At present the Japanese government issues four different licenses for motor cycle riders: Up to 50cc (which is simple to get); 51cc to 125cc (which isn't); 126cc to 250cc; and 251cc and over. Now the Japanese national police agency is seriously considering changing Japan's licensing laws to bring them more into line with inter national driver's license regulations. They have consulted the manufacturers' associa tion, which is expected to recommend a reduction to two licenses: up to 125cc and over 125cc. Presumably it will be easier to get a license for the smaller machines than for the larger. Until the Honda 65 sports, the least expensive real motorcycle that gave a feeling of power and speed was in the 90cc class. Honda. and now Suzuki and Yamaha, decided there will be a market for a less expensive sports machine with more than a 50cc. thus the 65cc.
Suzuki isnt the only Japanese maker using its wiles to get the services of 500cc World Champ Mike Hailwood for the 1965 Grand Prix season. Both Honda and Yamaha are also interested in Mike, who showed why he is regarded as the best on the road circuits when he participated in the Japan Grand Prix on MZ machines.
Suzuki is regarded as having the inside track to Mike as of now. Rumors are float incz around that Yamaha will enter the 350cc races with a full-size new 2-stroke racer next season, not a bored-out 250cc. They took the 250cc 1964 title, the firm's first. Meanwhile. Yoshimi Katayama. who rode right alongside the world's best at the Japan GP and nabbed third for Suzuki in the well-contested 125cc race in his first effort on a Grand Prix circuit, has been contracted to ride next sea~on for Suzuki. He'll probably make his first over seas appearance at the Isle of Man T.T.
All Tohatsu racers and racing parts (10 truck loads) were bought in a lump-sum cash deal by John Honda, former Tohatsu factory racer and U.S. representative, and at least two Japanese makers have ex pressed interest in buying some of them from him. He has at least two 50cc twin road racers like the one Dave Simmonds used to break Hugh Anderson's lap record. made with a Suzuki factory racer, at Brand's Hatch circuit in England. John told CYCLE \VORLD he intends to sell both the new and used racers, as well as the new racing parts, to riders in Europe and the United States. His address is Aoi Trading Co., 567-3 Shimomeguro, Megu ro-ku. Toyko, Japan.
Honda began December 1 giving a war rantv for two years or 50.000 kilometers (31.250 miles) on all new motorcycles. cars and trucks. This is the longest warranty for motorcycles in Japan. and probably in the wrrld. Suzuki's warranty locally is for six months or 7,000 kilometers (4,000 miles) and Yamaha's is six months or 6,000 kilometers (3,750 miles). Honda was also the first motorcycle maker in Japan to issue a warranty, starting, eight years ago with a guarantee good for one year or 20,000 kilometers (12,500 miles).
Bridgestone put four new models, all with rotary valves, on the market in Japan late in 1964, just in time to catch the Christmas and winter bonus markets. They are a 50cc, touring model of the 50cc, 60cc and 90cc sports, the latter with an aluminum alloy cylinder and head. All were shown at the 1964 Tokyo Motor Show. Bridgestone has scheduled monthly production of 10,000 machines, and expects to export 3,500 of them, mostly to the United States. Rockford Scooter Co. president Emery was in Tokyo late in 1964 conferring with Bridgestone executives about 1965 marketing policy and the new models.
Suzuki has contracted with AMC of Great Britain, their distributors in England, to market in Europe next season. Suzuki awarded the Europe distributorship to AMC in recognition of the splendid job they did in selling more than $3,500.000 worth of Suzukis in the first year. In England, too, Suzuki are here.
Suzuki's new $400,000 test course near the factory in Hamamatsu was opened Dec. 16. It is 6.5 kilometers (about 4 miles) long, longer than Suzuka Circuit where the Japan Grand Prix is held, and motorcycles can get speeds up to 200 kph (125 mph) on it. Suzuki says the new course will be used only for testing its motorcycles and cars, not for racing. But many interested in the racing scene in Japan wouldn't be surprised to see the 100-foot-wide course with a starter's flag waving on it some day. A strip about 30 feet wide down the center is paved with a non-skid surface. The new test course supplements a small oval course in the factory grounds and a narrow VÁ -milelone course nearby.
Moto-Cross riders objected to the middle class in the new MCFAJ three class rankings of Novice, Amateur and Expert because the English word "amateur" leaves a bad taste in the mouth in Japan, meaning something less than even a novice. So the MCFAJ obligingly changed the name, and now the three moto-cross classes will be Novice. Junior and Expert.
The 2nd 48-Hour Trial, held near the top of a cold mountain in perfect sunshine in December, saw a turnout of nearly twice the number of contestants as the first outing of this tvpe, limited to riders 30 years of age and over. The course, made up of three observed stations, was much rougher this time, too. In fact, not a single rider managed to get through the second section, which was a sharp right turn and a climb up a steep, foot-and-a-half wide path. The path was frozen, and you never saw so m^ny spinning rear wheels in your life. So everyone dropped a full 30 points here. The boulder-strewn first section was so difficult no rider got through without losing marks, and only the overall winner, Suzuki 125cc twin port mounted Takashi Tsunokane, managed to clean the third section. He won the 30-to-40-year-old class with 36 points, followed by Minoru Hirose. Bridgestone 90cc. 46 points, and Takeshi Havata tied with Teruo Mori, both on 75cc Yamahas with 53 points lost. First 40to 50-year-old rider was MCFAJ Secretary General Shoichi Nishiyama on a Bridgestone 90cc with 45 bad marks, followed bv Masanori Ito, Kawasaki 125cc. with 58. Sixty-two points out of a possible 90 was good enough to win the over-50 age class for Saburo Suzuki and his Yamaha 50cc. Second was Hirotake Arai. Kawasaki l?5cc. with 83. This trial considerably deflated the bragging of vour CYCLE WORLD Japan correspondent, who had tied for first in the 30 age class in the first 48-hour trial, when he ended up seventh with a great big 62 bad marks and two spectacular tumbles to his credit on a 125cc Tohatsu.
