Letter From Japan

LETTER FROM JAPAN

KOICHI HIROSE

Custom Craze

A customizing rage is spreading across Japan. Concentrated in the cities, the growing movement is large enough to support a number of specialized customizing shops. The riders hang out in the shops, buying parts and trying to get the shop mechanics to give them the lowdown on how to build the fastest and best-looking bike possible.

The current trend is to build custom racebikes. Not considered replicas by any means, these are original machines made to compete with other customs on the tracks, with the winning machine considered the Best Of Show. High performance rather than appearance is the key for custom success in Japan.

Customs, in fact, drew more attention than new models from the factories at the 14th Tokyo Motor Show. The large Singles received the most customizing, with Yamaha’s SR500 and SR400 the most popular. Hondas are scarce.

The show was not limited to customs, however, as there were several surprises for the sportbike enthusiasts, even though roadrace-replica fever has cooled somewhat in Japan. The GSX-R400 Yoshimura Suzuki, which is similar to the TT-F3 race version, is intended for the street, but retains the polished detail and bold graphics of the race version.

Speaking of race-replicas, the Honda NS400R is ready for its debut this summer. The engine layout is the same as on Freddie Spencer’s NS500, using a liquid-cooled, twostroke, V-Three cylinder configuration. Unfortunately, the 400 is limited to about 58 bhp, even though it is intended to play a major role in the Japanese racing scene. Its graphics use the same color scheme as the factory racebikes, making the NS400 a very convincing replica.

Tadahiko Taira

The man to watch in Japan’s 500 GP roadracing class is Tadahiko Taira. The 1983 and ’84 Japanese champion has been doing well in the All Japan Roadrace series. He took a second at Suzuka, but finished first both in Round Two at Tsukuba and in Round Three back at Suzuka. He is beyond a doubt the best roadracer in Japan.

Tairia’s ’84 Daytona debut, where he took fifth, was followed by a sixth in the one World GP he has competed in so far. He plans to compete in at least two GPs this season as a Yamaha factory rider on board a YZR500 that is the same as Eddie Lawson’s bike. Since those in the know say that he is perhaps equal in ability to Mike Baldwin right now, we will have to keep a close eye on this very fast Japanese racer.