[Mame Shiba]

Hi you all

I am in Japan at the moment, rain season but I will try to take pictures of cool bikes

I will be in Nagoya, Mie and Suzuka next week, many motorcycles parts factories there.

have a great day

cheers

 

[frog13]

Send photos and possible links to part suppliers!!!.

 

[nfpgasmask]

I was in Japan last October and saw tons of TW200s all modded out. Quite honestly, that's why I am here!! I fell in love with them over there, and now I am determined to buy one. I almost bought one last week but the guy selling needs to get the title sorted out, so who knows. Soon though, very soon.



What I do need, is a link or contact person in Japan who would be willing to help get aftermarket TW parts sent over here.

Here are pics of the ones I saw over there:

I want to build one pretty much exactly like this one....I love it!

Bart

 

[RisingSun]

I was in Japan last October and saw tons of TW200s all modded out. Quite honestly, that's why I am here!! I fell in love with them over there, and now I am determined to buy one. I almost bought one last week but the guy selling needs to get the title sorted out, so who knows. Soon though, very soon.



What I do need, is a link or contact person in Japan who would be willing to help get aftermarket TW parts sent over here.

Here are pics of the ones I saw over there:

I want to build one pretty much exactly like this one....I love it!

Bart

I think the first 2 pictures are a Honda FTR223 or a Suzuki Bigboy grasstracker 250cc

 

[Mame Shiba]

Hi

I was at easyriders store last week and they had very cool models there

I've worked with them for years but as you've probably noticed most of ppl outside Japan are not interested in Japanese customization

Cheers

 

[nfpgasmask]

I think the first 2 pictures are a Honda FTR223 or a Suzuki Bigboy grasstracker 250cc

Yes, I was not sure about the first two, I just liked them!

as you've probably noticed most of ppl outside Japan are not interested in Japanese customization

Well, I think this is mostly because people outside of Japan don't know about Japanese customization. I for one never even thought about buying a TW until I went to Japan and saw all the modified TWs. I fell in love with them over there!



There are many things in Japan we cannot get here in the States, especially 4x4s! I saw many, many cool SUVs and 4x4s that I wish we could buy here...

Bart

 

[Mame Shiba]

Hi

well, TW"s have been imported for several years and not very difficult for ppl to know that they're tuning parts available in Japan

main problem is that they just cannot afford them, that's probably why US tuning stores don't import those parts, nobody would buy them

it's very different in Asia, locals can spend a lot of money and there's a bunch of custom stores and garages

chers

 

[Mark In WA]

Mame Shiba,



What happens to all the stock parts that are removed from all those TW's in Japan. I'd really like to do a round headlight conversion, but only if I can get OEM parts. Is this stuff just getting thrown away? Do they have wrecking yards in Japan?



Mark

 

[lizrdbrth]

Hi

well, TW"s have been imported for several years and not very difficult for ppl to know that they're tuning parts available in Japan

main problem is that they just cannot afford them, that's probably why US tuning stores don't import those parts, nobody would buy them

it's very different in Asia, locals can spend a lot of money and there's a bunch of custom stores and garages

chers

Exactly. I think the asking price, while a bit high would be affordable here in the states, but the importation costs put them over the top. It's not so much a matter of income, but of value. In the 70's most of the cosmetic parts used in creating what you youngn's now call "Japanese" style were dirt cheap here, and there was a custom store and a garage on every corner, just as is now the case in Japan. J.C. Whitney even sold them like hotcakes. Those styles largely fell by the wayside here by 1980, and now they're back. Japan has a lock on some of these parts because they were reproducing them for us back then and still have the tooling. Who knew?



There were a few problems with some of those parts, tail lights and turn signals in particular. The Japanese made great copies visually, but neglected to size the lenses to the minimum 2 square inches required here in the states. Cops got pretty good at recognizing the knockoffs and would write us up for them. A lot of the knockoff cat's eye tail lights had the same problem over here. The ones produced today appear to have the same issue.



I think we should start a thread to help the U.S. crowd build in the "Japanese" style without going broke. Lots of that stuff is still available through Custom Chrome and the like. Not cheap, but probably less than importing it.



Just my .02. Z-bars, bullet turn signals, Bates headlights and such can be scrounged at swap meets, leftovers from the last time these styles were cool. Even if an item needed to be rechromed it would work out to less money.



For mechanical and hotrod parts you gotta give it to the Japanese. I'm sure there are more common and inexpensive in that market due to the licensing laws favoring smaller bikes. The only way those parts become affordable here is if you do your own work, or do your homework for comparable modifications performed by a machinist.

 

[RisingSun]

Well you gotta consider the cost of living in Japan compared to the U.S and the money conversion. Right now the Dollar vs. Yen is at a all time low. I was over there getting my teeth kicked in. $1.00=78 yen. How much is 78 yen you say. If you went to a vending machine to buy a coke it would cost 110 yen. You gotta realize that Japans economy is linked to the U.S. Japan is not on the winning end of the stick at all even though it seems like it. Also the business have to pay all kinds of ridiculous taxes. I think Japan overtaxes everything. Luckly my friend is sending me some parts from Japan. I am gonna investigate some local machine shops to see what they will charge to build some stuff. If its a decent price I am gonna post'em up for sale to share the wealth.

 

[RisingSun]

Mame Shiba,



What happens to all the stock parts that are removed from all those TW's in Japan. I'd really like to do a round headlight conversion, but only if I can get OEM parts. Is this stuff just getting thrown away? Do they have wrecking yards in Japan?



Mark

What happens to all the stock parts? Either sold off quickly or thrown out. TW's in japan come stock with round headlights. Of course they have junkyards like any nation. But is it the price your willing to pay for is the real question.

 

[Mame Shiba]

Hi

well, some of them seem to be stocked in my friend Hiroshi's garage at Free Style, Mie Shi

Cheers