History Meguro motorcycles

meguro mr twin-cylinder engine cutaway

although first motorcycle arrived in japan in 1895, not until 1930s own motorcycle industry started develop.

after wall street crash, meguro invested in harley-davidson , gained drawings, tooling , important knowledge of metal heat treatments in order make gearboxes. these used in vehicles , of japanese company called rikuo (literally road king ). resulting transfer of american intellectual property taught japanese how produce motorcycles in quantity. in 1935, murato , suzuki built 500 cc single z97 model based on swiss motosacoche design work restricted due start of ww2, during supplied aircraft parts. meguro started full production again in 1948, z97 being joined 125 cc, 250 cc , 350 cc overhead valve singles.

in 1950s meguro entered racing , built first twin cylindered design, 651 cc (39.7 cu in) t1 senior pre-unit parallel twin engine inspired british practice , later k-series stamina model copied bsa a7, 1 of meguro had bought in 1953. quality , engineering superior bsa , described edward turner, 1 of britain’s talented motorcycle designers, true . first time, japanese motorcycle industry seen threat. other models designed in collaboration kawasaki entirely of japanese design.

meguro raced 500 cc overhead camshaft single cylinder model @ asama kazan speedway circuit in tsumagoi, gunma prefecture. many years, company outsold honda.

in 1958 meguro developed range of 50 cc, 125 cc, 250 cc , 350 cc consumer products failed in market due being expensive.

in 1960, time japan s longest running motorcycle company out of hundreds had once flourished producing copies of european models, company became affiliated kawasaki aircraft company. firstly, in 1962, changed name kawasaki-meguro , produced successful b8 125 cc in october 1964, seeing commercial , marketing value of having motorcycle producing division alongside heavy industry services , particularly established sales outlets, kawasaki took full control of company having learnt needed know. started produced kawasaki-meguro works 125 cc, 175 cc , 250 cc single cylinder vehicles. 500 cc k-series twin cylinder model later enlarged , developed 625 cc kawasaki w series. latter used official vehicles governmental purposes.