The Type 97 motorcycle, or Rikuo, was a copy of a
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...
motorcycle produced with a
sidecar
A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, Scooter (motorcycle), scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. The combination of a motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''rig'', ''outfit' ...
from 1935 in Japan under license from
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...
by the Sankyo Company (later
Rikuo Nainen Company). Some 18,000 of the machines were used by the Imperial Japanese forces during World War II. A variation was also manufactured without a side car, called the .
In the years after World War I, Harley-Davidson's US sales declined while dozens of US motorcycle brands went under, primarily as a result of the decline in the price of the
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...
car, triggering a national shift from motorcycles to cars for cheap transportation. Harley-Davidson sought to make up the lost sales abroad and was selling 2,000 units per year in Japan by the middle of the 1920s. In 1932 Harley-Davidson licensed Sankyo Trading Company to build complete motorcycles in Japan, under the name Rikuo, which meant King of the Road.
See also
*
Kurogane Type 95
The Type 95 was a Empire of Japan, Japanese scout car built by , and was used during the Second Sino-Japanese War, war with China and Pacific War, World War II in the East. Between 1936 and 1944 approximately 4,700 were built. It was the only co ...
*
List of motorcycles of the 1940s
This a listing of motorcycles of the 1940s, including those on Sales, sale, introduced, or otherwise relevant in this period.
Motorcycle
*Acme motorcycle (1939–49)
*AJS 18
*AJS 7R
*AJS Model 16
*AJS Model 20
*AJS Porcupine
*Ariel Red Hunter
...
*
List of motorcycles of the 1950s
This a listing of motorcycles of the 1950s, including those on sale, introduced, or otherwise relevant in this period.
* AJS 18 (1949–1963)
References
*
External links
Rikuo Type 97Vladivostok Oldtimers Museum photos
Motorcycles of Japan
World War II vehicles of Japan
Military motorcycles
Motorcycles introduced in the 1930s
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