Talk:Type 97 motorcycle
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Japanese military motorcycles
I am currently researching the history of defunct Japanese motorcycle manufacturers from the 1930's to the 1960's. I suggest that any description of a Rikuo military model should be included in the main
According to a japanese website Rikuo News the Rikuo supplied to Japanese Imperial forces was built from 1938 to 1945. There is a brief account in English at the bottom of the webpage. [[23]] Elsewhere online there is a photo of a captured Japanese military motorcycle on Saipan in 1943. It looks to me like a H-D, so I suspect that this is a Rikuo. [[24]]
Coincidentally, in 1937 a vehicle components manufacturer in Japan called Meguro started making motorcycles. Its first model was called the Z-97. Did the "97" designation used by both Meguro and Rikuo refer to a government defence specification or contract?
The Meguro Z-97 was a 500cc overhead valve single based on a
Online there are various brief histories of Meguro but they provide scant information on the Z-97. There is also a US website with two photo's of a Z-97 on Okinawa in 1949-50. [[25]] [[26]]
Wikipedia has two articles on Meguro motorcycles but only in Japanese. [[27]] [[28]] The first article mentions the Z-97. The second article depicts Meguros prepared for motorcycle sport and I think that a Z-97 is amongst them.
There is a website in japanese that lists Meguro models including the Z-97 and has photo's of most of them. [[29]]