History of the Rikuo

[Chris Haynes]

Rikuos were sold by dealers in Hawaii into the '60's. A friend of mine found several sitting in a field while on vacation. He said the were pretty rotten. The woman in the home said they were her husbands and had been sitting there since his death. She gave him her son's phone number and told him to talk to him about them. He never got the son to answer his phone.

[Steve Slocombe]

Dear Jim, one of the pictures in Part 3 looks like a 1929JD with sidecar so would predate the Rikuo years. I have an early fifties Rikuo parts book which I'll put on our Virtual Library. It uses the Harley part numbers and the bikes have the 1934-36 Harley oil pump. I have Japanese customers buying VL parts and expect some of these are going on civilian Rikuos. The military Rikuos are notably different, and seem designed to carry a rider, pillion passenger, and third person in the sidecar. I've seen a couple dragged out of Russia and the whole bike is reinforced for the extra load and the sidecar. They are fitted with VL style reverse transmissions and the fabricated sidecar drive from the bike back wheel. Wheels, spokes, frame, forks, bars etc are all heavier duty than the machine on which they were based.