From: shz@garage.att.com (Keeper of the 'Tude)
Subject: Harley-Davidsons Big In Japan
Organization: Office of 'Tude Licensing
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 14:46:29 GMT


I found this on the philly-cycles mailing list and was surprised
that no one else posted it here.  Enjoy...

------- Forwarded Message

Date: Sat, 25 Apr 92 10:03:31 PDT
>From: one of our correspondents
Subject: Harley-Davidsons Big In Japan

   TOKYO (AP)
   Most of the time, 64-year-old Seiji Otake is the mild-mannered
president of a printing company.

   But once a month he squeezes into a black leather police-style
uniform, complete with shiny badge on the right breast pocket, and
leads the "Kings of the Highway" as they thunder out of town on their
massive Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

   "We're not trying to scare people with the uniforms, they just
seem to fit with the style of the bike," Otake says.

   The appeal of classic Americana and the camaraderie offered by
dozens of Harley riding groups have made Japan the largest foreign
market for the 89-year-old U.S. motorcycle maker.

   More than 3,000 bikes were sold here last year. Sales have been
growing by about 10 percent annually.

   Unlike the rebellious, individualistic style associated with the
bikes in America, the Kings of the Highway are a tight group and stay
on the side of the law. They even cooperate with traffic safety
groups and participate in town parades.

   For the Kings, many of whom are in their 60s, the first images of
Harley-Davidsons were formed by the police-type models ridden by
American soldiers during the occupation of Japan after World War II.
The first Japanese highway patrol officers also used Harleys.

   That authoritarian image, as well as the high price, has helped
keep Harleys mainly in the hands of older Japanese. One model
preferred by the oldsters costs over 2 million yen ($15,000), not an
outrageous sum for a company president, of which the Kings have
several.

   The company has been pleased to see a recent jump in sales to
younger Japanese drawn to the unique Harley style.

   "If you take the label off one of these new Japanese bikes, you
can't tell whether it's a Honda or a Kawasaki," says Kazuyoshi
Akamine, owner of Rikuyu Motors, a Harley dealer.

   "But there's no mistaking a Harley."

   The young riders generally prefer the more rebellious-looking "Low
Rider" and "Softtail" styles.

   They also take more care than the older riders to customize their
bikes, something Harley aficionados in the United States take very
seriously.

   Kenji Hirose, 23, loved the Harley he bought last year so much
that he told his buddies at work that if they didn't buy Harleys too,
he wouldn't talk to them anymore.

   So they did.

   "The bikes are real big and heavy, so they make an impression,"
says Hirose, who has seen the movie "Easy Rider," in which Dennis
Hopper and Peter Fonda ride souped-up Harleys, 15 times.

   But the hefty price tag means a great sacrifice for these young
riders. Hirose just managed by splashing out his whole savings, but
his friend Keisuke Okamoto bought his bike on a loan that eats up
over a third of his monthly salary.

   "I've had to cut back on a few expenses  like food," he says.


------- End of Forwarded Message

- Roid
From: jld@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Jeff Deeney)
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 19:33:43 GMT
Subject: Re: Re: Be a Non-Donor!
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA