![]() ![]() At the end of the 1970s, motorcycling was popular as a leisure activity, and the four great Japanese ruled the German market with modern in-line two- and four-cylinder engines that would be called naked bikes today and which at the time were simply motorcycles. “Softchopper” and “Japancruiser” – be careful if you throw these terms around today, someone could get hurt.īut that was not always the case, because once, many, many moons ago, they were very popular. Everything that looks like long-stroke, relaxed comfort and does not come from Milwaukee, or at least Springfield, has been bogging its tires flat in the showrooms for some time. Of course, ABS could easily be retrofitted, and the capacity giants, which are already completely under-challenged in terms of performance, could certainly be cleaned up to some extent without too much effort. And the whole clan of free-riders, wide-riders, long forks, high-handlebars and low-seat benchers from the Far East are lacking sales figures. Why? Intruder-Suzukis, Vulcan-Kawasakis and Midnight Star-Yamahas are missing the compulsory ABS. And this is how it will now be for the choppers and cruisers from Japan. That’s how it goes with many large four-cylinder engines, that’s how it was with the six hundred super sports cars. Former burners, which over the years have shrunk to glower and then to mica, but have been dragged on again and again – after all, all segments want to be served – are thrown out. S.o We, and perhaps you too, are now fed up with the topic of European exhaust and noise regulations – in the course of the new standard, interesting shifts in the motorized two-wheeler market occur every few years. Euro 4 practically sets the genre to the beginning – time for a deeper look back. Once they were trendy, today they are as out of fashion as cola red, foxtail and armpit hair – soft choppers and cruisers from the land of the rising sun are a multi-faceted, at times surprisingly successful phenomenon. Rise and Fall of the Japan Chopper Deeper review ![]() What’s worth noting is that the chopper is going with no reserve.Picture gallery: History of Japan Chopper. Mecum does not provide any technical details on the two-wheeler, and it’s not venturing into making a guess as to how much it is expected to fetch. It also looks extremely fresh, thanks to the warm blue custom fuel tank (hinting to an Indian Larry build) and rear fender that complement the cold of the exposed engine, exhaust, and wheels. It’s raked build makes it look aggressive, though not as long as other bikes of the segment. ![]() The one we have here pays tribute to the custom choppers of the 1970s. Like all other Harleys, it was quickly adopted by custom shops and turned into different things entirely. Harley started making Sportsters in 1957 and launched them into the wild sporting four-stroke, V-twin engines, at first from the Ironhead family, and later on using the famed Evolution. It comprises 36 motorcycles owned by the museum’s Rick Salisbury, and the 1971 Harley-Davidson Sportster chopper seen here is one of them. One prominent such display of bikes is by the Legends Motorcycles Museum in Springville, Utah. In all, 1,750 bikes are listed for sale, either on their own or as part of collections. Before this happens, though, the year opens with the Mecum Las Vegas Motorcycle auction at the end of January.Īs usual, the auction house is flooding the market with old, vintage, rare, or custom builds. That means we’ll probably be getting all those juicy gatherings like Mama Tried, Congregation, or Born-Free again. The coming year is shaping up to mark a relative return to normalcy. ![]()
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