Topic: moriwaki honda? yes

[turboguzzi]

while searching for info on a provable gpz550/600 build for next season, came across this

never knew moriwaki was into hondas too, albeit CBX based, not sohcs, thought he was only a Kawi man.

was later looking into his site and the amount of innovative frames and bikes he built from the ground up is amazing. almost puts pops and over to shame...

just look at that suspension...

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/okatasi2004/3839019.html

[voxonda]

Hey TG,

Mamoru Moriwaki was a 'backdoor'-tuner for Honda too. This bike almost became Japanese champion against all odds. Honda RVF, Yoshimura GSXR's etc. Came down to the wire.
Moriwaki is best known for the Kawasaki Monsters of Graeme Crosby and later Wayne Gardner.
BTW. was ans still am thinking of using one of these engines in a build. Nice engine layout.

[simon#42]

well ive looked at that suspension and can see no advantages with it at all , it is different though!

crosby's kawasaki is for sale at the stafford auction latter this month

[lordmoonpie]

Although more modern, I had two Moriwaki VTRs, one stage 2 and one factory stage 3 - awesome bikes. I wish I'd had the money to be able to have kept them....some pictures and videos under the race pages at www.moonpie.co.uk :-)

[Greggo]

I've seen a Moriwaki 400/4 before...he did SOHC4's.

[simon#42]

moriwaki seem to have lost their way at the moment , the current moto 2 bike is performing terrible

[turboguzzi]

yep, i am kind of surprised that they are doing so badly in M2.

i think that suspension set up was to get some pure geometric rising rate without laying the shocks.

but you cant say the guy wasnt daring...

[simon#42]

yes very , i remember that yamaha [ second picture ] it was seen as very advanced for the time .

i think that suspension set up was designed so that you could use those longer shocks , back then there where no short shocks that worked very well , or certainly didnt work well for very long .

well done tg , keep looking for these odd bikes for us !

[Sam Green Racing]

Are you going to Stafford Simon? give me a shout if you are.

Sam.

[Terry in Australia]

When you compare Mamoru Moriwaki to Pops Yoshimura, it's good to remember that Pop's was his father in law, and he learned it all from the master. I've got a NOS Moriwaki exhaust in a box that I might put on my K1 for it's new rebuild, it's a nice looking pipe, and very light. Cheers, Terry.

[bear]

 ;

I've got a NOS Moriwaki exhaust in a box that I might put on my K1 for it's new rebuild, it's a nice looking pipe, and very light. Cheers, Terry.

I'm beginning to think that shed of yours would hold it's own with Billy's "Bat Cave" when it comes to hidden treasures.
Might be down in Melbourne in a week or two. I still owe you a beer.

Cheers,
Brian

[Terry in Australia]

;

I've got a NOS Moriwaki exhaust in a box that I might put on my K1 for it's new rebuild, it's a nice looking pipe, and very light. Cheers, Terry.

I'm beginning to think that shed of yours would hold it's own with Billy's "Bat Cave" when it comes to hidden treasures.
Might be down in Melbourne in a week or two. I still owe you a beer.

Cheers,
Brian

G'Day Brian, how are you mate? There was a bloke in Sydney selling brand new Moriwaki pipes on EBay for cheap (can't remember how cheap) so I bought one, I wish I'd bought more. I'm off to Nauru in the next couple of weeks (dates TBA) so I might not be here when you come down, but give me a call and if I'm here I'd love to have a beer with you! Cheers, Terry.

[bear]

;

I'm off to Nauru in the next couple of weeks (dates TBA) so I might not be here when you come down, but give me a call and if I'm here I'd love to have a beer with you! Cheers, Terry.

Sh!t!!!!...What happend? Lose your Green Card mate.

Cheers,
Brian

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah that's right, they just discovered that my great great great great great great great grandparents didn't get a visa before they left Ireland? Ha ha, nah, I am working at the detention centre, but on the other side of the wire. It was 35 degrees C there on Wednesday, 90% humidity, and they got a foot of rain in 30 minutes. Should be great fun!   

[turboguzzi]

When you compare Mamoru Moriwaki to Pops Yoshimura, it's good to remember that Pop's was his father in law, and he learned it all from the master. I've got a NOS Moriwaki exhaust in a box that I might put on my K1 for it's new rebuild, it's a nice looking pipe, and very light. Cheers, Terry.

back to the subject gents...  I sure know about the family ties, but you have to agree that Pops never built any frames, so Mamoru didnt learn THAT craft from him.... so sure, Pops was the tuning master, but I am pretty amazed at how prolific moriwaki was in terms of building complete and innovative frames from the ground up.
Now then. The main reason i came across all this stuff is that i am a searching for info on the kawasakis 550/600's that run during the 1983-1985 years of the TT F2 class. I found just one picture of a Moriwaki TT F1 (see bellow) , but absolutely nothing on the GPZ550 F2 based bikes that people like  Kevin Wrettom, Jim Wells, Klaus Klein, Ray Swann rode.

All this guys were UK based so if any of you brit old hands have any info/pics, you are more than welcome to relay...

[simon#42]

i will have a look and see what i can find but production based stuff is not my specialist subject im afraid .
the trouble with getting info on ex tt racers is that they are mostly dead so its pretty hard to ring them up . i raced against wrettom and swann and went to their funerals , Klein died at the ulster [ i think ]  so that leaves jim

[turboguzzi]

some stories you have simon.... I believe that TT F1 & TT F2 werent exactly production classes,  more like production based motors in free chassis. Again, you were there, not me!

guys in a dutch forum found this picture. The astralites and the "street racing" background give it away as somewehre in UK in the 80's no? Could this be any of the guys you knew?  If it's a TT F2 racer, then other than a different fork, brakes abd wheels, this 82' bike is amazingly stock

Last, turns out that "slick" bass was tuning F2 kawis back at the time. might try to contact him and see what the remembers. read he's a bit of a character, but who knows, might be willing to help

[simon#42]

yes tg f1, f2, f3 were production motors in free chassis , as far as i remember . will have a look at some old race programs and see if i can turn something up .