All posts tagged japan

New Suzuki production facilities planned

By Alison

Suzuki_Headquarters

Suzuki Motor Corporation is planning to develop its operations base in Japan, where the company headquarters is, to build new infrastructure required to support the future product plan and to move production away from the coast. After the natural disasters that hit Japan this year, it’s a sensitive issue and one that the Japanese economy desperately needs resolved if it’s to continue to grow.

A new Motorcycle Technical Center is being built, as is a Miyakoda Technical Center. The latter will function as a centre for research and development of new engines and new types of eco-sustainable and environmental vehicles. Some motorcycle research and development will take place here with Iwata City operations being transferred.

It will also be the site for Suzuki’s Electrical Vehicles and HEV (Hybrid Electrical Vehicles), and moving to the new facilities will take place by 2016. A Miyakoda Plant will be responsible for the construction of new motorcycle engines and parts. Full production will take place from 2017, and Suzuki will also take on redevelopment of its facilities for local market production when the new facilities are up and running. There is something to admire in the Japanese spirit and the international motorcycle market needs these players to keep it vibrant.

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Motegi MotoGP Preview

By Toni M.

The MotoGP PR machine is starting to crank up for the Polini Grand Prix of Japan at the Motegi circuit. Here’s what some of the riders have to say:

Rizla Suzuki - Loris Capirossi:

“After what happened in Qatar, we now go to a track that I know well and have had lots of good times at I was very disappointed at Losail but that race has gone now and we have had time to see what happened. I hope I can have a very good result in Japan for the Suzuki guys that have put in all the hard work in the winter to give us a bike that we can now be competitive on. I have won here before and want to do it again, so I will be making sure we get everything right for race-day to give us the best possible chance of achieving that!”

Rizla Suzuki - Chris Vermeulen:

“It is really important to get back on the bike as soon as possible and try to rectify the issues we had in the race at Qatar. The bike was working well all weekend, but it seemed to feel very different in the race. The Factory has been working hard since then and there will be a lot of extra staff at the race in Motegi so we won’t be short of a helping hand! I really want to give Suzuki a good result at its home Grand Prix and I am sure that we will this year. I am looking forward to going there as I really enjoy racing in Japan and will be doing my best to get the bike on the podium!”

Continue reading: Motegi MotoGP Preview

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Zero Engineering's Samurai Chopper and Shogun come to Europe

By Alison

As reported by Tor Sagen, Zero Engineering will be presenting its Samurai Chopper model to the European market at Milan’s Eicma show next week.

Since 1992, the Japanese company has been building handmade custom bikes with some truly incredible results, and the models will soon be available in Europe as well. The characteristics of these bikes are attention to detail and a minimalist style, both for the Samurai Chopper and future Shogun models.

The main feature of the bikes is that they’re custom made to the specifications stipulated by customers, for example, the engine or chassis to be used, suspension and other technical aspects.