Rikuo Engine Build

[denismccarthy]

Thanks Michael for bringing this post up again. I finished my Rikuo a few months ago and its now on display in the Museum on the first floor. I took a few pictures for you this afternoon. She really turned out nice! I finished the restoration with the muffler which I found through a friend in Japan, Masaki Tanimura. He also sent me a 1/12 scale model of my Rikuo from his shop in Japan. He was a great help to me in finding the last bits to complete the job. I'm really happy the way it all came together.

I hope you guys can make it out next month for the annual Barber Vintage Festival! Its going to be a real blast this year. Here is a link to the website so you guys can take a look. Myself, Chuck Huneycutt, Mitch Cobb, and the other riff-raft will be there and would really love to see you guys too! Here is the link: http://www.barbervintagefestival.org/

And here are a few pictures of my 1958 Rikuo







Take care

Denis

[hairynob24]

Denis ,great job on the bike ,are they tool boxes at the rear of the oil tank??Rob

[Jim]

GREAT JOB! Looks fantastic! This may sound like a silly question, but what does a Rikuo sound like? Does it sound like a regular "Flathead" engine? Like a VL for example?

[cheesy]

Thanks for posting the new pics, Denis. I was surprised to see the Rikuo in Iowa after reading this thread.

[RedKnuck]

Hi Cory!
I believe that the motor you posted a pic of is not a Rikuo, but a Kurogane. Rikuo couldn't satisfy the Imperial Army's need for motorcycles, so a 2nd factory was put to work to churn out more bikes. The Kurogane (meaning "Black iron") was based on the H-D VLH 80 CID engine and are in many ways different from the Rikuo. Like the timing cover on the depicted engine (the lettering says "Kurogane") which hasn't a tin cover and looks quite different. The Kurogane is a kind of improved copy of the Rikuo.
Regards, Kim Jarre
Oslo, Norway (Born in B.C.!)
Membership #25693

[Steve Slocombe]

Dear All, my digitised copy of the 1953 Rikuo parts book, showing nearly all Harley part numbers for the small twin and big twin versions, has been with the Virtual Library for a while, and I hope will soon be uploaded.