BUTCHERED CLASSICS: MORIWAKI TRIBUTE!

[mangocrazy]

No redeeming features at all. And that seat/tail unit is an abomination. I'm probably wrong, but I suspect the colour scheme is a nod to the Moriwaki Kawasaki that Graeme Crosby made his debut on at the 1979 TT. Finished 4th as a newcomer in the F1 race on a sit up and beg road(ish) bike.

[Yorick]

No redeeming features at all. And that seat/tail unit is an abomination. I'm probably wrong, but I suspect the colour scheme is a nod to the Moriwaki Kawasaki that Graeme Crosby made his debut on at the 1979 TT. Finished 4th as a newcomer in the F1 race on a sit up and beg road(ish) bike.

I saw him ride a Moriwaki at Scarborough the same year. It was green.
A certain Mr Sheene won all the races

[mangocrazy]

This is the bike that Croz rode at the IoM. Definitely blue and yellow...

Croz_Moriwaki.jpg (137.16 KiB) Viewed 413 times

[mangocrazy]

...I'm probably wrong, but I suspect the colour scheme is a nod to the Moriwaki Kawasaki that Graeme Crosby made his debut on at the 1979 TT. Finished 4th as a newcomer in the F1 race on a sit up and beg road(ish) bike.

Its a copy of Wayne Gardner's bike - See 4th picture down and see the name on the back of the leathers. That the bike its copying

Yep, you're right. Should have spotted that. The only Moriwaki Kawasaki I ever saw in the metal was Croz's bike, so that's what I associated the colour scheme with.

[demographic]

Must admit that I really like the colours.
Not sure I care if it's original or not.

[ZRX61]

I'm not sure you're allowed to put a Yoshimura sticker on a Moriwaki bike (even if it does have a Suzuki oil cooled engine). It's like crossing the streams or something.

Isn't Moriwaki married to Pop's daughter?

In related news, there's a couple of ZRX's running around with that paint scheme, one or two RaceCrafters schemes too.

[demographic]

Isn't Moriwaki married to Pop's daughter?

Seems so, this from Wiki.

"Moriwaki began his career as a motorcycle racer for Hideo "Pops" Yoshimura, a respected motorcycle mechanic and tuner involved in Japanese motorcycle racing.[2][3] Moriwaki received no formal training in engineering while working for Yoshimura. Instead, he became self-taught, learning about mechanical engineering from books borrowed from his local high school.[2] Moriwaki married Namiko Yoshimura, Pops’ eldest daughter, while he was working for the company.[2][3] While working for the Yoshimura racing team, Moriwaki also successfully competed in auto racing, driving a Yoshimura-prepared Honda S800 sports car to a class victory at the 6 Hours of Fuji endurance race on July 26, 1970, and the GTS1 Class at the 1971 Japan Grand Prix.[4]

In 1971, Yoshimura made the decision to move his company to the United States to take advantage of the burgeoning American motorcycle market.[5] Moriwaki did not agree with Yoshimura and refused to leave his home in Japan.[2] This created a rift between the two men; however, within a year Yoshimura had returned to Japan and sought Moriwaki for help after he had been cheated out of all his money in a business transaction in America.[2] Moriwaki loaned Yoshimura money to re-establish himself.[2] Yoshimura would go on to establish one of the premier manufacturers of motorcycle high performance parts in the United States and became closely associated with the Suzuki racing program.[5]"

[maccecht]

I don't normally comment on bespoke bikes but in this case it's lik a human skeleton with the flesh removed. There is no form it's a lump in a frame with a big hole in the middle. Totally unattractive and ticks no boxes. Just IMHO but it's pretty boring

[ZRX61]

In related news, Croz has a FB page & it features the old Kaw's he restores back home:

https://www.facebook.com/graemecrosby4