Honda Gyro and Animal Boat
May 6, 2023
All over town you see the Honda Gyro. It’s an odd little scooter with a two wheel engine unit at the rear, its tiny tires planted solidly on the ground while the the forward part tilts like a normal bike in turns. The little buggers are everywhere, being used for light cargo transport.
BSA Ariel in England used the concept but failed to market it succesfully, after which Honda bought the patent in the late 1970s. Honda never looked back and made seven different models. Still builds the Gyro in several roofed versions. Seems like Honda has cornered the market, because no other factory makes them (although the Chinese may have copied the idea).
50 cc and a modest 4-5bhp makes it usable for city duty only, but who knows, maybe there are tuning kits for them to be found somewhere.
Always on the lookout for something unusual to ride, I find this one is attractive for its canopy as well. A container full of them to Denmark, then, to be reg’d as 45 mopeds? Andreas sees them at the auctions every so often, at low prices too, the catch being that they lived hard lives and are probably clapped out when sold off.
—————--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday Fuji Rabbit rider Tomo suggested I go visit the Animal Boat motorcycle shop for info about wherever old bike rallies take place. Great place but, alas, no info for me, as the guys there are mainly into racing their small capacity bikes from the 1960s.
The owner Daisuke Mukasa tells the shop name came to him because in the 1990s no one cared for rescuing such old bikse but that he’d do it - hence the Noah’s Ark reference.
Kommentarer
Send en kommentar