Those other items they manufactured !!

[Mike52]

And what about the forgettable / unforgettable* Suzuki 2 stroke 4WD



* cross out whichever is inapplicable

Mate had one of these.
It cost $3200.
The next model that came out cost $2800.
Spewin.

[Simo63]

Kawasaki MSDF Sub

Certainly not utilising stealth technology. Looks like its dressed up for a Bollywood parade

Lol .. that's the limited Geisha edition 

[GMC]

Kawasaki MSDF Sub


No wonder the Japs lost the war, they built there Subs with big red targets painted on them!!

[pancho]

                                                                 
                                                                 

Hey Mark do you remember the story going around, about how those Bridgestone "rocket ships"had to make a deal with the other Japanese majors to pull out of motorcycle manufacture?
pancho.

[firko]

Harley Davidson bicycle

Royal Enfield bicycle

BSA bicycle

Firko bicycle

Indian bicycle

Triumph bicycle

Yamaha bicycle

BMW bicycle

Suzuki bicycle

Jaguar bicycle

Ferrari bicycle

Maserati bicycle

Porsche bicycle

Volkswagen bicycle

Chevy bicycle

Ford bicycle

Subaru bicycle

Hummer bicycle

[firko]

Hey Mark do you remember the story going around, about how those Bridgestone "rocket ships"had to make a deal with the other Japanese majors to pull out of motorcycle manufacture?

Here's an explanation I found.........

The motorcycle side of Bridgestone had always been run as somewhat of a sideline, with profits being ploughed back into the general company coffers rather than being used for the design and development of new salable motorcycles. Much of the development which went on was concerned with one-off racing and competition machines. The new production models which appeared in the late Sixties were either cosmetic updates (the 175 Hurricane and the 350 GTO Street Scramblers), or simply overbored versions of existing models (the BS 100 and BS 200 ranges). The only major new models produced during this period -- the BS 100GP and BS 100 TMX -- used the over-bored BS 90 engine in a chassis which was virtually a scaled-down version of the BS 175 Dual Twin.

In America, the growing environmental lobby was posing a serious threat to future sales of two-stroke engined vehicles, and this of course was a major export market for Bridgestone. Also, the Bridgestone Tyre Company were suppliers of O.E. tyres to the other Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, and it has been suggested that these firms may not have been too keen to carry on buying their tyres from a rival motorcycle maker when there were other sources available. Whatever the reasoning, Bridgestone decided to close the motorcycle manufacturing division in 1970/71. The dealer and sales network in the U.K. had already gone by then, and the demise of the network in other countries swiftly followed.

The manufacturing rights and tooling for the 60cc and 100cc range of singles was sold to BS Tailung of Taiwan. This company -- no connection with the original Bridgestone Cycle Company -- continued to build trail and mini-bikes for the U.S. market, using the Bridgestone engines in newly-designed cycle parts. They were sold in America until 1975 by Rockford Motors (the old BS importers) as the Rockford "Chibi", "Taka" and "Tora".

With the closure of the Taiwan production line in the mid-seventies, the family line of Bridgestone motorcycles finally came to an end. The BS name is nowadays associated with tyres and bicycles, but a significant number of Bridgestone motorcycles still exists in the U.K., U.S.A., and Australia, and their owners are keen that the marquee should not fade away and should be more than just a memory from years past.

.

[Tony T]

Ya forgot one, Mark! 

[firko]

Ya forgot one, Mark!

And more....

Saab bicycle

Kawasaki bicycle

Ducati bicycle

Buell bicycle

Redline (flat tracker manufacturer) bicycle

aChampion (flat track manufacturer) bicycle

Cannondale bicycle

KTM kiddie bike

KTM grown up bicycle

Maico bicycle

[steve234]

even ktm make bicycles now!

[Tim754]

So what happened to "Cannondale"?

[Tim754]

Hmmm a Mr Daimler started all this motorcycle religion, then totally lost the plot and made .....cars....

[VMX247]

BSA = british small arms.

http://www.doesnotcompute.co.uk/urbex/bsa

[mcady318]

wish I had one of those Maico bikes back then

[VMX247]

wish I had one of those Maico bikes back then

2005 not too often do they come onto ebay
http://sports.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/MAICOMOTORCYCLES/message/10725

NSU is another

[Tim754]

Birmingham Small Arms  says it on the frame plate of an old pushbike in my back shed!!!