Newbie in Tokyo

[HarryTakeuchi]

Hi. I bought an XZ550D from an XZ freak in Osaka last month and personally hauled it on my van for the 400 mile trip to Tokyo. I finally got it registered for a number plate last week and today was the first time I commuted to work on her.

Althought the bike was in fairly good shape, it was inactive for about an year and before I could get her up to commuting standards, I had to solve a thermostat problem that caused the coolant to over heat, resulting in constant fan activity which also apparently lead to a weak battery.

I also experienced the speedometer whining this morning, for which I just found the cure in this forum.

I had a XS750 before this ride and a VX800 before that so I have had a succession on shaft drive bikes for the last 10 years or so. I also ride a lot of dirt bikes. Since I am a Vision newbie at this point, I will be mostly be learning from you guys but hope I can contribute in some way as time goes.

[Night Vision]

welcome!

love the colors of the XZ550D

can you post some pics?

[Rikugun]

Welcome Harry.  :) I think we have an active member currently riding a VX and seems to enjoy it. Can you elaborate on the thermostat problem? Was it a simple matter of replacement or something else? You never know, someone else might be having the same problem!  :D

[Rick G]

Welcome  Harry, You might  indeed have a stuck thermostat. Its a simple test. Remove the t stat and put it in a pan of water on the stove  , with a thermometer in it . Note the temp it opens at . If it does not open at all , you have your answer.
I ride a VX800 , and enjoy it very much. It has many of the qualities of the XZ. My xz is in storage waiting for me to rebuild the top end.

[HarryTakeuchi]

Thanks for the replies guys.

NightVision, I barely got the bike in working order and am planning to clean up the old stickers and touch up scars and flaked paint in the next couple of weekends so I will be posting some photos when she is a bit more presentable.

Rikugun, I will then post the thermostat issue as a new post. By the way, is your handlename derived from the Japanese word for "army" or is it something else?

RickG, I had to sell my VX800 mostly for parking space reasons a few years back when I moved into Tokyo city area, but I really loved that bike. It was never a big seller in Japan (probably also not so in the rest of the world as well) but a great bike it was. The XZ was also never a large seller, and most of the XZs in Japan were 400s so it as a bit short of a miracle that I found a 550D in working order. I was riding an XS750 triple which was also a great bike but I replaced it with the XZ as the older XS would still be available if I want to go back; the XZ550 I will never find.

[Rikugun]

By the way, is your handlename derived from the Japanese word for "army" or is it something else?

Not exactly but sortof!?  I went though a period of fascination for WWII aircraft. I may have been paging through  a Janes encyclopedia or similar publication and remember seeing a Japanese model with that name. The name stuck but not much else about it!  :-[ May have been an army support plane (rather than navy) so that's where the name came from?

[HarryTakeuchi]

Rikugun, I have an interest in WW2 planes myself. I think a lot of motorcycle riders that are into aircraft (e.g. Bob Hurricane Hannah). Maybe because motorcycles bank into turns like airplanes. Or maybe it's just because a lot of Japanese motorcycle fans are born between the 50'~70's and it's just that there was a lot of exposure to WW2 weapons and stories for kids who grew up in the era. I don't think it was just Japan, as during the years I spent in the US (9~13 years old) I remember arguing with my American friends if the Zero or the Hellcat was the better fighter and such.

As for the Rikugun plane, perhaps you are referring to the Mitsubishi Ki-51 Type 99 Army Reconnaissance Plane (Allied code name Sonia) which in Japanese is the 99 Shiki Rikugun Teisatsuki. It is a single engine fixed landing gear 2 seater used for close support and recon duties.

[iain]

[I remember arguing with my American friends if the Zero or the Hellcat was the better fighter and such. ]

And the real answer is [The Spitfire] or is this just my English ancestry coming out in me.???????

Iain
NZ

[HarryTakeuchi]

LOL.
Decades ago I used to work for the power equipment division of Suzuki providing OEM engines for Arctic Cat snowmobiles. I had to fly to NZ one time to ask some enterprising Kiwis to please stop using those motors in their ultralight planes for fear of product liability litigations. Turned out they'd sign a paper that everything is at their risk and they continued flying with the 800cc 2 stroke Suzukis.

One thing I remember about NZ is when the Suzuki NZ manager drove me from Wellington to Wanganui, he would be waving to other cars and pedestrians on the highway. I asked him if he knew them and he said no, but he was waving because they were people and not sheep. Nice place. NZ.

[Rikugun]

And the real answer is [The Spitfire] or is this just my English ancestry coming out in me.?

Well, Supermarine did produce some fine aircraft but we may as well be discussing which engine oil or tire manufacturer is best.  Always great fun but no consensus on a winner.  :D

As for the Rikugun plane, perhaps you are referring to the Mitsubishi Ki-51 Type 99 Army Reconnaissance Plane (Allied code name Sonia) which in Japanese is the 99 Shiki Rikugun Teisatsuki. It is a single engine fixed landing gear 2 seater used for close support and recon duties.

Ummm, kinda boring, I like this Rikugun Ki93 better. :D  Twin engine heavy fighter/bomber with two 20mm and one 57mm cannon! Yikes! :o  http://www.aviastar.org/air/japan/rikugun_ki-93.php

[iain]

I was a bit bored yesterday  so had a look on u tube at some B17 after they had been on bombing runs , when they came back they were shot to pieces and still brought their crews home..

Iain
NZ

[Rikugun]

Is it just me or is a bit odd? humorous? confusing? to read that post while glancing over at wee baby Hitler!?  It's as if he's shaking his fist at the never ending stream of Fortresses reducing his cities to rubble....   :o  ???

But to your point, it's like they used to say "if it aint Boeing, I aint going"   :D

[HarryTakeuchi]

Ummm, kinda boring, I like this Rikugun Ki93 better. :D  Twin engine heavy fighter/bomber with two 20mm and one 57mm cannon! Yikes! :o  http://www.aviastar.org/air/japan/rikugun_ki-93.php

OK I got it now. The plane was developed directly by the Army technical dept and hence Rikugun instead of Mitsubishi or Nakajma, etc. That's a cool plane.

Is it just me or is a bit odd? humorous? confusing? to read that post while glancing over at wee baby Hitler!?  It's as if he's shaking his fist at the never ending stream of Fortresses reducing his cities to rubble....   :o  ???

But to your point, it's like they used to say "if it aint Boeing, I aint going"   :D

In the 60s Minoru Genda (the guy who planned the Pearl Harbor attack) pushed hard to present the medal Order of the Rising Sun to Curtis LeMay (the guy who planned all the fire bombing of Japan) and the Emperor wound up presenting the medal to LeMay. It's really odd but I guess that was Cold War politics. 

But its OK. We wound up on the right side. We could have wond up like North Korea and then we would still be riding degraded copies of Urals if any motorcycle at all!

[QBS]

The P51 Mustang has always had my vote.  The B-25 too.

[iain]

ugly goes to what ever this is

Iain
NZ

[HarryTakeuchi]

My mom lived by Tokyo Bay when she was small and always told me how she saw the Doolittle raider B-25s come in, and never dreaming they were American, she was waving to them as they flew over her.

Years ago I had a chance to interview late Zero ace Saburo Sakai for US media and he said that he had a chance to fly the Mustang after the war and he praised it hands off. Same comment heard from Army ace Yasuhiko Kuroe who flew a captured P-51 in "aggressor" training during the war.

You know, the way you guys are catching on to this WW2 fighter plane stuff remind me how true this post is; where it says "You know stuff about tanks"

http://ridersofvision.net/rovforum/index.php?topic=14602.0

[Rikugun]

My mom lived by Tokyo Bay when she was small and always told me how she saw the Doolittle raider B-25s come in, and never dreaming they were American, she was waving to them as they flew over her.

I've seen the documentaries and movies about this famous raid but it's interesting to hear about it from a very different perspective. Lucky for us your mom survived the war else we wouldn't have you as a Visionary now.  :laugh:  Also interesting we got a vote for the 25 Mitchell and a Doolittle raid mention the same thread.  :)

and then we would still be riding degraded copies of Urals if any motorcycle at all!

Hey, easy now - those Urals are OK by me!  If you have time check out this short adventure video where two guys go off to rescue a bike using a 2WD Ural as support vehicle... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtFUqbxctEI

Iain, was that German plane experimental and do you know what it is?

My vote would be for the decidedly unpopular (at least by USAAC) Bell P39 Airacobra.  8)

[Jirik]

Iain, was that German plane experimental and do you know what it is?

I found it in my aircraft encyclopedia - it is recon Blohm & Voss BV 141: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV96hXwWN7c

[skaalster]

Welcome to the club Harry, really nice to have a contact in Japan...my XZ400 project bike is actually dressed in the XZ550 colours but had no side covers with any nameplates...had me stumped for quite a while as to what exactly it was, but with the help of very knowledgable people on this forum finally got it figured out!!..found it as a abandoned bike here in Victoria Canada and I picked it up for pretty much free....it was never actually imported to Canada or North America for that matter and had to do the homework to get it properly registered. I'm kinda torn between keeping the original but incorrect colours (paint is in nice shape) and putting a north american 550cc engine in it or repainting completely and keeping original. Decals for the fairing could be hard to locate or expensive to have recreated...so I'm leaning on just leaving it as is and having a bit of a Frankenstein ride lol.....honestly other than the small horsepower difference no one around here would be any the wiser (except the very knowledgable people on this forum!):-) Thanks again for your link to the japanese site, great to have you onboard!!
-Dan Skaalrud

[Rikugun]

I found it in my aircraft encyclopedia - it is recon Blohm & Voss BV 141

Nice work Jirik and thanks for the link!  :)