| JJ Goes to Japan |
Kawasaki Good Times Museum
Kawasaki Good Times World is part of the Kobe Maritime Museum and was placed here mainly because Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group was founded in Kobe. Read more at: www.khi.co.jp/kawasakiworld/ Ritmo Sereno
 During this same Japan trip, I visited a Euro-motorcycle shop about 1.5 hours outside Tokyo called Ritmo Sereno. I had seen a photo of the outside of this shop on one of the Guzzi / BMW forums and it looked intriguing. The main reason for this is Tokyo is insanely expensive to operate a business in and this shop looked first class, so I wondered... Unfortunately, on the day I visited, we arrived about one hour before closing time and...no Ritmo Sereno (yes, that is his real name). The mechanic / technician there could barely speak English, so the next time I visit Japan I will try and arrange another meeting and report here what I learn. Even with my Japanese colleague (who know nothing about motorcycles) translating; it was very difficult to communicate. I managed to get Ritmo’s business card but for now, I'll pass on what I was able to understand through my translator.  They are a “Euro-only” specialty shop that restores and builds old BMW’s, Guzzi’s and café racers exclusively for the domestic market only. They employ four mechanics / technicians, although I assume most are part-time to complete this work, and 2 girls that serve imported illy coffee on weekends at their in-house coffee bar. I imagine they host “Bike Nights” and other similar get-together's as well.They have a contact in the Los Angeles area that obtains and ships parts and/or donor bikes to Japan. There were numerous BMW parts hanging from the ceiling. There were two road race bikes, a Guzzi and a Beemer both numbered “46” so I am sure Ritmo campaigns these bikes (his name is on the tanks!) at local Japanese racetracks. There are many track photos on his website which confirms this. In the showroom there were several older BMW airhead twins including a beautiful R90S for sale. I did not preview their prices, but I suspect they were not cheap. On their website, there are many photos of Beemers and Guzzis that recently sold. These all appear to be “pristine” examples; no rat-bikes in Japan.   There was also one modern Beemer in the center of the showroom that they had turned into a really nice, straight forward café racer, complete with rear-sets, clubman bars, a trimmed saddle and other goodies. In typical Japanese fashion the level of detail, fit, and finish was superb! Who knew there was a market for such Euro bikes in Japan? Obviously, from the size / location of Ritmo’s, he is very successful. The link to his site is below, but it is in Japanese. One look, abnd you'll see for yourself the passion and exemplary Japanese craftsmanship of Ritmo Sereno and friends. JJ Cerilli www.ritmo-sereno.com |
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For me, the legendary bikes of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s were of most interest and they had examples of the 1969 500cc Mach III and the 1973 900cc Z1 on display. Upon closer examination of these bikes, the specification sheet stated: “Serial number 00001” which I thought was really cool! A truly iconic motorcycle, the success of the fast and powerful Z1 really established Kawasaki as a manufacturer of high-performance motorcycles around the world.
