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| Appraisal ID: | 90051 | |
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| Appraised On: | 18-10-2005 | |
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| Title: | 1962 Kawasaki 125B8 | |
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| Date/Era/Period: | 1962 | |
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| Condition: | All original stored since 1969 | |
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| Appraised By: | Don Kafrissen |
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| History Of The Item: | A huge company which produces boats, trains, planes and (o yes) motorcycles. The motorcycle division is actually quite small compared to the other huge segments and was only really started to increase the value & awareness of the brand among the people. In 1960 their first motorcycle rolled of the lined a 125cc two stroke. Helped by the knowledge of the Meguro company which Kawasaki had taken over (Meguro was the oldest motorcycle company in Japan) the company moved into the production of big bikes around 1966. The model was called the W1 (650cc) The W1 wasn’t such a success because all the rival bikes were still faster, lighter and better steering. So Kawasaki developed two lighter versions A1 Samurai (250cc) and the A7 Avenger (350cc). Which ended up being a little more successful. It wasn't until 1954 that Kawasaki Motorcycles produced their first complete motorcycle under the name of Meihatsu (a subsidiary of Kawasaki Aircraft Co.). Almost at the same time, they also tried to introduce their own line of scooters to the market, but they soon realized they couldn't compete against the two giants of the scooters industry for those days: the Fuji Rabbit and the Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon. And now before continuing with Kawasaki Motorcycles history, I have to open a big parenthesis… IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE HISTORY OF KAWASAKI MOTORCYCLES We cannot talk about Kawasaki without mentioning another make that will definitely help Kawasaki become as well as Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha one of the big players in the Japanese Motorcycles scene: --> Meguro Motorcycles: better know in that time as the "senior make and the king of four strokes". Meguro entered the motorcycle industry in 1937. Having a good relationship with the government, the people at Meguro took advantage of the army orders. Their first motorcycle was the Z97: a 500cc rocker-valve motorcycle influenced by the Swiss Motosacoche. It's worth mentioning this model was a success for the factory and the Z97 was in production till the fifties. Along the years, Meguro produced some very nice 250cc and 350cc rocker-valve, single cylinder models as well as high performance twins. All of them with a very strong British influence. Then and thanks to the commercial success they were living, they also launched a rocker-valve 125 cc for their low end range and a twin cylinder 650cc to accompany the already existing 500cc. But it was in 1958, when Meguro tried to get rid of their British influence, when things started to go wrong... Based on a winning prototype of Mount Asama (one of the biggest races that time), Meguro Motorcycles produced three nice and elegant machines with overhead camshaft: the 125cc E3, the 250cc F and the 350cc Y A. Unfortunately these bikes turned out to be too heavy and didn't get the buyers' attention. Meguro will soon return to rocker valve models. Meguro Motorcycles remained as one of the top 10 manufacturers till 1960, but due to some bad decisions, as the ones mentioned above, the company started to decline and was soon bought by Kawasaki. In 1960 Meguro signed an initial agreement with Kawasaki Motorcycles, and in 1962 they had completely disappeared. ….And this brings us back to Kawasaki Motorcycles... In 1960, the company decides to give a serious push to the motorcycle division of Kawasaki Aircrafts: They take out of the market the Meihatsu brand, they build their own plant of low end and low powered machines and buy Meguro. These brilliant moves and decisions made Kawasaki Motorcycles have one of the widest range of models in the market. Kawasaki Motorcycles could offer at that time (1960's) from a 50cc moped-scooter to a powerful, high end and beautiful 650 cc twin cylinder motorcycle. Its also important to mention that due to their very own nature, Kawasaki Motorcycles has always played the role of Maverick in the industry and that a feeling of independence from their main competitors has always been present. |
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| Appraiser Tips: | Wax, change oil every 5000Km, keep in a clean dry area. |
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| Research Sources: | kawa3.com kawasaki.ca/museum.html motorcyclememories.com whybike.com/motorcycle97.htm Plus www.traderonline.com |
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| Appraiser Comments: | A real collector bike. Keep it in good shape - ride it! |
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This online appraisal is an expert's opinion of the item(s) depicted above based solely on images and information supplied by our customer. Additional information, not shown on this certificate, may have been taken into account for this online Appraisal. Please Note: Our service strives to include the best international authorities in their respective fields. While the appraiser may be an expert in rendering the valuation, please understand that they may not be completely fluent in English. * Current Fair Market Value is the amount someone might receive when selling their item to a dealer or at auction. It is also the amount most government tax agencies (IRS, Revenue Canada, Inland Revenue, etc.) recognize as the tax deductible amount were the item donated to a charitable organization. ** Replacement Cost is the retail amount one might reasonably pay to purchase the item from a dealer, gallery, store, etc. It is also the amount for which one may want to insure an item. For currency conversion go to http://www.xe.net/ucc/full.shtml Whatsitworthtoyou.com |
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