Who are Marusho?

Our very own Mr Steve Cooper gives a marque review of this little-known Japanese motorcycle company and some of their smaller models.

This could have made the Japanese manufacturers ‘the big five'. So what happened to Marusho?

As classic fans we are prone to lamenting the passing iconic braaikes of BSATriumph, Royal Enfield, AMC and NVT; their ultimate demises are both recognised and well documented. They are also still hugely popular. On the continent, firms such as Ossa & Bultaco, Adler & Zundapp, and

NSU & Maico similarly still have faithful supporters, even though the firms no longer exist. Drill down a little deeper and the retrospective passion for smaller brands is still there, but they don’t always get much in the way of coverage. Think Ambassador or Dunelt, Monark or Itom – they all have their followers. However, the same cannot necessarily be said of the obsolete Japanese brands, at least here in Europe. The Big Four are obviously wellknown and, occasionally, the Bridgestone marque gets a mention but few know much beyond this fistful of marques.

Since the beginning of Japanese motorcycling in 1899 when the Iizuka Trading Company imported the first motorised two-wheeler, there have been at least 140 registered manufacturers and quite possibly a few more. Acquisitions and mergers saw Kawasaki buying Meguro and Yamaha doing similar with Hosk, but there is one brand that refused to be absorbed or taken over. From 1948 through to 1967, the Marusho marque remained fiercely independent, making its singularly unique machines its own way ‘til the last.

THE BACKGROUND

The Marusho founder, Masashi Ito, began his commercial working life with an apprenticeship to Soichiro Honda at the great man’s car repair business through part of the 1930s. Latterly, post-war Japan was badly in need of transport and Itoh, together with an older brother, swiftly set up a similar car repair business, making anything with four wheels and engine a viable piece of kit. A little later they would be making truck bodies for Nissan and Toyota. However, at the turn of the 1940s,

Ito could see motorcycles were going to play an ever-growing part of the country’s remobilisation and decided to get a piece of the action.

Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, Itoh and his team initially ‘borrowed’ from German motorcycle engineering and rolled out a range of two-stroke singles that owed much to Zundapp. These ventures into the world of motorcycle manufacture were sold as Marusho motorcycles, which roughly translates into ‘wholesome and honest’ – qualities that would be embraced by a domestic market eager for personal transport.

By the mid-1950s the Marusho Shokai Co. Ltd was doing quite well and with new models in the wings, decided to undertake some strategic rebranding. The name Lilac began to appear on the tanks of the firm’s products, with the public referring to them as Marusho Lilacs. Possibly a strange moniker for a motorcycle but, history suggests, Mrs Ito was potty about lilac blossom. In an act guaranteed to pacify a wife left at home alone for long hours, shrewd Masashi Ito renamed his products in her honour; clever or what? The late 1950s and early 1960s were a frantic time for the firm as they sought to devise, develop and sell machines unlike anything else their homeland competitors could come up with.

Nowadays they are most famous (or infamous, depending upon your viewpoint) for their large capacity BMW-esque flat twins, but for now we’ll have a look at some of their unusual and unique smaller machines.z

PROGRESS & SUCCESSES

Bold or foolhardy, adventurous or naïve, creative engineering or flawed genius? All and any could be applied to the bikes Marusho Shokai offered, but one thing the firm could never be accused of was being timid in either its ‘blue sky’ experimentation or the models it offered to the general public.

Initially making just 30 bikes a month with 10 staff, the Hamamatsu firm utilised Toyota for its distribution. There were effectively few restraints on design, engine type, engine layout or capacity. Initially two-stroke singles held sway, swiftly followed by four-stroke singles with OHC (overhead cam) top ends. And just when its customers thought they knew which direction the firm was going, they’d change course completely; 90ccs strokers, OHV singles from 150-250ccs, seemed to be the norm but then, without warning, the firm would be offering 338cc flat-twin four-stroke with side valves. Oh, and of course, what was soon to be a Marusho/Lilac trademark; shaft drive to the rear wheel.

Ito and his team weren’t so far away from Mr Honda’s maxim of producing viceless motorcycles, and Masashi Ito could see the kudos and marketing value of a final drive that was maintenance-free, clean and unique to the brand.

Coming second to Yamaha’s all-new YA1 Akitombo (Red Dragonfly) in the 1955 Asama volcano race on a SY250 single (denoted as SYZ250 being a race machine) did the firm’s PR no harm whatsoever, and their bikes were soon known as ‘giant killers’. It wasn’t long before 8000 bikes a year were rolling out the door and as the 1950s closed, that figure would rise to more than 11000.

The SY250s would prove to be something of a stalwart in the early years of the company, with a dependable push rod motor in a substantial frame. Telescopic forks were complimented by plunger suspension at the rear. The bike looked curiously like the BMW singles from some angles, which may very have been the SY’s inspiration, but the cylinder

“In an act guaranteed to pacify a wife left at home alone for long hours, shrewd Masashi Ito renamed his products in her honour; clever or what?”