The Japanese clones

As I received the August 2022 copy of TCM, that was the afternoon sorted – and then I found the answer from Richard Rosenthal in YWA to the ‘Sunbeam clone’ enquiry.

Some time ago, I searched for a really long time, to find out if an JLO M2x125 engine had been copied and produced in Japan, like BMW, Horex and other bikes. In this time, I had good luck, because I acquired a copy of a Japanese motorcycle catalogue.

In this, the Liner is first listed 1954 with the plunger frame and 1955 it looks similar. In 1956 the frame was a new construction with an Earles-type fork and swinging arm. The Liner’s last listed year is 1957 and here some other parts were changed too.

They offered only a 250cc version and I couldn’t find a 350cc or bigger version. One interesting bike in the 350cc class, is, for example, the copy of the IFA MZ BK350, which was modified to a four-stroke

350 and the two-stroke was downsized to 250cc.

Oh yes, and after a long time, I found a copy of the JLO, the engine having a second gear lever for operating a neutral finder.

This book contains lots of pictures of Japanese-made copies, like the Liner shown, from 1956.