Meguro motorcycles were built by Meguro Manufacturing Co motorcycle works (目黒製作所), founded by Nobuji Murata and a high-ranking naval officer, Takaji Suzuki, in 1937. One of the first Japanese motorcycle companies, it became a partner of

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headq ...

Ltd, and was eventually absorbed. Named after a district of Tokyo, Meguro had its roots in Murato Iron Works, which was established in 1924. Meguro Seisakusho, which had once developed a copy of a

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

V-twin A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longit ...

, was established to design and build

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...

es for the nascent Japanese motorcycle industry. Abe Industries, which had once produced its own motorcycle, merged with Meguro in 1931. The brand is being revived by Kawasaki with a new K3 model to be introduced in Japan on February 1, 2021. Once a prestige brand, supplying the Japanese government with military and police motorcycles, and racing alongside Honda, Meguro (メグロ) became

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

after launching a range of lightweight motorcycles which sold poorly, and experiencing a yearlong

labor strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...

. The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. rates the Meguro Z97 model introduced in 1937 as one of their ''240 Landmarks of Japanese Automotive Technology''.

History

Although the first motorcycle arrived in Japan in 1895, it was not until the 1930s that its own motorcycle industry started to develop. After the

Wall Street Crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

, Meguro invested in Harley-Davidson and obtained drawings, tooling and important knowledge of metal

heat treatment Heat treating (or heat treatment) is a group of industrial, thermal and metalworking processes used to alter the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is metallurgical. Heat treatments are also ...

s in order to make gearboxes. These were then used in their vehicles and those of another early Japanese company called Rikuo (literally "Road King"). The resulting transfer of American

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

taught the Japanese how to produce motorcycles in quantity. In 1935, Murato and Suzuki built a 500 cc single Z97 model based on a Swiss

Motosacoche Motosacoche was founded in 1899, by Henri and Armand Dufaux, in Geneva, Switzerland. Motosacoche was once the biggest Swiss motorcycle manufacturer, known also for its MAG (Motosacoche Acacias Genève) engines, used by other European motorcycle man ...

design but work was restricted due to the start of WW2, during which it supplied aircraft parts. Meguro started full production again in 1948, the Z97 being joined by 125 cc, 250 cc and 350 cc overhead valve singles. In the 1950s Meguro entered

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

and built its first twin-cylinder design, the T1 "Senior" with a British design-inspired pre-unit

parallel twin A straight-twin engine, also known as an inline-twin, vertical-twin, or parallel-twin, is a two-cylinder piston engine whose cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Straight-twin engines are primarily used in motorcycles; ot ...

engine; and later the K-series "Stamina" model, a copy of the

BSA A7 The BSA A7 was a 500cc motorcycle model range made by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) at their factory in Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham. The range was launched in 1946 using a long stroke engine. An improved version based on the ...

, one of which Meguro had bought in 1953. Its quality and engineering was superior to the BSA and it was described by Edward Turner, one of Britain's most talented motorcycle designers, as "too good to be true". For the first time, the Japanese motorcycle industry was seen as a threat. Its other models designed in collaboration with Kawasaki were entirely of Japanese design. Meguro speedway racer

Meguro raced the 500 cc

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

single cylinder model at the Asama Kazan

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

circuit in Tsumagoi,

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

. For many years, the company was only outsold by

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

. In 1958 Meguro developed a range of 50 cc, 125 cc, 250 cc and 350 cc consumer products which failed in the market due to its being too expensive.Japan's Motorcycle Wars: An Industry History. Jeffrey W. Alexander. UBC Press, 31 January 2009 In 1960, by which time it was Japan's longest running motorcycle company out of the hundreds that had once flourished producing copies of European models, the company became affiliated with the Kawasaki Aircraft company. It first changed its name in 1962 to Kawasaki-Meguro, which produced the successful B8 125 cc; then in October 1964, seeing the commercial and marketing value of having a motorcycle producing division alongside its

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

services and particularly its already established sales outlets, Kawasaki took full control of the company having learnt all it needed to know. Together they started produced "Kawasaki-Meguro Works" 125 cc, 175 cc and 250 cc single cylinder vehicles. The 500 cc K-series twin cylinder model was later enlarged and developed into the 625 cc

Kawasaki W series The Kawasaki ''W'' series is a line of motorcycles made by Kawasaki since 1965 that shares some characteristics of classic British vertical-twin standard motorcycles. Sold as a 1966 model in the North American market, the first Kawasaki W1 had ...

. The latter model were used as official vehicles for government purposes.

Models

* Parallel 2-cylinder 650 cc :Meguro T1 Senior 1955-1960. OHV parallel twin-cylinder 650 cc which is said to have had a strongest influence on the Kawasaki W-series. : :Meguro T2 Senior 1957-1960. Variant of T1 : :Meguro-Kawasaki 650 X 1966. Prototype only, for the 12th 1966 Tokyo Motor Show * Single-cylinder 500 cc :Meguro Z97 1937–1938. The company's first model, a 500 cc OHV single cylinder. : :Meguro Z98 1938–1941. Improved of the Z97, a OHV single cylinder 600 cc or 500 cc. : :Meguro Z1 1947–1951. Similar to the pre-war Z98. : :Meguro Z2 1951–1952. Meguro Z1 with hydraulic front fork. : :Meguro Z3 1952–1953. Meguro Z2 with improvement to rear suspension. : :Meguro Z5 1953–1955. Four-speed gearbox ("Z4" was not used because in Japanese its sounds like a taboo word, 4 meaning death). : :Meguro Z6 1955–1956. Major engine improvements meaning it reached 20 horsepower and became the model adopted by the Japanese government. : :Meguro Z7 "Stamina" 1956–1960. The last single cylinder Meguro. * Parallel 2-cylinder 500 cc :Meguro K "Stamina" 1960–1965. Exhibited at the 1960 Tokyo Motor Show. 39 horsepower. : :Kawasaki 500/Meguro K2 1965–1966. Kawasaki Heavy Industries variant of Meguro K-series. * Single-cylinder 350 cc :Meguro Y "Rex" 1953–1956. Smaller and lighter model based on the 1956 Meguro Z. OHV single-cylinder engine producing 13 horsepower. : :Meguro Y2 "Rex" 1957–1959. A steel framed variant of Meguro Y. Output increased to 16 horsepower. * Single-cylinder 325 cc :Meguro FY 1959–1962. Sports model. : :Meguro YA "Argus" 1959–1962. Improved version of FY. * Single-cylinder 300 cc :Meguro J3/J3A "Junior" 1952–1956. : :Meguro J-8 "Argus" 1963. Changes to exhaust system. * Single-cylinder 250 cc :Meguro J "Junior" 1950–1951. Japan's first 250 cc bike. Rigid rear suspension but with a hydraulic front fork. : :Meguro J2 "Junior" 1951–1952. A variant of Meguro J. From 1952 the model is equipped with rear suspension. OHV pushrod engine. : :Meguro S "Junior" 1953–1954. The Meguro J series was upgraded to 350 cc and so a new model name was established for the ''250 cc'' class. : :Meguro S2 "Junior" 1954–1956. A variant of Meguro S with the first four speed gearbox. : :Meguro S3 "Junior" 1956–1959. Best selling model in the 250 cc series. : :Meguro F 1958–1960. OHC model. : :Meguro S5 "Junior" 1959. OHV engine model introduced due to sluggish sales of the Meguro F. : :Meguro S7 "Junior" 1960–1963. 12V electrical equipment with battery. : :Meguro S-8 "Junior" 1962–1964. Last of the Meguro S series with rear suspension. : :Meguro AT "Auto Track" 1962–1964. Based on Meguro S3. :Kawasaki-Meguro 250 SG 1964–1969. The last model sold with the brand name of Meguro. Inspired the Kawasaki ''Estrella'' model.

Influence on Kawasaki retro models

In 1999 Kawasaki launched the W650 675 cc parallel twin

retro style Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

motorcycle inspired by the W2Walneck's Classic Cycle Trader. July 2004 Dominion Enterprises and a 250 cc

single cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery ( ...

four stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

''Estrella'' inspired by an early Meguro model. Kawasaki discontinued the W650 in 2007 but replaced it in 2011 with an enlarged version, the 773cc W800.

Revival of Brand

On December 8, 2020, Kawasaki announced the revival of the Meguro brand, with a new model available on February 1, 2021. The new model will be called the K3 and is based on the existing W800. Both bikes will be mechanically identical, but the K3 will be visually distinct and sell at a higher price point. New Meguro K3 Revives Important Chapter In Kawasaki History
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References

{{Major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers Motorcycles of Japan Motorcycles by brand Motorcycle manufacturers of Japan