Rikuo Motorcycle of the Harley-Davidson, started production in 1929. In 1931 Dabittoson Harley Motorcycle Co., Ltd. was established in Japan. Dabittoson started domestic production of the Harley-Davidson Road King Motorcycle. The 4-cycle, 1200 cc, side-valve V-twin engine produces 28 horsepower for a top speed of 97 km per hour. The Road King motorcycle was improved and produced by Lin Ritsukawa, and Tsui Meguro under the Tokyu Kogyo Kurogane Company during World War II. This included the Type 97 military motorcycle which was often produced with a sidecar, called they Harley-Davidson, through the efforts of Alfred Rich Child, shipped tooling and personnel to
Mondial (motorcycle manufacturer) in 1948 as FB Mondial. Mondial found early racing success, winning their first of what would become five World Championships in only their second year of production. During a time when MV Agusta and Ducati produced economy lightweight two-stroke motorcycles, mopeds and scooters, Mondial was more of a "boutique" manufacturer, specializing in high-performance, small-displacement motorcycles. Much of the production of each motorcycle was done by hand, which kept output low, with production numbers typically ranging between 1,000 and 2,000 units per year. Mondial were able to continue this success for a number of years, sticking with this methodology.In 1957, Soichiro