Leif Martinsenis part of the bike builders business
and over the years has affectionately mentioned
both his and his wife Estee’s friendship with Midori
Moriwaki and Moriwaki products in general. Leif
builds race bikes as well as roadies and regards the
Moriwaki products as some of the best. He and his
business partner Yosuke (Yoshi) have realised their
dream by being granted distributorship, so now stock
and sell the Moriwaki product in Brisbane.
Midori Moriwaki was in town recently so Leif,
Estee & Yoshi thought it was a good excuse to get
together with friends and share a bit to eat and
drink (appropriately labelled a ‘Meet and Greet’)
with Midori. I went with curiosity as I didn’t really
know much about the Moriwaki story but did a little
research beforehand. I discovered Midori’s Dad had
started Moriwaki Engineering in 1973. Moriwaki’s
main business was the development of race bikes.
Initially, and for many years after, they used
Kawasaki engines but now predominantly use
Honda units.
Moriwaki Engineering was instrumental in the
careers of many Antipodean riders. In the late ‘70s
a Moriwaki Monster Z1000 secured Graham Crosby
many wins and podiums. Graham is currently a
Moriwaki distributer in NZ and remains a good
friend of the family. Leif told me that it was Graham
who was responsible for him and Estee making
initial contact with Midori.
1980 and 1981 saw Wayne Gardiner ride a
Moriwaki Monster Z1000, again with many successes.
Wayne built a replica of one of his Moriwaki race bike
which is on display in the National Motor Racing
Museum in Bathurst. I was also lucky enough to see
this motorcycle at the Australian Historic Motorcycle
Championship at Lakeside in 2014. Graham Crosby
and Tony Hatton rode Wayne’s replica on a lap of
honour at that meeting. Luckily, it still retained the
dual seat so both got around in comfort.
Peter Goddard rode a Moriwaki Zero X750 in local
and Japanese events from 1986 to 1988. The 2000
and 2001 seasons saw Brock Parkes race with success
on a Moriwaki in the Japanese Championship.
Andrew Pit rode a Moriwaki MD211VF in a few races
of the 2004 MotoGP. A story of the Moriwaki MH80R
was featured in OBA 63 and it was to play a large
part in the careers of Ant West, Josh Brookes, Chris
Vermeulen, Brock Parkes and many others.
Midori is the Managing Director of Moriwaki
Engineering and runs the Moriwaki race team. To
my delight I found she has no problem sitting down
with an ordinary person (she had only just met) and
discussing anything, including very personal stories.
I found her so humble and down to earth that it was
easy to overlook her status and achievements. At
one point I spent the best part of 15 minutes
conversing one on one and I noted a few interesting
facts which I will share.
Midori’s Dad, Mamoru Moriwaki, who started
Moriwaki Engineering, is very much alive and still
very passionate about motorcycles. He actually
raced for ‘Pops’ Yoshimura and married his eldest
daughter, so Midori is an offspring of both famous
motorcycling dynasties. The original Moriwaki logo
and the colours they use for all their race teams is
based on nature. 70% blue for the sea and sky and30% yellow for the earth and Moriwaki spirit. Their
factory and race teams continue with this same
colour philosophy to this day.
Midori’s other siblings do share a motorcycle
passion but they have their own careers and Midori
is the only one who is fully devoted to the business.
She has a passion for the history of Moriwaki and
even had to hide the old race bikes for a while as
Mamoru told her that he was only interested in the
future, not the past. She went on to say that all
changed one day when she dragged out one of
their old race bikes and fired it up. She said a glow
lit up Mamoru’s face and he then realised how
special the memories and his past creations were.
Swinging her Dad around to embrace her view was
a very special moment for Midori.
She told the story of Mamoru being the pioneer of
using aluminium motorcycle frames. She explained
that Mamoru was approached by a large manufac-
turer who said that they had the rights and that he
would not be able to continue without infringement.
She remembers in particular when he replied that
they had better check the intellectual property
registry. It was in fact they who were in breach but
Mamoru was not bothered to pursue any retribution.
Another of her special moments as a race team
boss was when Tony Elias, riding a Moriwaki MD600,
won the Moto2 World Championship in 2010. This
was the inaugural year for Moto2 and she proudly
showed some photos of the celebration on her smart
phone. She shared a story of how she been
badgered for many years to join the FIM but declined
until recently. Her achievements in the sport were
never in doubt but she went on to explain that she
couldn’t agree until she felt she could devote enough
time to carry out her role properly. She has recently
accepted an FIM role is as an ‘Expert Member’
representing circuit racing in the CFM (Women in
Motorcycling Commission).
In the end I found it such a pleasure to learn so
much about a truly devoted motorcycle family. The
realisation of the responsibility that rests on Midori’s
shoulders, all her achievements and the fact that she
still has time to share with grass roots motorcyclists
made my experience a very special one indeed.■A Moriwaki
moment
Motorcycling is a fantastic way to meet like-minded people but it also
leads to long-term friendships which can border on to an extended family.
Story Gaven Dall’Osto
ABOVE Graham Crosby and Tony Hatton aboard
Wayne Gardiner’s replica Moriwaki Monster
Z1000 at Lakeside, Queensland in 2014.Midori Moriwaki
with Leif Martinsen
and Gaven
Dall’Osto.