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TUESDAY, JUNE 6–TOYOKAWA/TAKATSUKA
ASSEMBLY PLANT TOURS
The next morning after breakfast, a short one-hour flight out of Sen-
dai brought us to Hamamatsu, Japan, also known as the birthplace
of motorcycles. It was at the airport that I made another of my many
pointless purchases of the trip, collecting snacks and fun miscella-
neous items. Coffees, water, candy, and a two-pack of face masks
later and I was set for takeoff. RC also saw the need for a mask, so I
hooked him up and we fit both in with the locals. It was actually re-
ally funny how dumb we must have looked to everyone around us.
Fun fact: The Japanese people wear these face masks when they’re
sick as a polite gesture to prevent others from getting sick. They also
wear them to aid against allergies—now you know! Seeing Mt. Fuji
out the window of the plane was surreal, and it was just more proof
that Japan is insanely beautiful.
It’s important to note that this entire area we were visiting had
been the site of the 2011 tsunami that resulted from the strongest
recorded earthquake in Japan’s history, and it was crazy to think
how far everything has come since that tragic day. To be here and
be granted an exclusive inside look at the very place these Suzuki
motorcycles are assembled is another opportunity that most won’t
get, and I was very excited to see a motorcycle actually come to-
gether. Their facility and state-of-the-art assembly line had plenty
of things that they don’t want other competing brands to see, so
Suzuki hired a photographer specifically for our group to control
what photos were shot. To say the building ran like clockwork
would be an understatement, and the assembly line was com-
prised of a huge number of highly trained employees who had
zero margins for error in their craft. Motorcycles are still almost
entirely hand-built, and that’s something that makes me appreci-
ate the attention to detail these workers deliver. Our tour guide
mentioned the percentage of mistakes out of the Toyokawa plant
is almost zero. To witness a bike roll off the production line, fire up,
and be run through the gears was like watching a newborn baby
named Suzuki being birthed right before our eyes!
Back onto the tour bus we went for our second plant tour, this
time of their Takatsuka factory, which is the location of Suzuki’s
engine assembly for multiple motorcycles—the RM-Z250 and
RM-Z450 being our key points of interest. Watching the giant
machines go through automation turning cast steel rods into fin-
ished camshafts and crankshafts, and then walking by more highly
trained workers assembling the heads of the 250cc and 450cc en-
gines just minutes later was indication that the operation is mas-
sive, and again, there was no margin for error. The next time you
look at a motorcycle at the track or on the road, think about how
every single unit is hand assembled—it’s truly impressive. After our
tour concluded, Suzuki not only had two of Ricky’s championship
bikes from his reign of dominance there, but also a huge group of
factory workers who all gathered for a group photo. Good times!