If you like retro and classic-looking motorcycles, then you might give a thumbs up to the Kawasaki Z900RS and Kawasaki W800. Motorcycles like these provide a package of old-school styling with new technologies. So, how does Kawasaki Meguro sound to you?
We’re asking this question because Kawasaki has applied for a new trademark for the Meguro name with the European Union Intellectual Property Office for use with “two-wheeled motor vehicles; motorcycles; bicycles; structural parts for motorcycles.” The company also applied for additional trademark applications for this name in the US, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the name Meguro, it helped Kawasaki to enter the motorcycle industry. How? Meguro Manufacturing Company was founded in 1924 and used to make engines. Soon after, it started making motorcycle transmissions. And it didn’t take long before it stepped in to make motorcycles. Meguro built its first motorcycle in 1932. It was a 500cc bike built for Hamakura Motor. And later it became Japan’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer. Meguro was doing pretty great all by itself. However, bankruptcy hit the company after it launched a range of lightweight motorcycles that didn’t sell as expected.
Back in the day, Kawasaki wasn’t a big name in the motorcycle industry. It was called Kawasaki Aircraft. It later entered the two-wheeler market by introducing small displacement scooters. Later, it sought help from Meguro to make small motorcycles. This friendship eventually led to a business partnership between the two companies and formed a new name, ‘Kawasaki Motorcycles’. The first motorcycle to roll out under this partnership was the W1 in 1965. At that time, it had the biggest engine ever put into a production bike.
Now, Kawasaki filing a new trademark for the name Meguro suggests that it’s very much possible to see a new vintage-like bike in the future. Perhaps, it won’t be a big bike, rather a small or middleweight motorcycle easily accessible to the masses. We also can’t ignore the possibility of the birth of an entirely new series of bikes.
