Bobbers
One aspect of Japanese builders that really makes their work their own is the seeming lack of any catalog parts in their bikes and Hideya’s bike is no different. The startlingly simple, finished result almost appears like it’s missing some parts on first glance. That’s a big part of its appeal to me, the look of an extremely well-built roller that’s actually a finished product. Simple and clean have never been simpler and cleaner. Hideya’s Streamline frame started with a pile of tubing that incorporates a board track racer’s classic, tight style of nothing more than what is absolutely necessary to get the job done. There’s no need for a separate oil tank as motor lubricant is carried within the frame and the magneto hanging off the right side eliminates needing a battery, two things that have to be accounted for and determine the starting design of most builds. The way the frame tubing gently s-bends its way around the engine is in complete juxtaposition to the impossibly straight frame line from the steering head to the rear axle, but it all flows together.
Tall five-spoke, 21” HIDEMO wheels, front and rear, keep the design light and airy with Avon Venom tires big enough to make it a corner carver and not a static carpet cover like many board track-inspired bikes. It’s worth noting the super-tight fit of the front tire between the inverted forks as an example of how Hideya wanted to keep this bike slim and trim. The accompanying single-pot front brake and rear sprocket brake do what they have to when this lightweight custom needs reining in while hiding in the shadows of the overall look. From the right side, it looks brakeless, from the left, it looks the business. Take your choice.
The 1985 80” Harley Evo engine Hideya used (because he already had it) should have no trouble sufficiently powering something this light. Staying with the tiny theme is a set of HIDEMO headers that somehow makes the engine look three-quarter scale. Same goes for the air cleaner. “Kicking it” on this ride is not a term for being laid back, but involves the starting procedure using your leg and a magneto. It’s a waste of time asking any diehard, mag-equipped kick-starting owner if it starts easily as their standard answer (“one, maybe two kicks”) makes you wonder why electric starters were ever invented. Sure makes things stylistically simple, though.
The devil’s in the details as Hideya made a narrow aluminum gas tank that looks the biz with beautifully detailed, flush caps for gas and oil. The polished side panels containing graphics by his wife, Wakako, are a perfect solution for a bit of pleasing ornamentation that looks like they naturally appeared as he beat the aluminum into shape. His smooth clip-on bars compliment the tank and almost disappear into the frame with an angle that matches the top tube while his speedo mount is sculpturally sexy. Same with the tucked-in headlight. By the way, can you find the taillight(s) and turn signals?
Summing it up, Hideya said, “Simple, fast, old racer, speed and an ultimate old racing machine of custom built H-D. It is the best of my Mod chopper family. It has so many special one-off parts and points except for the stock Evo engine and transmission that it won the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show Best Motorcycle award in 2008.”
Up close: The Old Evo Standby
When you’re trying to find a bike or maybe just an engine to build your affordable dream bike around, Harley-Davidson’s company saving Evolution engine design from 1984 usually isn’t the first choice of many builders. Oh everybody would love a Knuck or a Pan or at the very least a Shovel when building a custom, but availability, money, and reliability in real world use can put a halt to that in a second. The 1340cc Evo was the mainstay of the Harley big-block lineup for a good 17 years or so and you can be sure there are still bazillions of them out there with lots of good use in them and available for a relative song if you’ve been keeping an eye on the classifieds.
Blessed with modern updates like aluminum heads and cylinders, oil tightness, better manufacturing methods, and the resulting ability to run hard and run daily, this little torquer of an engine is more than enough to make a bobber sing. Parts and performance and reliability upgrades are surely more widely available than ever with even Harley still producing new Evo crate engines for sale as well as their excellent factory engine exchange program starting at two grand with a one-year, unlimited mileage warranty. This is a great way if your old Road King or whatever is tired, tired, tired and the cost of a rebuild is terrifyingly expensive (for those of you with plenty of dough it’s prohibitively expensive, for the rest of us it’s terrifying).
Settling for an Evo is not settling for second best. It’s a great mill to base your build around and something you can ride the pee out of when you’re finished.
Builder: Hideya Togashi Hide Motorcycle Company
Things are never all that easy when you need to communicate with many overseas builders. Surprisingly many speak and write English better than a lot of our fellow countrymen, but often the back and forth of normal communication takes a hit. Could it be me? Nah, I speak pretty good English. Although, that’s up for debate with the locals as a Massachusetts accent is offsetting to most people here in far West Texas. Luckily, Google translation helps a bit in deciphering websites, but sometimes words are such a waste of time when there’s a bunch of pictures that explain where a builder’s at without having to exchange anything verbally.
Hideya Togashi is a man of few words, but he is the man behind and also the spiritual design leader of his custom motorcycle company, Hide Motorcycle, located in the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. According to their website, “Our founder HIDE has over 15 years experience in the motorcycle industry. He liked vintage American racers from old magazines and photo books. He thought old racer designs are rare, warm, natural and interesting. Therefore he wanted to build an original machine (something from the good oldies racing culture) by him self.”
After a quick perusal of photos of past work in his gallery, he’s not only influenced by vintage American racers, but there’s a plethora of work involving one of the least understood, but most passionate of motorcycle segments, café racers. Hideya seems to have his finger on the pulse of what made these early British owner-built sportbikes still attractive after all these decades. His use of an American V-twin for powering these odes to Britannia does not look out of place and makes you think they were commonplace with their period-correct look.
Check them out at www.hidemo.net.
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