Oriental Oddities
ORIENTAL ODDITIES
The rarest of the rare?
YOU CAN TALK ABOUT your Hondas and Yamahas and Bridgestones. but if you want to collect Japanese bikes that are as strange and rare as quarks, please direct your attention to the Lilac and the Marusho.
Lilac? Marusho?
You'll be forgiven if these are names that somehow managed to avoid becoming embedded in your Motorcycle Recognition Banks. They are not exactly household words.
First came the Lilac, built between 1952 and 1961. and bought to the U.S. in extremely limited numbers. The Marusho was a development of the Lilac, actually intended for sale in the U.S.. but also brought here in very limited numbers.
With their longitudinal VTwin engines. Lilacs looked oddly like MotoGuzzis, but they weren't, not really. Instead of the Guzzi's lusty, big-displacement jugs. the twin cylinders of the largest Lilac displaced just 246cc. The company also built smaller versions, as well as BMW-clone Singles that displaced I73cc.
Marushos were the same, only
different. Built as a result of a financial reorganization in the Lilac factory, and produced from 1966 through 1970, they used many of the same parts, including frame and tank, but employed a very BMW-like. 498cc Boxer Twin, with right-side shaft drive. They were smooth and quiet, but never particularly powerful.
Homer Knapp of Los Angeles is one of the few collectors to specialize in Lilacs, with “10 or 12 of them." He confesses he also owns a Marusho. mostly because to get a Lilac he wanted, he also had to take its stablemate.
“They're kind of an unusual piece," Knapp admits, and says restoring and riding these bikes isn't always fun and games.
mostly because of the difficulty of obtaining parts.
“There are a few parts available from DomiRacer in Cleveland, but you have to learn to improvise. For instance, they have troubles with piston seizure because of the alloy composition of the stock pistons. Finally. 1 figured out that Honda Hawk pistons are almost a drop-in fit. and that using them solves the problem."
Knapp says the rarest of his bikes is a 125cc Lilac with 42 miles showing on its odometer. It is, he says, one of five of this model known to exist.
Unfortunately, such rarity has not translated into great value. Says Knapp, “The last two 1 bought, the guy wanted $900 for the Lilac and $600 for the Marusho. 1 got 'em both for $1200.”
So, er, why would anyone take the pains to collect a motorcycle that isn't reliable, isn't worth much, and for which it is nearly impossible to find parts?
“Most people collect stuff like this for the appeal of having something nobody else has. The difficulties of keeping them running are just part of the price you have to pay for the pleasure of owning and riding something unusual,” says Knapp.
Jon F. Thompson
