Due to the excitement over this year’s Vintage Tour in the U.S., S&S Cycle announced it will launch a special event at the 2025 Mooneyes Show in Japan, responding to the growing demand for vintage v-twins in the Japanese market.
The three competitors at Vintage Tour Japan include, from left, Yusaku Sato, Masumi Tsuchino, and Takuya Okubo. (Photos: S&S Cycle)
The event will take place on Dec. 7 at the Mooneyes Show in Yokohama, Japan, where three builders will compete in a one-day build-off to become the S&S Cycle Vintage Tour Champion. The voting will be held at the show by attendees, and the winner will be announced that day.
The event’s three competitors include: Infinity’s Masumi Tsuchino, building a KN-series engine; Satomari Motorcycle’s Yusaku Sato, building a P-series; and Vidamotorcycle’s Takuya Okubo, building an SH-series.
S&S Cycle Owner and Director Brett Smith says he’s excited for S&S to return to Japan as an extension of the 2025 Vintage Tour, and is looking forward to celebrating the creativity and ingenuity of the Japanese custom builders.
“Many of you recall that the overall winner of the S&S Cycle 50th anniversary of the Biker Build-Off was won by one of your countrymen, Keiji Kawakita of Hot Dock Custom Cycles,” Smith says. “He set the bar high, and I cannot wait to see who will emerge as the new leader of custom building in Japan.”
The competitors will be given awards by Smith, who is the grandson of S&S Cycle’s founder, George Smith. Those awards will be hand-built by Tom Smith, the other grandson of George. Unlike the U.S.-based Vintage Tour, this build-off will follow the competitors along on their social media, as well as S&S’ social media channels, to help attendees get ready to vote.
S&S Cycle also gives a shout-out to the team at Neo-Factory for helping organize the build-off and getting the builders their S&S engines to start the project.
AloJapan.com