Back From the Dead?
If you don’t recognize the name Meguro, don’t worry. It hasn’t really been a thing since the 1960s. It was a motorcycle gearbox company in the 1950s, then a motorcycle company, and then Kawasaki acquired the company and continued to use the name for a bit on a bike. Eventually, the Meguro name was killed.
Now Kawasaki may bring the Meguro name back from the dead. According to Motorcycle.com, the company recently filed for the Meguro trademark rights in several markets. The markets include the U.K., U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and the Philippines. The company will reportedly use the trademark for, “two-wheeled motor vehicles; motorcycles; scooters; mopeds; bicycles; structural parts for motorcycles,” according to the filing.
As Motorcycle.com points out this filing is probably about more than just protecting the name’s heritage in the motorcycle industry. It’s more likely that Kawasaki will build a retro bike of some kind. This would jive with the current slew of bikes it has put out, including the Z900RS and the new W800.
The old Meguro bikes were little more than BSA knockoffs. I don’t see anything wrong with that, honestly. If Kawasaki could give me a modern and reliable bike that looked like a vintage BSA with some modern tech like fuel injection and some quality brakes, I’d be all for it.
With that said, Kawasaki has made no indication as to what the Meguro name will be used for. While the retro bike guess is a good one, it’s purely speculation. The name could be used for basically any bike. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a BSA lookalike, though.
Love to see Kawasaki make a bike to compete with the Royal Enfield Himalayan.
Charles, that would be pretty cool!
Meguro is a city on the outskirts of “downtown” Tokyo. I lived there for 6 years – a stone’s throw from the Olympic park.
I’m guessing the original company they bought all those many years ago was located there as well.