I tour the ultimate dream workshop in Japan! Yoshimura Kevin Schwantz Wes Cooley Bright Logic Builds
Holy smokes... you are not not going to believe all this! That's an actual Suzuka bike? For what year……1986 Suzuka 8 hr race! Wow. Man that's mind blowing. Oh look it…Oh look at the detail …Oh, Yoshimura carbs. This is the actual Yoshimura bike. Oh
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The video I'm about to show you is very special to me. I'm about to show you a private tour of the iconic Yoshimura Bright Logic shop. A very special thank you to Manny for going completely out of his way to give How 2 Wrench this very special friday evening with the one and only Mr. Osamu Takenaka I asked Mr Osamu san just for some information about his career so I could put here in the video, hopefully I didn't miss anything or get this wrong and translation but here it goes from 1981 to 1994 were epic years with a Yoshimura. In 1994 that's when Bright Logic started, which is kind of wild because that's when I went to college for motorcycle technology and would have seen him popping up with those magazines.
And then asked him how many years building motorcycles He put 82 to current. I have a feeling It might've even been longer than that. During those years of 1982-1994 he worked with racers and all aspects from 2005-2014 he participated in the Suzuka eight hour as a member of the Yoshimura team. worked with racers and all aspects from 2005-2014 he participated in the Suzuka eight hour as a member of the Yoshimura team.
In particular many of us Americans are big fans of Kevin Schwantz and then he worked with Kevin and Satoshi Tsujimoto's, eight hour racer in 2014. And they did everything even including the geometry. Some real career highlights 1986 Daytona 200.. 87 Daytona 200 2nd place with Mr Schwantz. 1987 AMA Superbike again with Mr Schwantz and then he was mechanic in America for Yoshimura USA. And another person he worked with another famous American racer was Wes Cooley. So those should be some fun names for some Americans recognizing those racers.
…As humble as I found Mr. Osamu san to be, I have a feeling this is a very small list of the career highlights that he has seen working in the two wheeled industry. …I must say I had no idea Manny had such a great treat for me and I felt completely in shock …I must say I had no idea Manny had such a great treat for me and I felt completely in shock when we rolled up to the building and I saw the Bright Logic on the sign. When I realized who was giving their night to spend with me I felt completely grateful and I was in shock.
As you can see in our tour video I had only a phone to shoot the video and was completely starstruck. I feel like owe Mr. Osamu san, an apology for not giving the best interview. It was hard to feel worthy in the presence of such a historic motorcycle builder and the career of this man. You will here the shock of my voice as I realized what I'm looking at during the tour. Hopefully you can almost feel the goosebumps I was getting. I couldn't believe I was touching these motorcycles in person let alone standing in the shop of the craftsmen that built them.
I would find myself lost in their beauty and the Japanese craftsmanship for so long I would keep apologizing to Mr Osamu son for the long pauses as I studied them. He so kindly would just smile and say take your time. I grew up dreaming of motorcycle racing like a lot of us did reading issues and Motorcyclists and Cycle World magazines in high school study hall. Never would have dreamed that someday I would get to call some of these writers my dear friends. I posted some of my adventures with former Sport Rider journalists and racer and all around good human Lance Holst. He and his wife Margo have been so kind to me over the years and now our visits our weekend long bench racing stories.
In college my roommate Takahito Honda gave me my first real insight into Japanese motorcycle racing and culture. He introduced me to so much by us drooling over these Japanese motorcycle magazines he would get for me. If anybody knows how to find or get ahold of Takahito Honda for me I would love to reconnect with him. Drop me a message if you think you have any way you can help with that in Japan…Well can you. (I have an old address) guess what company was always there in those magazines? Winning races building dream machines and exotic race parts... Yeah you guessed it... It was Bright Logic and Yoshimura.
So shocked to see that race truck when we pulled up to the shop. All right my friends please enjoy the tour and some history and my evening with my new friend Mr. Osamu son and his Bright Logic shop tour.
May he take me up on my offer to mentor under him some day and build a Bright Logic / How 2 Wrench project! It would be my honor. Enjoy the tour of my friends. …Love it...No way. I can't believe I'm here. Oh wow look quick change axle . What's hear…Wow this is so rad. Wait till you see the headlight on this. It's so cool…So amazing. Look at that. I'm actually touching it…Yoshimura tank.
Look at that. Look at that exhaust hanger. Braced swingarm…Wow. So wild. Quick pull axle…Cool …So I'm at a place called Bright Logic and this is a former Yoshimura mechanic.
I'm sure There's a lot to see in here and talk about but look at there's a couple of the new Katana's…Wow. Oh look at this one. Ohlins…Looks like it's super tricked out…Wonder what the bottle is? Wow…So awesome.
Limited edition…Oh English …Thank you …What do we got here…Yeah. Everything's so wild… 2010 …2010 I'm going with Yoshimura …to World Superbike. Oh, so Italy wow…So we are Yoshimura pit was the next pit over... Uh…I I walked inside the pit and took many pictures. Yeah. I've came back.
Yeah, almost the same bike I made! Like, oh wow … That doesn't look anything like a Hayabusa. Like at this tail section. Is that off a 750 or a 1000 or …Custom tank…I'll same thing here too. Yeah. Wow Looks so much better. Oh geez. Everything has the quick fill tank…Oh look at the handlebars… Oh, I'll look at that I make it I love the detail…Very amazing.
Oh man the headlights on these are so rad …Just be a shame not looking at these older ones too…Oh, All right what's the story with this one? Uh, So this is your familiar?…Maybe only 5 bikes. But one bikes was crushed to nothing okay …now over over the world Okay now. So only four weeks. Wow…Everything. real carbon…real carbon…Then so naming That 50... Oh yeah Yeah. I think I saw this in magazines unless the turn signal…Yeah, that thing is so unbelievable. I can't even imagine what these forks costs…Yeah …too expensive That is wild.
…And this is your workshop. Wow. Can I see. Yeah. This is my favorite part…Oh …GSXR Yup … Oh wow. Busy…These are getting so popular in America all the restorations. Yeah. Crazy putting all modern suspension on and…Oh frame machine.
Like. Yeah…Shock … Like a kid in a candy store here! … Oh geez another one. Wow…Wow that's amazing…Oh my goodness. This header. Yeah, like a work of art. Yes. Whose is that? Full Yoshimura for racer …Never see anything like that …Unbelievable … …Oh geez …That's the old engine.
Yeah it's a Katana Oh this is completely. Out of this world…Out of this world I'm making this swingarm...Formula 1. This swinger is Formula 1 for Japan. Wow. So changed to single Ohlins shock. Sure. Yeah. The rearsets.. Yeah Yeah Yeah…Wow the body is mindblowing! Oh my God. This is gorgeous…Oh I make the tank too. Aluminum tank?
…So you building this for a customer Yeah …What would that cost in America? A lot? I bet. Oh my goodness. I can send to the US too. Yeah Yeah I can do it…Wow. That is unbelievable…Unbelievable.
I'm making this aluminum tank is a Katana and Uh And this GSXR tank and Oh wow. GS1000...Sure Yeah Yeah…And they're aluminum Yes I have the mold to make them all. Oh…man this is so wild.
…Nice big lathe. Wow…Nice…This is a great....great workspace…Well that's interesting... Well This is cool …so you can crank it up. Yeah That's wow…So this is I'm making for Yoshimura a body. You said you're making this for Yoshimura? Yeah … Beautiful So 1981-1994 I was a Yoshimura race mechanic. Wow.
I bet you have some stories…I bet you have some stories. Well, Well thank you for letting me tour your shop. That's just amazing. What a Oh wow Look at the Ohlins conventionals. Just don't see stuff like this…You don't walk into anything like this in America nothing …What my YouTube channel is we have over 800 videos teaching people how to be a technician. So I taught a tech school for a lot of years. Very passionate about making sure that we get all
your knowledge and teach people…That's what we need to do. But this is a whole nother level of craftsmanship. I mean whole nother level. What else am I not seeing here…Just massive…Have you gone to US Yoshimura? Oh yeah Yeah. When I worked for Suzuki USA they were right down the road.
I got to go in and say hi a few times when I worked for Suzuki but I didn't get didn't get a tours or connected or anything at that time but …Hey YouTube I just thought you to just appreciate seeing this amazing equipment here. Oh it just doesn't end. Look at the paint job on this …Wow. Flatsides. Look at the adapters in there. Yosh forks…it just doesn't end…Look at this place.
I could almost just could say nothing and just like walk around... another limited…Another one…I could just walk another limited. Unbelievable…I could just walk around here and not say anything. And people be freaking out. Wow Look at this thing. That's another
Yoshimura bike…Another one. Wow…So rad…This is unbelievable…I think that's all I'm going to do. It's just walk around…Oh, It's my era growing up.
Wow So wild…Another Yoshimura bike…Just so crazy…Wow …This is so, so wild …a little bit of everything. To finish off the tour he took me upstairs to the attic and there was just body after body from World Superbike, some really rad Yoshimura carbon fiber bodywork. We grabbed aluminum gas tanks that were just wild and custom. We had triple trees that are world Superbike spec and just start kind of digging through some parts and pieces and it was just pretty wild the inventory from this era that's in this building….
Like half the stuff should be in a museum hanging up. It was really cool I can't thank Mr Osamu san just so much for such a private night of his time do a complete stranger and Manny for hooking me up! I mean just all the fellows were awesome. It was just an amazing night and I can not wait to go back there again and say hi. I mean this is just a gem of Superbike history. Just a salute to an amazing man with an amazing career and once again How 2 Wrench looks forward to coming and seeing you again in the future.
Alright my friends as always like, share, subscribe, make it a great day and keep wrenching… …As promised here's the bonus content for the photos from the trip It was just awesome. It always seems like there's a million people I want to thank to make anything happen the first thing and I think our friends at Bright Logic of course and then secondly Manny man what a deal for you to just go so far out of your way! It was just awesome. And then my buddy Dan he hooked me up and taught me how to run the train system I wouldn't have known how to get there. And then last I just like think our community we really picked a special video.
With the intent that we want something really special to be the first video when we hit a hundred thousand subscribers. So from every sub to every person I get to meet on the road to every person I get to work with and the How 2 Wrench shop, to every techline customer, to all of you from the bottom of my heart thank you for being here and I hope you enjoy the rest of these photos…
2023-06-07 02:08
