Tokyo Biker

Just down the road from Ueno Zoo, a virtual bikers heaven has everything for the motorcycling enthusiast. Steve Trautlein cruises on over.

Side streets have the feel of an open-air bazaar

Foreign motorcyclists have many reasons to dislike Tokyo. Crowded streets in the city and in nearby suburbs allow few opportunities for carefree, wind-in-the-hair riding, a situation that's not helped by Japan's mandatory helmet laws. Large bikes are severely restricted downtown, which means that driving anything over 450cc requires an expensive and notoriously difficult-to-get license. And come springtime, rainy season ushers in four weeks of crappy weather just as temperatures start to warm up.

But for anyone who has biking in their blood, the good points of motorcycling here far outweigh the bad. Rainy season aside, Tokyo's temperate climate lets bikers do their thing year-round. Motorcycles and scooters are so common in the city that, unlike large metropolitan areas in the US, car drivers respect their two-wheeled cousins. And for the serious Tokyo biker, there's even a strip of turf in the center of town catering exclusively to open-air motoring.

Kick start
Listed on maps as "Bike Town," the area between JR Ueno station and adjacent Showa Dori has dozens of dealers, repair shops and accessory stores all devoted to motorcycling. Big chains like Corin boast several stand-alone buildings that stock everything from the tiniest Honda scooters to the biggest Harleys. Corin's accessories emporium fronts the main drag, a one-stop shop spread over seven floors where enthusiasts can pick up painted helmets, saddlebags, and just about anything else to make their ride complete.

But the lifeblood of the area lies in the numerous smaller shops and garages that dot Bike Town's main drag and side streets, the mom-and-pop operations that have been around for decades. Some do business out of storefronts the size of tiny apartments, with rows of bikes and scooters out front that occupy more space than their offices-cum-showrooms.

One such shop is Birdie Motors, which lies at the end of the strip farthest from the station. On a recent afternoon, proprietor Yoshikazu Suzuki watched over a line-up that included dirt bikes, scooters and a pink Yamaha the size of a tricycle. The well-worn store, open for ten years, looks like it's as old as its neighbors, but Suzuki reckons he's still something of a newcomer. "Most shops around here have been around a long time," he says.

Open road
Bike Town got its start in the years after World War II, when motorcycle wholesalers came from cities to the north and west and set up shop in what was then the central Tokyo hub of Ueno. "Bike Town is located here because of all the trains that came into Ueno station," says a mechanic named Miwa who was repairing bikes while waiting for customers in Sanwa Motors, another cubby-hole-sized dealer and repair shop on the strip. Leading postwar engine maker Kyokuto Motor Company opened a retail outlet that spurred the area's growth and, as more shops followed, Bike Town became the city's best-known purveyor of cheap transport. Today, this quarter of Ueno is associated with motorcycles in much the same way Akihabara is with electronics or Omotesando with fashion.

One key to Bike Town's longevity lies in the adaptability of its dealers. A quick walk around reveals that most shops, from the large chains to the small retailers, harbor no prejudice toward a bike's size or country of origin; if it has two wheels and an engine, they're willing to sell it. This flexibility has seen the area weather some tough times; tastes in bikes, like electronics or fashion, change, and Bike Town seems happy to change right along with them. "In the last four or five years, scooters have become extremely popular," Suzuki says. The Honda Majestics and Suzuki Let's models on offer at virtually all the stores suggest that the retail district is unafraid to conform to fickle consumer trends.

The mania for big scooters is much in evidence at Bike Town

Going…going…gone?
Recently, though, several factors have come together to threaten business like nothing else in Bike Town's history. The first is the graying of the consumers who originally fueled the area's rapid growth, enthusiasts whose passion has failed to take hold in the current generation. Another is that Bike Town, which was once the only game in town, now faces competition from a variety of other retailers. These include shops that have sprung up in other areas of the city and in the suburbs, and auctions-both online and off-that sell bikes just as cheaply. Suzuki sees these trends affecting business in a very specific way. "A long time ago, people were particular about their preferences," he says. "But now price is the most important thing."

Despite these problems, the area on a recent weekday was bustling. According to Suzuki, foreigners make up a good portion of the foot traffic, and his Birdie Motors, for one, has staff who can speak English-in this case, Suzuki's nephew. Foreign bikes like the ultra-popular Vespa scooter are also much in evidence, and Suzuki says that one foreigner rules them all: "Harley Davidson, of course." In the narrow side streets, the mechanics, salesmen and shoppers making their way among the big Corin shops or the smaller stores give the sense that there's no place they'd rather be.

It may not have the cachet of Akihabara or Omotesando, or the convenience of an online auction, but to the city's motorcycling cult, Bike Town still has no equal.

Bike Town is located in Ueno 7-chome, near the Iriya exit (JR line) or exit 2 (Hibiya and Ginza lines) of Ueno station. Birdie Motors: 7-12-9 Ueno, Taito-ku. Tel: 03-3843-2166.

Map of Ueno, Tokyo

Article courtesy of Metropolis: http://metropolis.co.jp