1965 Other Makes Marusho ST500

F90136

Clear

1965 Marusho ST500 with only 2,472 actual miles, no modifications, and in excellent condition. Only two owners since new and completely gone through by Bob Bancroft at Bancroft Vintage Motorworks. Used for shows and ridden sparingly, the original Bridgestone front tire shows minimal wear, all systems operate properly, and there are no issues. The gas tank has been rechromed and professionally repainted along with the rear fender & side cover. The original exhaust system has also been rechromed along with the front fender and headlight trim. The engine has been gone through with both carbs rebuilt, valves adjusted, heads & pistons decarboned. A new battery was installed, cables lubed, and a fresh tune-up performed. Compression is excellent, the engine starts easily, and the transmission operates perfectly. New correct handgrips and footpeg rubbers have been installed. The headlight, tail light, brake light, and horn all work correctly. Rated at 36 horsepower, these bikes are geared longer than a comparable BMW R50 for more relaxed highway cruising and accelerates harder than my BMW R60/2. Tadashi Ito, founder of Marusho, was a coworker with Sochiro Honda in Honda's repair business when the two started their own motorcycle companies. Mr. Ito actually made excellent bikes but unfortunately went out of business in 1967 after Mitsubishi canceled a large order of motorcycles and Mr. Ito had already taken out huge loans & a massive expansion effort to meet the proposed demand. Ito used Zundapp and BMW for inspiration but made many improvements for his Marushos. Made for only three years and with only 600 produced in 1965, these are one of the holy grail bikes for Japanese collectors and are rarely seen for sale. They are also a very pleasant bike to ride to bike nights where only the avid collectors are familiar with them or have ever seen one. See full-screen pictures and our other interesting inventory of collector cars and vintage motorcycles at sportscagallery.com Interesting note: Back in the mid '60s in Youngstown, Ohio we had a motorcycle dealer named Bill Jackson who took on the new for America Kawasaki & Marusho lines. Bill, a nice, mild mannered guy, was only two blocks down from Johnny Roman's Triumph/BSA & BMW dealership. Johnny was a tough in-your-face kind of guy and when he saw the new Kawasaki W1 650 (copy of BSA's 650) and Marusho ST500 (copy of BMW's 500) he was livid; declaring war on Bill and making life hell for him and anyone who dealt with him. Johnny even built a full-out drag bike that looked like a stock 650 Triumph Bonneville that he would roll out to challenge anyone who rode in on any competing brand. He'd race you for $100 or title-for-title right in front of his shop on Market Street during a lull in traffic. Johnny'd also park brand new perfectly shined BMWs & BSAs on the sidewalk in front of Bill's shop with an arrow pointing up the street. Bill finally packed it in and closed after several years of daily combat and the two men ultimately became friends. Both are gone now, we miss them, and the world is not a better place with their passing. And... no one ever beat Johnny's "stock" Triumph. .