Bouncing bike business

Press, 29 November 1977, Page 29

Bouncing bike business

From JOHN ROSS, in London. An enterprising British exporter has established a booming business in “boomerang” bikes. Mr J. Lee, of Nuneaton, near Birmingham, ships powerful Honda motorcycles—to Japan. He orders a consignment of Honda’s biggest bikes, waits for them at the docks, and then sticks new labels on them and sends them straight back to Osaka. Japanese riders apparently are unable to buy motor-cycles of more than 750 c.c. in their own country, but there is no ban on importing them. “It’s a crazy world, but I’m not complaining,” said Mr Lee. The big Japanese machines cost about 84000 in Britain, but Mr Lee has found he can send them back so that the Japanese can buy them for about $3OOO. “There is no value-added tax in Japan, and one can sort out export duties and so on,” he said. “The profit margin on a machine like this is not small, and I am delighted with the business.” There seemed to be a “bit of one-upmanship” among Japanese motorcyclists, he said. They were keen to buy European machines for prestige, but a significant number wanted Honda motorcycles which could not be bought in the usual way in Japan. So far, Mr Lee has reexported four motor-cycles without even taking them from their crates —and all the indications are that the demand will grow.