1958 Rikuo RT2

In 1929 at the start of the Great Depression, Harley-Davidson sold the manufacturing rights and tooling of their big twins to Rikuo in Japan to raise much needed cash. While the motor is basically the same as the 1930 Harley RL model, the chassis was updated in later years. 18,000 military versions were built for the Japanese army during WWII. These motorcycles are extremely rare, with possibly only one other in the U.S. In 1950, parent company Sanko sold Rikuo to Showa, the same company that supplies parts to H-D today. Roughly translated, Rikuo means “King of the Road.”