Cabton 1954ca RTF 500cc 2 cyl OHV 3606

Cabton 1954ca “RTF” 500cc OHV vertical twin frame # 544914RC engine # TF4194

“According to some people it was the licensing of HD to Rikuo in 1929 that gave the Japanese their first knowledge into modern mass-production technology. Harley didn’t only give them all their tooling and drawings; they also gave them the metallurgical know how, including metal hardening technologies. The Japanese also for the first time understood the importance of keeping the factories clean etc. Harley sent some supervisors over to Japan teaching the Japanese what Harley knew. They taught them about quality control, spare part management, dealer management, after sale service, all topics where Harley at that time was very good at, but the Japanese refined that quite a lot during the years to come. Thanks to Harley the Japanese Manufacturing Industry made a 20 year jump in manufacturing know how. Without that there maybe hadn’t been any Japanese motorcycle industry today. The HD/Rikuo factory also became a laboratory for the whole Japanese manufacturing society with others factories coming to learn at the HD/Rikuo factory. A company called Mizuho Motor visited the Rikuo factory and started in 1934/1935 to manufacture a motorcycle called Cabton.” Source: https://www.gt-rider.com/se-asia-motorcycling/threads/early-japanese-motorcycles.10766/
Now largely forgotten, Cabton was originally based in Osaka, Japan and later in Inuyama. Founded by Koushiro Nakagawa and his son, the company produced motorcycles from around 1933 to 1960. Cabton’s first motorcycle was a 346cc overhead-valve single copied from the British Ariel, although most of the production in the early years was lightweight two-strokes, likewise copied from British designs. Prior to 1940 Cabton was Japan’s largest motorcycle manufacture and supplied Japan’s armed forces throughout WW2.
By the mid 1950s Cabton were producing overhead-valve single and twin-cylinder models ranging in size from 250cc to 600cc. Made by Mitsubishi, the engines were copies of British and American designs and the gearboxes were based on Burman types. The machines featured tubular frames, telescopic forks and plunger rear suspension. Cabton was the first Japanese manufacturer to adopt telescopic forks. Nearly 10,000 machines were produced in 1955, making Cabton Japan’s fourth largest motorcycle manufacturer at that time. The firm’s small capacity two-strokes were marketed under the Mizuho brand.
The machine we present here, the “RTF”, was one of Cabton’s top-of-the-range models. At first sight she looks very much like an Ariel with Burman gearbox, apart from the engine. That is based on the postwar vertical twin Indian Scout (436 cc) and Warrior (500 cc) models. Cabton’s version was well made and fast but also expensive, costing the equivalent of a year’s salary for a typical Japanese worker. Towards the end of the 1950s Cabton had begun losing sales to new-kids-on-the-block Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki; production was wound-down in 1958 and the company closed in 1960. A close look at this excellently restored machine reveals that she has been very well designed and sturdily built. She comes with Amal 276 carb, Mitsubishi magdyno, polished aluminium primary case, plunger rear suspension and resplendent chrome finish. She has been part of a renowned Japanese factory collection for years and will benefit from some light recommissioning.