Fire and Rescue International
  • Home
  • Magazines
    • Featured Article
    • FRI Magazine
    • DMJ Magazine
  • Newsletters
    • 9 May 2025
    • 2 May 2025
    • 25 April 2025
    • 11 April 2025
    • 4 April 2025
    • 21 March 2025
    • 14 March 2025
    • 7 March 2025
    • 28 February 2025
    • 14 February 2025
    • 7 February 2025
    • 31 January 2025
    • 24 January 2025
    • 17 January 2025
    • 10 January 2025
    • 20 December 2024
    • 13 December 2024
    • 6 December 2024
  • Advertising
    • Fire and Rescue International
    • Disaster Management
    • FRI Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • Articles
  • Galleries
    • DMISA 2024
    • NMU Fire Symposium 2024
    • ETS 2024 Gallery
    • WFFG Denmark 2024
    • TFA 2024 Gallery
    • Electra Mining 2024
    • Drager Challenge 2024
    • AOSH Firexpo 2024
    • Midvaal Fit to Fight Fire 2024
    • WoF KNP 2023 Gallery
    • TFA 2023 Gallery
    • DMISA Conference 2023
    • ETS 2023 Gallery
      • ETS 2023 Main Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Second Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Third Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Marching
      • ETS 2023 Exhibitors Demonstrations
      • ETS 2023 Prize Giving
      • ETS 2023 Team Photos
      • ETS 2023 General Photos
    • Drager Fire Combat and Rescue Challenge 2023
      • Presentation
      • Tower Challenge
      • Mobile Training Challenge
      • Fitness Challenge
      • General
      • Group
      • Prize Giving
    • AOSH Firexpo 2023
    • Midvaal Fit to Fight Fire
      • Midvaal Challenge
      • Midvaal General Photos
      • Midvaal Team Photos
      • Midvaal Prize Giving
    • WC IFFD 2023
    • NMU 13th Fire Management Symposium 2022
    • JOIFF Africa Conference 2022
    • ETS 2022 Gallery
      • ETS 2022 Main Scenario
      • ETS 2022 Fire Fighter Challenge
      • ETS 2022 Skills Event
      • ETS 2022 Exhibitors/demonstrations
      • ETS 2022 Team Photos
      • ETS 2022 General Photos
      • ETS 2022 Awards Ceremony
    • TFA 2022 Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Main Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Group Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Mini TFA
      • TFA 2022 Awards Gallery
    • IFFD 2018
      • Western Cape
    • SAESI
    • TFA
      • TFA 2018
      • TFA 2019
        • TFA 2019 Start
        • TFA 2019 Stage 1
        • TFA 2019 Stage 2
        • TFA 2019 Stage 3
        • TFA 2019 Awards
        • TFA 2019 General
        • TFA 2019 Group
    • WRC 2018
    • WRC 2019
    • A-OSH/Securex
    • IFE AGM 2019
    • ETS Ind Fire Comp Nov 2019
    • ETS Challenge 2021
    • Drager launch
    • Drager Fire Combat and Rescue Challenge 2022
  • TFA
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Magazines
    • Featured Article
    • FRI Magazine
    • DMJ Magazine
  • Newsletters
    • 9 May 2025
    • 2 May 2025
    • 25 April 2025
    • 11 April 2025
    • 4 April 2025
    • 21 March 2025
    • 14 March 2025
    • 7 March 2025
    • 28 February 2025
    • 14 February 2025
    • 7 February 2025
    • 31 January 2025
    • 24 January 2025
    • 17 January 2025
    • 10 January 2025
    • 20 December 2024
    • 13 December 2024
    • 6 December 2024
  • Advertising
    • Fire and Rescue International
    • Disaster Management
    • FRI Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • Articles
  • Galleries
    • DMISA 2024
    • NMU Fire Symposium 2024
    • ETS 2024 Gallery
    • WFFG Denmark 2024
    • TFA 2024 Gallery
    • Electra Mining 2024
    • Drager Challenge 2024
    • AOSH Firexpo 2024
    • Midvaal Fit to Fight Fire 2024
    • WoF KNP 2023 Gallery
    • TFA 2023 Gallery
    • DMISA Conference 2023
    • ETS 2023 Gallery
      • ETS 2023 Main Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Second Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Third Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Marching
      • ETS 2023 Exhibitors Demonstrations
      • ETS 2023 Prize Giving
      • ETS 2023 Team Photos
      • ETS 2023 General Photos
    • Drager Fire Combat and Rescue Challenge 2023
      • Presentation
      • Tower Challenge
      • Mobile Training Challenge
      • Fitness Challenge
      • General
      • Group
      • Prize Giving
    • AOSH Firexpo 2023
    • Midvaal Fit to Fight Fire
      • Midvaal Challenge
      • Midvaal General Photos
      • Midvaal Team Photos
      • Midvaal Prize Giving
    • WC IFFD 2023
    • NMU 13th Fire Management Symposium 2022
    • JOIFF Africa Conference 2022
    • ETS 2022 Gallery
      • ETS 2022 Main Scenario
      • ETS 2022 Fire Fighter Challenge
      • ETS 2022 Skills Event
      • ETS 2022 Exhibitors/demonstrations
      • ETS 2022 Team Photos
      • ETS 2022 General Photos
      • ETS 2022 Awards Ceremony
    • TFA 2022 Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Main Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Group Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Mini TFA
      • TFA 2022 Awards Gallery
    • IFFD 2018
      • Western Cape
    • SAESI
    • TFA
      • TFA 2018
      • TFA 2019
        • TFA 2019 Start
        • TFA 2019 Stage 1
        • TFA 2019 Stage 2
        • TFA 2019 Stage 3
        • TFA 2019 Awards
        • TFA 2019 General
        • TFA 2019 Group
    • WRC 2018
    • WRC 2019
    • A-OSH/Securex
    • IFE AGM 2019
    • ETS Ind Fire Comp Nov 2019
    • ETS Challenge 2021
    • Drager launch
    • Drager Fire Combat and Rescue Challenge 2022
  • TFA
  • Contact
Search

Proudly serving those who serve

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

6 April 2023
Back to newsletter​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Vintage: 1941 Kurogane Model 1 Fire Trike is a rare piece of moto history

Picture
Picture
1941 Kurogane Model 1 Fire Trike with a transverse-mounted 1 100cc V-twin engine, used in Japan and Malaysia. It's being restored by a Russian museum. This extremely rare survivor was found in a sad state in Malaysia and is now part of the Motorworld by V. Sheyanov motorcycle museum collection in Petra Dubrava, Russia. The Museum has been busy restoring this bike and is currently working on an engine overhaul as of August, 2021. It has posted some details on their Facebook and its website and have also said that it plans to post more in the future.
 
At the beginning of the 20th Century, Japan mostly imported its motorcycles. British, Italian, and American marques all had their places in this ecosystem. However, on 1 September 1923, Japan was rocked by what would come to be known as the Great Kanto Earthquake. That was immediately followed by a 40-foot tsunami, which washed away thousands of people.
 
To complete the hat-trick of unimaginable horror, waves of fires subsequently swept through both Yokohama and Tokyo and all the houses at that time were made out of wood. According to Smithsonian Magazine, these disasters combined resulted in around 140 000 people dead.
 
In the aftermath of these disasters, the two cities needed the right kind of vehicles to help them rebuild. That’s where trikes entered the picture. At the same time, Japan’s national government became concerned about the state of the country’s own motorcycle industry. So, it began imposing heavy duties on the imported vehicles that had previously been so common. Japanese companies, meanwhile, still made use of whatever parts they could find to create their machines. 
 
Just as early British and Italian makes made use of other company’s engines to give their new machines their hearts, so too did early Japanese makes cobble their own models together. Some Kurogane (or “black metal”) machines became military vehicles during World War II, while being powered by repurposed Harley-Davidson V-twins. 
 
Prior to all that, though, came this Kurogane Fire Trike. It’s powered by an 1 100cc V-twin of unknown provenance, which we hope that Motorworld will share more details about once it’s done with its restoration. It’s unclear how many were ever made, nor how many still remain in 2021.
 
One of the reasons that Kurogane vehicles are so rare is that many were destroyed in the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, according to Pipeburn. Although Motorworld’s history says that this particular trike fought fires both in Japan and Malaysia, there’s no timeline available for exactly when it left the country. 
 
One question I’m hoping the museum will answer regards the labelling on instruments throughout this trike, as depicted in Motorworld’s photos. You’ll notice that it’s all in English. While Japanese students started learning English in schools in the mid-1800s, public sentiment shifted dramatically in the mid-1920s. That’s because over in the US, the Immigration Act of 1924 (also called the Johnson-Reid Act) effectively ended Japanese immigration to the US. 
 
As a direct result, plenty of Japanese citizens put pressure on their government to cease teaching English altogether in the ensuing years prior to WWII. Now, we do also know that this Fire Trike spent some time in Malaysia, although we don’t know precisely when it got there. Malaysia was colonised by the British until 1957 and the English language was (and is) commonly spoken as a result so that seems like a strong possible explanation.
 
In any case, it’s definitely worth heading over to Motorworld’s site to check out even more photos of this unique piece of Japanese motorcycling history.
 
Source: Ride Apart, Colin Kirsch

Back to newsletter​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Quick navigation

  • Home
  • FRI magazine
  • DMJ magazine
  • Articles
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Contact

Social

Who are we?

FRI Media (Pty) Ltd is an independent publisher of technical magazines including the well-read and respected Fire and Rescue International, its weekly FRI Newsletter and the Disaster Management Journal. We also offer a complete marketing and publishing package, which include design, printing and corporate wear and gifts.

Weekly FRI Newsletter

Subscribe to the newsletter free of charge!
© Copyright 2025 Fire and Rescue International. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Magazines
    • Featured Article
    • FRI Magazine
    • DMJ Magazine
  • Newsletters
    • 9 May 2025
    • 2 May 2025
    • 25 April 2025
    • 11 April 2025
    • 4 April 2025
    • 21 March 2025
    • 14 March 2025
    • 7 March 2025
    • 28 February 2025
    • 14 February 2025
    • 7 February 2025
    • 31 January 2025
    • 24 January 2025
    • 17 January 2025
    • 10 January 2025
    • 20 December 2024
    • 13 December 2024
    • 6 December 2024
  • Advertising
    • Fire and Rescue International
    • Disaster Management
    • FRI Newsletter
  • Subscribe
  • Articles
  • Galleries
    • DMISA 2024
    • NMU Fire Symposium 2024
    • ETS 2024 Gallery
    • WFFG Denmark 2024
    • TFA 2024 Gallery
    • Electra Mining 2024
    • Drager Challenge 2024
    • AOSH Firexpo 2024
    • Midvaal Fit to Fight Fire 2024
    • WoF KNP 2023 Gallery
    • TFA 2023 Gallery
    • DMISA Conference 2023
    • ETS 2023 Gallery
      • ETS 2023 Main Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Second Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Third Scenario
      • ETS 2023 Marching
      • ETS 2023 Exhibitors Demonstrations
      • ETS 2023 Prize Giving
      • ETS 2023 Team Photos
      • ETS 2023 General Photos
    • Drager Fire Combat and Rescue Challenge 2023
      • Presentation
      • Tower Challenge
      • Mobile Training Challenge
      • Fitness Challenge
      • General
      • Group
      • Prize Giving
    • AOSH Firexpo 2023
    • Midvaal Fit to Fight Fire
      • Midvaal Challenge
      • Midvaal General Photos
      • Midvaal Team Photos
      • Midvaal Prize Giving
    • WC IFFD 2023
    • NMU 13th Fire Management Symposium 2022
    • JOIFF Africa Conference 2022
    • ETS 2022 Gallery
      • ETS 2022 Main Scenario
      • ETS 2022 Fire Fighter Challenge
      • ETS 2022 Skills Event
      • ETS 2022 Exhibitors/demonstrations
      • ETS 2022 Team Photos
      • ETS 2022 General Photos
      • ETS 2022 Awards Ceremony
    • TFA 2022 Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Main Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Group Gallery
      • TFA 2022 Mini TFA
      • TFA 2022 Awards Gallery
    • IFFD 2018
      • Western Cape
    • SAESI
    • TFA
      • TFA 2018
      • TFA 2019
        • TFA 2019 Start
        • TFA 2019 Stage 1
        • TFA 2019 Stage 2
        • TFA 2019 Stage 3
        • TFA 2019 Awards
        • TFA 2019 General
        • TFA 2019 Group
    • WRC 2018
    • WRC 2019
    • A-OSH/Securex
    • IFE AGM 2019
    • ETS Ind Fire Comp Nov 2019
    • ETS Challenge 2021
    • Drager launch
    • Drager Fire Combat and Rescue Challenge 2022
  • TFA
  • Contact