25 Years Luck Motorcycles
A Journey in Steel and Soul
Little did young Masayuki Sugihara know that his life’s winding road would lead him to head the maker of handbuilt motorcycles with global renown, "Luck Motorcycles", now celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Masa-san took his first baby steps into custom building in a Kyoto bike shop, cutting his teeth on the inner workings of domestic makes. The study of old US chopper mags soon led him to realize that there was no way around Harleys, and he took his small family to the US of A. At "Phoenix Motorcycles" he honed his budding skills of dismantling, reassembling, and build quality. Inspiration paved his way that led him to meet Japanese custom legend Chica, who sharpened Siguhara’s outlook on Harleys, choppers, details, style and tech. He saw increasingly clearer what makes a good motorcycle. He also knew that at one point he had to make a stand of his own. While Chica drove his newly founded shop straight for the rush hour traffic of Bike Build Off TV, Masa-san chose a different lucky off ramp:
He went back to Japan.
Not a retreat, a new start. He had brought a plan in his head to create his own world of singularly beautiful Harleys; a place, where the art of chopper building would be honoured, practised and passed on, an institution of custom culture: "Luck Motorcycles". Luck: a promise, an incentive, an aspiration.
Not long, and the first machines from Kyoto created a furore in the custom world. From the start it was clear that here was a new style setting a pretty high bar. Luck MC was, and is the epitome of sleek, homogenous bikes with incredibly intricate details, elegant takes on chop history and genuinely personal interpretations of classics, always miles away from attention grabbing frippery.
Reactions were euphoric: invitations to the most important shows such as Born Free and HRCS Yokohama followed, he was Invited Builder, he became member of juries, and, not to be dismissed: orders for bike projects came pouring in. It’s one thing to get a bike into a show creating a buzz, but to get orders that pay for the workshop, the mechanics, the machinery and tools etc, and with that, the whole philosophy, a totally different thing, and of course essential for a setup like Luck MC. To keep building that over 25 years isn’t luck though: it’s sheer determination and craftsmanship.
In the rather rare in-depth interviews
with Masayuki Sugihara, he comes across as calm, straightforward and clear, just like his work. And it quickly becomes clear how complex, meticulous and downright philosophical he is about the construction of each individual chopper. Whether it's the crazy story about the Shovel chopper for Flea, the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or the detailed treatise on what he considers to be an almost unsolvable aesthetic problem, namely that there is way too much empty space between the engine and the upper frame tube on 70s-style long fork choppers.
That's precisely what makes a Luck MC machine so special: thought out down to the most minuscule of details, tailored exactly to the rider's wishes and preferences, built with the whole soul of Harley wrenching and, last but not least: reliable on the road in every respect, whether in the inner cities or on the long hauls.
A welcome side effect of such perfection
are invitations to shows. For Sugihara-san, these are opportunities to show his custom style to the world again and again, preferring recognisability instead of repetition, which is the best advertising for him. He emphasises that at Luck MC, every bike is mapped out and built with the appropriate amount of enough time. Perfection and calm are elements of the success that he and his team have been working on for 25 years now.
To celebrate the occasion, a big party was thrown. Threatened by rain, it proved a major success, right in the middle of Kyoto. From all over Japan builder friends arrived and threw themselves into the party with gusto, along many other fans of Luck MC, pushed through the night by DJs, beer, pin stripers, burgers, nachos, leather art ... not forgetting the many wild talks about Harleys, wrenching, gasoline, oil and miles spent on the road, and the many good wishes for many more fascinating combinations of steel and soul to come: Luck Motorcycles!
