mtb-timeline

Kuwahara

Kuwahara Bicycles was founded in 1918 in Osaka Japan by Sentarō Kuwahara and became famous in the west for its BMX bicycles, which they continue to make today: kuwahara-bike.com. Their strong fan base today is partially due to a boy named Elliot flying away with ET on a Kuwahara special built for E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. ¹⁾

Most early (1983-1985) Kuwahara mountain bikes sold in North America were dual branded: Kuwahara on the down tube with an Apollo headbadge. Apollo was an Australian brand ²⁾³⁾ imported into North America by Fred Deeley of Vancouver, BC. All early North American Kuwahara/Apollo mountain bikes will likely have a Deeley sticker on the seat tube. All Kuwaharas from 1986 have a Kuwahara logo on the head tube.

So… are these Apollos or Kuwaharas? This is why it's hard to research Asian bike makers: they're often the hidden maker behind many “brand name” bicycles and these facts are hidden in a difficult to translate language which isn't likely recorded on the internet. Thus far, credit had been given to the designer, builder or simply the branding. In the case of Apollo vs. Kuwahara, it's likely Kuwahara should get the credit as:

• Many Kuwaharas from this era do not have Apollo badging.
• The mispelling on “Siera Grande” seems to imply the bikes were painted in Japan.
• Many Kuwaharas in Australia do not have an Apollo badge. For example: mtbr

Apollo of Australia should get its own timeline entry if some local Aussie examples can be found.

Despite Kuwahara's popularity, no 1983-1985 catalogs containing Kuwahara mountain bikes have been found.

E.T. Forever Kuwahara
dreamgate.ne.jp

1983 Apollo

The date is uncertain and the model name is unknown. It lacks the classic bullmoose handlebars but does have a Suntour Mountech front derailleur which is period correct. Presumably, all Kuwahara mountain 1984-1986 bikes have lugged frames with bullmoose handle bars. In the absence of catalog verification, the following Kuwahara (welded ⁴⁾) bullmoose mt. bikes models have been found:

• blazer: 1986+?
• lion: 1983?
• shasta: 1984+
• siera/sierra: 1984+
• cascade: 1984+
• aries: 1984+
• mondia cascade cross: 1986 (switched to a Nitto v-stem in 1987)

1983 Apollo/Kuwahara bikeforums

1984 Aries

All of the mountain bikes pictured on this page are Apollos with Deeley stickers.

Triple branding: Kuwahara/Apollo/Deeley

Fred Deeley logo closeup

1984 Aries flickr

1985 Siera Grande

The misspelling was corrected in later versions.

Siera Grande

1985 Siera Grande bikeforums

1984? Kuwahara

This pure Kuwahara mountain bike showed up in August 2021, with 1983-4 Suntour parts, a Kuwahara head badge and no Apollo/Deeley stickers. Was this a Japanese market bicycle? If so, then it should have a Japanese bike shop sticker somewhere. The sticker at the bottom of the seat tube is unreadable in the pics.

Kuwahara Head Badge ebay

1984? Kuwahara ebay

Production Notes

[1]. ?