Ocean Beetle Inc

One of the great shops I visited in Japan was Ocean Beetle, on the outskirts of Tokyo in Kasukabe.

Lou Nozaki and his partners specialise in old Harley rebuilds and customs, and have a huge space crammed with mouthwatering old metal, vintage lids, clothes and mags – even a bar. Lou also has a cast aluminium business on the premises, and the bits and pieces he showed me (clutch pressure plates, spark pug holders, air scoops) were top quality.

They are also remaking precise replicas of the late sixties classic Bell TX500 helmets and were kind enough to give me a sample to road-test. Lou and Shu even took me for an Indian curry after I told them it was the UK's (and my) favourite grub. Nice!

Look for more on the shop and their great bikes in the mag over the coming months.