Dear henrie,
Child was the founder of Japan Harley Davidson "HD Company of Japan".
Alfred Child arrived to Japan in 1923 as a Harley salesman. Child
founded the company in 1929.
A 1932 report by Harley Davidson mentions him:
"Alfred Rich Child, the Japanese sales rep, sells for $32,320, the
blueprints, tool and dies and machinery to Sankyo to produce HD
motorcycles under the name 'Rikuo', (which translates to "King of the
Road). Royalty's were to be paid to HD" (Bruce Bryner "HD tidbits from
'32", <http://www.iusb.edu/~bbryner/tidbits/f32hd.htm> - see at the
bottom of the page or look for alfred).
The factory was nationalised by the Japanese government in 1937. Child
himself stayed in Japan until 1941 (and left after Pearl Harbor). At
this point he moved to China and became a salesman of Harleys there
(to the KMT).
Child had a son, Richard, who followed his footsteps and managed
motorcycle factories in Japan (in 1944 he was arrested by the
government until the end of the war, and lost the hearing in one ear
because of the harsh conditions). However, Henry Child remained in
Japan and after the war became the official importer of Harleys,
including those that are used by the Imperial Guards.
My sources are in German (see bellow) and were also found in Google
Groups postings:
Matsuda880, "Re: Obscure facts"
<http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Rikuo+child+harley&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=380691bf.3548608%40news.usenetserver.com&rnum=1>
Robert Smits, "Re: Japan/Bikes",
<http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Rikuo+child+harley&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=B7s50B2w165w%40ham.almanac.bc.ca&rnum=3>
German sites on the Rikou bike (read German pages in English with
Google's translation machine at http://translate.google.com):
"Geschichte der japanischen Motorradindustrie"
http://www.classic-motorrad.de/japan_story.htm
"Wichtige Personen der Harley Davidson Geschichte"
http://www.chopper.de/harleype.htm
My search terms were :
Rikuo child harley
Rikuo child rich
Rikuo child alfred
Rikuo child
"richard Child" Rikuo
"Alfred Child" Rikuo
"Alfred Child"
"Alfred Child" "Harley-Davidson"
I think that answered your question, considering the limited resources
available on the man. However, if you need any clarifications on this
answer, don't hesitate to ask - I'd be pleased to clarify before you
rate the answer. |
