It's Sunday afternoon in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, and the local Harley-Davidson shop, American Street, is playing host to a stream of visitors in black leather jackets.
Walking through the showroom, which is adorned with such nostalgic items of Americana as a gasoline pump calibrated to 19 and 7/10 cents a gallon, an antique wringer-type washing machine, a "jawbreaker" gum-ball dispenser and several U.S. Route 66 road signs, the visitors cast appreciative glances at some 15 Harley models. The distinctive throaty rumble of a V-twin engine resonates from an adjacent service area.
"We can sell you one with the 'Shovelhead' engine (made between 1966-83, and so-named for the shape of its rocker-arm housing) for around 2 million yen," says employee Hirosumi Matsui, himself a Harley fanatic. That compares with a list price of about 2.5 million yen for a brand-new, fully equipped Harley FLHRCI Road King Classic -- not a huge difference. "But our 'Evolution' Harleys, built from 1984-98, are cheaper -- from 1 to 2 million yen," he quickly adds.
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