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Omega - Japan 1960's

In the 1960's Omegas have been sold in the USA that came from Japan. These were actally Kawasaki B8's, which were sold under the name Omega in the US by Ken Kay, the West Coast Suzuki importer. On the frame identification plate the brand name was Omega, with the addition "Custom built in Japan by Ken - Kay".
The Kawasaki B8 was quite a modern motorcycle, equipped with a 125cc 2-stroke engine delivering 11 horsepower. It had an electrical starter and a rotating 4-gear transmission (meaning you can shift from 4th through neutral directly to 1st gear) and an electric gear indicator. Price was 435 US$ and therewith it claimed to be the cheapest 125cc motorcycle with electric starter in the US.
Sales probably started in 1964. It is unknown for how long these Omega's have been sold and how much of them, but already in 1965 the same model has been sold in the US under the name Kawasaki Aircraft.
This it how it looks:

Ken Kay Omega from USA

Ken Kay Omega from USA

Here a picture from an advertisement:

Omega USA - built in Japan

Remarkable is that on this picture the tank logo is still the (mainly black) Kawasaki Aircraft logo, and not the Omega logo:

Tank logo Omega USA - built in Japan

Tank logo Kawasaki Aircraft

And this is the original Kawasaki (Aircraft) B8:

Kawasaki B8
(buddy seat not original)

Kawasaki B8

The identification plate on the Ken Kay Omega frame, unfortunately the text is difficult to read:

Frame identification plate of USA Omega
"custom built in Japan by Ken Kay"

But at the same time, the Ken Kay Omega's carried the Kawasaki Aircraft logo on some parts, like the mirrors, the scale of the tacho and even the ignition key (left on the picture):

Frame identification plate of USA Omega

The Omega's were also promoted in advertisements. The first comes from Cycle World Magazine, June 1964, and announces that Ken Kay is introducing its own brands, next to Omega also Trojan. On the same page was the following text:

Ken Kay Omega advertisement

The motorcycles on the pictures are clearly not the Kawasaki / Omega as shown above:

Ken Kay Omega advertisement

But later I found the next ad, showing the same motorcycle:

Ken Kay Omega advertisement

Also this appeared to be a Kawasaki, type B8M (and on the picture above again with a Kawasaki Aircraft logo on the tank):

Ken Kay Omega advertisement

But up to now I have not seen any picture of such an Omega Kangaroo, so I don't know whether they have actually been sold.

What the Trojan Motorcycle was is not clear, I could not find any more info on it. But it is as good as sure that this was not a Kawasaki, it looks more like an Italian bike. This is also more logical when looking at the 175cc displacement, as this size was very popular in Italy but almost nowhere else.

The next advertisement emphasizes the fact that the standard Ken Kay Omega was the cheapest motorcycle with an electric starter in America:

Omega USA - built in Japan

Ken Kay Omega advertisement

 

  

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