How do you get interested in something that doesn't exist where you live? Where its legacy to your family,friends,and countrymen is one of death and destruction? How do you put this behind you and boil it down to the basic bottom line feeling of enjoyment? Yukio Sato ,from the land of the red ball,aJapanese nationalist with American sensibilities,now calls Honolulu,Hawaii,home.When he was growing up in Tokyo,thirtysomething years ago,he was bitten in a roundabout way by the Harley bug.It first sank its teeth into him when he caught a glimpse of an old replica Harley called the Rikuo(One was featured in ER#118,April,1983.)The puttin'venom was in his blood.At fifteen years of age,young Yukio was gettin'into tearin'down,rebuildin'and modifyin'street,motocross,and cafe racers　that he come into con-tact with. He liked the feel of wrenches and grease,of taking things apart and putting them back together again.Of applying his brain power towards making the bikes work and look better.Better for Yukio meant the creative bikes he was seeng the U.S.military guys riding around on.It was the dawn of choppers in Japan.A whole new culture of individuality was finding its way into the ancient land of tradition.It was a revera-tion:you didn't have be the some,or look the some,or ride the same.His interest kept growing,as did his talents.And in his toolbox,he now had more standard than metric tools.While being gainfully employed as an architect and illustrator,he decided to sell his first Harley-his favorite bike-in order to get a plane ticket to L.A.He had to see the chopper lifestyle that consumed his thinking.His immediate impression of Harleys here was,"They're alive,not robots."Sato studied English,went back home,and began seriously building bikes,learning through trail and error.It wasn't long before he got a reputation as a thorough builder,with exacting standards.Then the low came down ,and the lead-ers of the Land of the Rising Sun dictated that bikes could not differ from factory designs when build in Japan.In other works,custmizing took it in the shorts.They could,however,be imported,and that's about when Yukio Sato picked up stakes and headed west-to Hawaii,where he resides and works today.The Titan is but one of his many fine-art Harley accomplishments.Yukio is an innovator who build what inspires him.Using pracicality as his guide.Like not   wasting time on chrome-plated steel that will just rust in the salty ocean air,instead employing components made of titanium,aluminum,and stainless steel which are more rust-resistant.He's a stickler for details,figuring just because you can't see it doesn't mean it shouldn't be perfect.He takes this approach to all his projects,including the recent completion and restra-tion of a 1934VL.Yukio is a high-tech artist who is into American motorcycle coulture.He builds three or four major project sleds a year,entering then show on the Island as well as on the Mainland,like the Oakland,California,Roadster Show.He'd like to help in bridging the gap between the Far East and America-one of his ideas is the introduction of bike drag-racing in Japan.Go for it.

-Knucklehead Kned

from Easyriders magazine:August 1989