Below is a recent letter from Moriwaki Engineering - anyone with info or photos of the Japanese or Australian 80cc series/endurance races or the professional riders named below please Email me!

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Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 20:34:31 +0900
From: moriwaki engineering <info.overseas@moriwaki.co.jp>
To: havoc23 <carcosa@eskimo.com>
Subject: MH80

Hi Ian,
Thank you very much for your E-mail and interest in Moriwaki Engineering.

As you mentioned in your e-mail, MH80 is no longer being produced and neither the repair parts for the bike.
There, however, are still a few parts that are available and those are still being stocked.  I recommend your checking our stock level before placing an order. The biggest reason why we produced MH80 is because we wanted to supply road racers a good practicing bike.  MH80 races in Japan are still there, althoughthe number of people riding it are gradually decreasing.  It is a good practicintg bike because of a few good reasons.

First is because of its required maintenance. The bike uses a CR80 enginewhich as you know is an off-road going racer with high durability and a good power. Clearances of the engine components are large in comparison with that of as ever road-racer's which you have to overhaul the engine every two meetings.If you did not have to open the engine so often, that will save the riders quite a bit of dollars, don't you think?

Second is the rules that are applied in MH80 races. (I am not so sure of your rules).In Japan, the racing regulation for MH80 is very simple: Full stock condition.  No modificationsare allowed.  All you can do is to get new stock tires and maybe clean the piston.This enables all the bikes to be in a fairly same condition.  It is not the bike but therider, if you wanted to win a race.  In addition, since the bike is in a full stock condition,the tires would slide and the suspensions may not trace the track.  The point is,"to be able to experience how a motorcycle react to your commands at a safespeed".  If you brought a CBR954RR, for example, to a big GP circuit and tried toget to the edge of the potential, it certainly is very dangerous, especially forthe young riders.  But, they still have to learn how to get a better traction, how tocontrol the bike when it is sliding etc.  So, here it is for those people who seriouslywant to learn safely what road racing is.

I mentioned that it is a good practicing bike, and this is proven by the riders you may know.  I know a few WGP500 riders  who own a MH80 and they would ride the bike at a small track in the winter.  They say, "how to ride a MH80 is very difficult.You have to ride very smooth but aggressive.  Also, your input and actions have to be very accurate".  Gary McCoy (Red Bull Yamaha), Wayne Gardner ('87 WGP500 Champion),Anthony West (WGP500), Broc Parkes (NCR DUCATI) and many other riders really enjoyed the bike and they opened a race at Eastern Creek (AUS) two years ago.It was a "MH80 3Hours Endurance Race".  The race was very exiting.I am not aware of any web-sites that features the bike or where you will be able toget information of the race meetings, but there still is a class for MH80 in Japan. It's really fun to watch.

Good luck with your MH80.

Jin Sasaki
MORIWAKI ENGINEERING LTD.,
PUBLIC RELATIONS
info.overseas@moriwaki.co.jp

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http://www.moriwaki.co.jp