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Company History
Hideo "Pops" Yoshimura started the company back in 1954. As you can see from the picture, Yoshimura had a humble beginning. From the original shop in Japan, however, a seed was planted and it started to grow.
The reputation of Yoshimura grew quickly. The motorcycle and racecar engines Pops built were very quick. Soon he had a following of diehard racers. In the seventies, Pops came to America and started up the American division of his company.
Yoshimura R&D of America was born and places like Daytona, Loudon, and Brainerd haven't been the same since. The Yoshimura approach to racing proved very successful. The attention to detail and passion for perfection was instilled in every employee from day one. The products were clearly a cut above the competition and the
business grew.
The formula was then, and is now, very simple really, "Concentrate on nothing but performance, quality, and fit... the business will come." Yoshimura today has the same basic formula. While companies come and go trying all sorts of clever marketing plans and developing inferior products, Yoshimura just keeps growing. Our customers know that there will never be compromise with our products. They also know that our knowledge comes straight from the racetrack to our customer.
Pops knew product and he knew racing. In the world of Yoshimura, that's all that counts. Pops' son Fujio took over the business here in the USA and Pops returned to Japan to concentrate on the market there.
When Pops decided it was time to take it a little easy, Fujio went back to Japan to oversee the overall Yoshimura operations.
Suehiro "Nabe" Watanabe took over the reigns of Yoshimura R&D of America and Don Sakakura was promoted to race team manager.
Nabe came up through the ranks at Yoshimura. He started out as a race mechanic and now runs the largest sportbike pipe manufacturing business in the world.
Nabe was blessed with a fundamental understanding of the manufacturing process and has innovated numerous techniques in manufacturing, production, and racing exhaust design. The sum of these innovations is leadership in one of the most competitive segments of the aftermarket.
Don Sakakura is spending more and more time in the day-to-day operations of the company. While still managing the team to three straight Superbike titles, he is heavily involved in the overall management role of the company.
The faces may change at Yoshimura but one thing remains constant, a devotion to racing and building products capable of winning. Yoshimura puts racing first, business second. As it turns out, this philosophy has insured our business success.