Kyusha Shoes

old wheels

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Speed Star MK.1

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Weekly Wheel Roundup Pt. 3

Some rare Speed Star, Fanica, Devil Japan, Hasemi and Courreges models on YAJ this week.

Kicking things off this week is a very cool design from arguably Japan’s most popular wheel brand… Speed Star Racing. Seen under a few different names like the Speeder Aero Development, Speedster Fin, and just Development Fin. As a lonely single, sized at 15×6.5J 4H / 114.3 +20 this would make an awesome display / collectors piece for a starting bid of only 4,000 yen! Check it out here. Following…

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BB on Bullseye - Aero Arrow Wheels.

BB on Bullseye - The Buchmann brothers Aero Arrow Wheels.

When I saw this advertisement in a 1986 Parts Catalog, I thought it was one of the most beautiful wheel ads ever.  A visually striking aero wheel, splashing water, the bb Auto brand that was always a bit of a mystery… and some of the most difficult to translate/poetic Japanese I have ever read.

  My liberal translation reads…

Differentiate the moment.

Beauty. It subdues all.

Beauty. It makes…

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Weekly Wheel Roundup Pt. 2

This week on auction...

Time for the second installment of our Weekly Wheel Roundup and luckily the finds did not disappoint! Let jump right into it – Enjoy!

Bell Racing making another appearance only this time in the extremely rare BRA-104 model. This 4 piece set was sized at 13x6J 4H / 114.3 +15 and sold on yahoo auctions for only 15,500 yen. Not bad for such a hard to find set!

Next up is the Work Spirit 33,…

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Weekly Wheel Roundup Pt. 1

Seen on Yahoo. Some of Robbie's special finds this week!

At Kyusha Shoes we really love the hunt for new and interesting finds. This search often comes with new discoveries, scarcely seen sets and oddball sizes. We want to share with you a weekly collection of rarities that we know you’ll love. Stay tuned each week for this new series to see what we come across and prepare yourself for the first installment of the Weekly Wheel Roundup! First up is an…

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Buying Wheels with Jauce

I bought my first set of wheels with Jauce. It doesn't get much easier than this, but...

Since starting this website, the wheel info coming in has been overwhelming.  I’ve learned so much.  And I’ve also learned a lot about  how wheel enthusiasts around the world are buying and exporting wheels out of Japan.  I am lucky enough to have family in Japan that has helped me lots in the past with bidding on, receiving and shipping out my auction wins from YAJ or Rakuten.  Ten years into…

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1981 Leonard Pismo. "The excel light alloy wheel for nice guys." Too bad they all finish last. #pismo #kyushashoes #eighties #leonardwheels

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Having Fun With Three Piece

Change your disk? Other amazing Southern Ways wheels. Shame that they are just shy of one for each day of the week...

Southern Ways is best known for their Glids II mesh, but as this advertisement from 1979 shows, there are a whole lot of great kyusha wheels by Southern Ways.  The headline reads, “Your disk, will you change it?” As the image suggests, all six wheels pictured share the same shell design and construction. In 1979, when three-piece wheels were still in their relative youth, the ability to swap…

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Know the Glid II and always wondered if there was a Glid I? #southernways #seventies Damn I love squares inside of circles.

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6J suits me. #ae86 #ae86life

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1979 Yamaco Silver Star Three-Piece aka Laira. #yamacowheels #enkei #kyushashoes

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Yamaco Silver Star Three Piece

Enkei, Yamaco, Footmark, Laiara, Ohtsu Tire, Silver Star... this lightweight three-piece four spoke had many names.

A reader was questioning my categorization of Silver Star wheels under the Yamaco brand instead of the Enkei brand.  This explains the reason for that.  Yamaco sold a fairly wide range of accessories and parts from wheels to decal packages.  Early Yamaco wheels, like the Silver Star Three-Piece (later re-named the Laira) where all produced by Enkei, and thus have Enkei markings on them.…

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Topy Jovite

A confused wheel from a confusing wheel builder? The Jovite is an interesting wheel, but that's probably more a result of this weird advertisement, and the fact that it's one time a wheel building corporate giant tried showing some personality.

You may not have heard of Topy Enterprises. That is forgivable. Although Topy has been producing wheels for more than 85 years, and today is a huge multi-national manufacturer, their focus has tended more towards commercial endeavours. They have served as a manufacturer for OEM application wheels (Nissan and Isuzu), as well as aftermarket wheels. Dunlop for instance, used Topy to produce most of…

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Getting Started on Yokohama - aka. Almex

When tubeless tires were notable...

If you have spent any time here at all, you have probably figured out, that I’m a huge Yokohama Advan honk.  Yokohama makes some of my favourite wheels in both the eighties and nineties as part of their Advan line up.  The Yokohama Almex line up however, is something that I’ve done pretty well to ignore.  By some standards, Almex wheels are considered bland or even ugly.  Sizing options are mild…

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In the morning of the magicians. #zn6 #86life

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Hmmm. Not sure who this guy is, but looks familiar... #bridgestone #bridgestonetires #eighties

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A Hero For Eighties Car Supplies

A wheel hero? Maybe a valiant but failed effort.

The Novan Wonder Rabbit is such a rare and unique wheel that I never imagined I’d ever find an advertisement for one.  This comes from Robbie’s Motorfan collection and an issue from 1979.  The translation reads. By our hand,something universal, the Wonder Rabbit, is created. This is the era for the west coast, a spot in California. What is the new direction for eighties car supplies? We made our…

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