Nichirin increases brake hose output
Tokyo--Nichirin Co is expanding production of rubber brake hose for motorcycles at its plant in Himeji, in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture. A report in the Nihon Kasei Shimbun said the company will install extra production equipment at the site in the next few months, and re-organise the production area, introducing new equipment to improve the hose surface finish.
The report said Nichirin expects to export the extra production to Thailand and Indonesia. This means the new capacity is almost certainly aimed at low-performance bikes. A spokesman for Nichirin UK could not confirm the story, but said the trend in the high-end motorcycle business is away from rubber, toward "SUS" hoses: stainless-steel braiding over PTFE hoses. He said these look more attractive, and owners of performance bikes often remove black rubber hose and replace it with SUS aftermarket products.
Nichirin aims to raise sales from motorcycle brake hoses in 2006 to about 7000 million yen (€52 million), up 27 percent from the estimated 2004 amount.
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Nikkei (Japan) story (Subscription to Nikkei may be required)
Website of Nichirin
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