Has Mazda Ever Made Motorcycles? A Look At The Brand's History With Two-Wheelers

Most enthusiasts know the Mazda brand for its long fascination with rotary engines, its iconic MX-5 Miata sports car, or its range of attractively priced hatchbacks, sedans, and SUVs. Over the decades, the brand has experimented with all kinds of car body styles, with some of Mazda's rarest vehicles including everything from a military Jeep made specifically for the Burmese government to a giant executive sedan with a tiny 1.3-liter rotary engine. 

During the company's early days, Mazda also briefly ventured into motorcycle production, and even won a race in its home nation with one of this small batch of two-wheelers. However, Mazda's owner at the time, Jujiro Matsuda, decided that three-wheeled vehicles would be more profitable, and cut motorcycle production almost as soon as it had begun.

Matsuda had been in charge of Mazda, then known as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., since 1921. Originally, the business made cork products, but Matsuda's leadership saw it quickly diversify into other products. Its first new venture would be machine tools, but by 1929, the company had built its first prototype engine. That engine was a 250cc two-stroke engine, and a few months after it was created, six examples were fitted into Mazda's prototype motorcycles.

Mazda built an initial batch of six motorcycles in March 1930, and the company would expand its production further over the following months, manufacturing 30 motorcycles for public sale. Since Mazda didn't have a distribution network, these motorcycles were sold through Mitsubishi dealerships. As a result, both the Mazda and Mitsubishi logos could be found on their fuel tanks. October 1930 saw the Mazda motorcycle enter its first race in Hiroshima, which it won despite facing tough competition from more established marques.

Despite this early success, Mazda pivoted toward making three-wheeled vehicles in 1931. It produced an initial batch of 66 three-wheelers, sold as the Mazda Go. Like its earlier motorcycles, Mazda sold the Go through Mitsubishi dealerships, and the three-wheeler featured Mitsubishi branding. The Go proved popular, and Mazda created a heavy-duty version of the vehicle with a larger 485cc engine the following year. 

This popularity came at the expense of Mazda's fledgling motorcycle operation, which it axed in order to focus on three-wheelers. Since that early experimentation, Mazda has never ventured back into the world of motorcycles; today, even the brand's fans might not know about this forgotten chapter of its history.