Post Sale Update: This Tora sold for $3,000 after 20 bids on eBay – but it keeps getting relisted…
Rockford Motors of Rockford, Illinois was the final chapter of the Bridgestone Cycle Company, which eventually morphed into today’s Bridgestone Corporation, the well-known tire manufacturer. The history we’re concerned with began after WWII with the production of small motorbikes and exports to the U.S. beginning in 1963 with Rockford Motors distributing to sporting goods and department stores, including the Aldens mail order catalog as a competitor to Sears (Gilera) and Wards (Benelli).
When business and regulatory pressures convinced Bridgestone to cease motorcycle production in 1970, the rights were sold to a Taiwanese company which continued to supply three models to Rockford who sold them under their own name as the 60cc Rockford “Chibi” and “Tora,” and the 100cc “Taka,” Sales ceased in 1975.
The Tora was a street legal, enduro-styled rotary valve two-stroke, making about 6 HP. Our subject is listed as a 1970 model and still resides in its original shipping crate. The seller’s very poor photos show a dust covered and dingy yellow Tora. The description notes that the bike displays some surface rust but the photos seem to show a complete package. Sold with a bill of sale, this genuine barn find is located in Anderson, South Carolina