MOTORBIKE manufacturer Dave Marsden has turned the business world on its head by selling his machines to Japan. Dave who runs the Z-Power firm has gone into the heart of the modern bike empire and won the Japanese over. In a genuine "coals to Newcastle" story, Dave's firm based in Victoria Street industrial estate, Leigh, has became a prized brand name in the Far East.

Former Kawazaki employee Dave, aged 37, decided to go it alone with his own business in 1987.

First he set up the business to deal in hard to come by spare parts. Then he started to use the parts to build replicas of original Kawazaki bikes from the 1970s. He chose Z-Power because all the early Kawazaki bikes had code numbers starting with the letter Z. His first was a Kawazaki 900 which he sold to a local bike showroom who wanted to attract more customers through the door.

Dave, who runs the business with his wife Michelle, said: "First showrooms bought them as an eye-catcher. Then in the last couple of years there's been a big rise in nostalgia in Japan. Kawazaki decided to set up a bike museum in Akashai.

"But because they're a very throw-away society they hadn't bothered to keep any. So that's where I came in. They took 14 of my reconstructed machines."

Then word spread and the Z-Power name has become highly sought after with private bike enthusiasts placing orders. An agent based in Japan has been taken on to co-ordinate sales.

Dave added: "It's a strange thing. It's really ironic. But I'm not complaining because I'm getting great business out of it.

"They seem to find my machines and anything made in England to be very desirable and associate it with quality."

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