The heart motif for this custom Japanese bike was inspired by its owner’s name. A native of Hiroshima, Japan, Aiko Takasuga wanted her bike to reflect who she really is. In Japanese “Ai” means love and what better way to represent love than with the heart symbol?

Nicknamed “LOVE-O” after Aiko’s name, this Japanese Honda Steed 400 (Honda Shadow in the U.S.) is one of a kind. Customized by Kengo Kimura of Heiwa Motorcycles, this pink and black Steed features the custom heart-shaped pipes and air cleaner cover along with plenty of other customizations giving it a unique sleek style.

A True Love Story

When Aiko first met the handsome Ryo, he didn’t even ride. But Aiko had a dream to tour by motorbike with her boyfriend. Ryo longed to be with the beautiful, sexy Aiko—so much so that he got his motorcycle license and purchased a bike in order to ride with her and fulfill her dream. Now, they are happily married.

How much does Aiko love riding? Well, their wedding wasn’t complete without their motorbikes.

Her future dream is to ride as a family when their one-year-old daughter gets a little older.

Inspiring Other Women to Ride

When Aiko rides she always has a goal in mind, whether it is to see beautiful scenery or to visit a café she learned about from magazines. Everywhere Aiko goes women talk to her about riding. After meeting and talking with her, the women Aiko meets want to ride too. It gives her great joy to inspire other women to ride.

In fact, ten years ago Aiko put together an all-female biker group call “Heart Attack Girls” and use the acronym “HaG”. The name’s first meaning is that they love the rush they get from riding—causing heart paralysis. The second meaning is that “HaG” and “HuG” have the same sound in Japanese so they always hug each other while greeting each other. This gives them the feeling that no matter what happens they will always be good friends forever.

Transformations of the ‘Love’ Bike

Aiko has always been a self-reliant woman and customizes her bike to reflect her personality. This is actually the third customization to her Honda Steed. With the anticipation of marriage, this time Aiko wanted her bike to have more of an “adult woman” concept by making it more sexy and less girly than the previous customization.

Although Heiwa Motorcycles usually customizes bikes in a European style, she asked Kengo Kimura to give her Japanese bike more of an American style.

Heiwa customized almost all parts of her Japanese bike, including the clean handlebars—which is Aiko’s favorite modification—with cables running through the bars.

The Japanese bike of course features the custom heart-shaped pipes and air cleaner cover.

 
Aiko’s LOVECO symbol—which she designed—is present at the base of the skinny tank with lots of hearts painted on top of the tank. Her short fender is painted to match the tank.

Other modifications include:

• Vintage headlight
• Matching spoke wheels
• Slim, angled oil tank
• Bobber-style forks and neck
• Clean, custom wiring
• Custom solo seat

A Few of Aiko’s Favorite Things

Aiko loves to ride near the beach because she feels time passes more slowly there.

Since pink is her favorite color she has a rule to wear at least one pink item when she rides. But her favorite piece of gear is her helmet. She had both her helmets customized with her LOVECO mark.

As far as resources for finding new gear, Aiko refers to the social networks and by checking out magazines. Aiko can be found on both Facebook and Instagram.

Do you have a bling’d out bike? Are you fashionably styling while you ride? Then check out How to get featured as a Biker Girl Bling’n It.