Anyone own an American or European bike?

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: Popinski
I'm really getting tired of this. A Japanese brand that is made in America is still Japanese. A Ford that is made in Mexico is still an American car. An American made BMW is still a German car. A domestic machinery is still the Big 3... a foreign car is still considered a foreign brand.

Geez people. I don't care if a Honda is made here.. it's still Japanese!! Sushi that's made here is still considered Japanese food!



I agree with this, but the lines are not as defined as they once were.. and Frankly your right. but thats the way of our world today, one country makes some of the parts, another country another part.. then there all assembeled in another.. i dont think its fair to call anything made in XXXXX everything may be labeled this or that, or assembeled here or there.. but they all come from everywhere ! lol 2 pennies

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: Popinski
I'm really getting tired of this. A Japanese brand that is made in America is still Japanese. A Ford that is made in Mexico is still an American car. An American made BMW is still a German car. A domestic machinery is still the Big 3... a foreign car is still considered a foreign brand.

Geez people. I don't care if a Honda is made here.. it's still Japanese!! Sushi that's made here is still considered Japanese food!



But Japanese people made here are called American. Maybe we should just apply the same logic to cars and motorcycles.

 

[Robenstein]

Or perhaps we can agree that hondas made here are Japanese Americans ? LOL

 

[Popinski]

Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Originally Posted By: Popinski
I'm really getting tired of this. A Japanese brand that is made in America is still Japanese. A Ford that is made in Mexico is still an American car. An American made BMW is still a German car. A domestic machinery is still the Big 3... a foreign car is still considered a foreign brand.

Geez people. I don't care if a Honda is made here.. it's still Japanese!! Sushi that's made here is still considered Japanese food!



But Japanese people made here are called American. Maybe we should just apply the same logic to cars and motorcycles.



PLease don't be a smart-(Donkey). This is machinery we're talking about.

 

[Robenstein]

Well I am not the one that started the deviation by talking about Japanese food.

 

[Popinski]

Well, unless you eat Human, food and machinery can be the same when it comes to origin.. same as other things.

 

[Robenstein]

I guess being a German American myself I dont see things like a native yank does.

 

[boraticus]

Is a Victory an American bike?

Speaking of American bikes, I was out for a 200 mile ride yesterday. One of the riders in our group had a Fat Boy and was delayed joining the rest of us. His day started by getting a boost to get it running and fifteen minutes with him sitting on the bike while his wife rocked it back and forth to get it into neutral??? When he met up with us, he was afraid to shut the bike off because he thought it wouldn't start again and all during the day, had problems with finding neutral. Riding behind him was rather unpleasant due to fumes from unburnt fuel and of course, straight pipes. We were on the Valkyrie so getting ahead of him was a piece of cake. His fuel consumption was worse than the Valkyrie as well. It was the only machine that was giving anyone problems and it was the only HD in the group.

I was surprised to see such poor fuel mileage for a Harley. Generally, they get excellent mileage until people try to modify their engines to make more power. Sadly, all the guy got for his efforts was noise, fumes, backfiring and poor mileage.

To add insult to injury, we pulled into a donut shop that had several other motorcyclists sitting around. We parked the machines and walked to the coffee stand. While standing in line, a number of the other bikers walked past us toward our machines. Fat Boy owners watches them go by and mutters something about them going over to check out his Fat Boy. All of them walk right past it without giving it a glance and stop at the Valkyrie. His Fat Boy is a very impressive looking machine but when they're so ubiquitous, they don't draw too much attention.

 

[BigCahuna]

Why is it, you can still go to a Harley dealer and buy a new Fatboy and there not cheap. But if you go into a Honda dealer you can't buy a new valkyrie for any amount of money ? Any bike that is properly maintained will perform like it should. If you neglect it they'll mostly have starting problems. I never was a fan of limited production bikes, I guess that's why I haven' been impressed with Honda's . Too many models and too many short runs of production. Ride them today and part them out tomorrow.,,

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Popinski
food and machinery can be the same when it comes to origin.. same as other things.

Same as other things, but not the same as people? Why not?

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Why is it, you can still go to a Harley dealer and buy a new Fatboy and there not cheap. But if you go into a Honda dealer you can't buy a new valkyrie for any amount of money ? Any bike that is properly maintained will perform like it should. If you neglect it they'll mostly have starting problems. I never was a fan of limited production bikes, I guess that's why I haven' been impressed with Honda's . Too many models and too many short runs of production. Ride them today and part them out tomorrow.,,


When you buy a bike that will last a lifetime with basic maintenance, who cares how long the production of the model lasts? Parts availability is not an issue because most, of the wear item components are still in production. When you own a machine known for reliability and longevity, parts availability is seldom an issue.

Personally, I like the idea of have a limited edition bike. I have yet to see another one in the city I live in. Nothing draws a crowd as much as something different and unique. Top that off with fact that it's an awesome motorcycle as well, put's icing on the cake.

 

[Popinski]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Popinski
food and machinery can be the same when it comes to origin.. same as other things.

Same as other things, but not the same as people? Why not?



You really want me to tell you common sense? Let me start off for you... we have a brain. Are you really going to hold a ceremony for Sushi or a Honda Civic and say "You're officially American. You will now be labeled as an American." No. Honda is still a Japanese car/motorcycle and sushi is still Japanese.

 

[Quattro Pete]

It's a matter of a definition. You're certainly entitled to your own. Whether it's a correct one, who's to say?

 

[boraticus]

Where the product is made, is known as the country of origin. My Valkyrie says "MADE IN THE USA". Therefore, it's an American motorcycle. Plain and simple.

It would appear that HD advocates would like to lay claim to having the only motorcycle built in the USA. Not going to happen. Any machine that says 'MADE IN THE USA", is an American product. That includes Victory, Indian, Honda Interstate and Honda Valkyrie. There may be others as well.

 

[BigCahuna]

Assembled in America with parts from Japan. It is not an American motorcycle. It's a "Limited edition" when they stop making it? Maybe Honda should change their slogan to " limited edition's made every 16 months.,,

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Assembled in America with parts from Japan. It is not an American motorcycle.

Is HD made of parts from America in 100%? If not, then HD is not an American motorcycle either, by your definition.

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Assembled in America with parts from Japan. It is not an American motorcycle. It's a "Limited edition" when they stop making it? Maybe Honda should change their slogan to " limited edition's made every 16 months.,,


By that definition just about nothing is Made in the USA since foreign owned companies or foreign parts are in just about any "domestic" vehicle.

Honda must be doing something right. They have the second highest market share in the nation and last I checked they were only second by a few percentage points. And once again if it were not for the Hondas, Kaws, Suzukis, and Yamahas we would still have [censored] and unreliable bikes. Competition is a good thing. God bless the free market. It made Harley make a good bike.

 

[BigCahuna]

Honda holds the record for making the most discontinued models of any motorcycle made in the last 50 years. Do they go around shouting "were number two"? If not for hondas .kaws, and suzukis, Harley guys wouldn't know what a motorcycle graveyard looked like. With soo many makes and models to choose from, and more arriving daily from the crotch rocketeers, we'll never run out of cheap throw away imported motorcycles. Competition may be a good thing, and its good that Harley doesn't really have any. Really how do you guys gets so defensive over bikes the company that made them, doesn't even care about anymore? or the people that bought them.,,

 

[Popinski]

Oh my goodness. This is out of control. I can't believe this. Why can't people realize that the origin of the brand name is the country it's from. When someone says that they want an American car.. they're referring to brands like the Big 3.. Harley Davidson etc etc etc.

COMMON FRIGGIN' SENSE.

 

[boraticus]

"MADE IN THE USA" = American made.

By the way, I've got five Japanese motorcycles that are 38 to 34 years old. All of them running very well and parts are readily available.

So, the claim that Japanese machines are throw away bikes is completely unfounded. By the way, those little 350 and 400 cc machines will out-perform all but the V-Rod in the Harley line up. They kicked HD butt way back then and they can still do it now. That's almost 40 year old technology folks!