OT: New Harley

[Moped]

honda is building a new plant in japan and the all new 2011 wing will be built there. i think all the 09 and 2010 wings are being built in ohio. besides if we are so up on bikes being made with american labor ,why are we riding rice burners? i will tell you why i ride them. because there is no american owned manufacturer that builds any thing i would be interested in. i wish they did. harley sold alot of foreign bikes over the years alot of them were made by armachi. harley just bought an italian motorcycle company and will be selling sportbikes in the usa. the v-rod engine was designed by porch. harley uses keihen carbs and injection and showi suspension. i have never owned a foreign car although my ford ranger is a mazda. and i accidently bought my last escort before i found out it was made in mexico. i swore i would never buy a car made in a foreign country.bill

 

Snarley, Honda left Ohio and went back to Japan in June 2008.

[Snarley Bill]

Snarley, Honda left Ohio and went back to Japan in June 2008.

moped, notice i said i think they are made here. i left a way out. i thunk wrong. just got back from the honda web site. the plant is shut down. from what i can find out no one knows much. i grabbed onto some heresay in my previous post before i made sure. some say all the 09 wings were made here and stockpiled. seems like speculation on the 2010. the new wing will be a 2011. all of the 2008 wings were made here. sorry about that. bill:2133:

[Guest seuadr]

moped, notice i said i think they are made here. i left a way out. i thunk wrong. just got back from the honda web site. the plant is shut down. from what i can find out no one knows much. i grabbed onto some heresay in my previous post before i made sure. some say all the 09 wings were made here and stockpiled. seems like speculation on the 2010. the new wing will be a 2011. all of the 2008 wings were made here. sorry about that. bill:2133:

you know what, though? they transfered all the honda gl guys to the honda car plants.

 

that's pretty big, imho.

[Snarley Bill]

This is a complicated subject. It can be argued many different ways. Somebody asked "where do the profits go"...well...I'm sure that much of the profit goes to the country where the company is based. What do they do with those profits though? That is the real question. At least some of those profits end up being invested in new plants and equipment in the USA. What is better? If you buy a Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler, etc. that is made in Mexico, South Korea, etc.....then it's the workers in those countries that have jobs, pay taxes, spend money in the local economies. If you buy a Toyota, Nissan, etc. that is made in the USA. Then it's the American worker who has a job, pays taxes, pumps money back into the economy.

 

I'm not really arguing one side or the other but simply saying that this is not a black and white issue. I consider a lot of different issues when I am deciding what to purchase. We each have to decide where our priorities lie.

way back when i worked at ford and was probably the most pro buy american person that ever existed, every thing i wore had to be made here. i would get in fights over the subject, and actually harass people for buying foreign cars. then the american industries moved alot of manufacturing jobs out of the country and started having alot of parts made in other countries so it was next to impossible to buy american. like i said my ford ranger is a mazda. it's a different world now then it was back then. nafta took it's toll on american industry as i new it would when it went through. another get rich quick scheme like e-85. we made this lousy bed we are in, now we are stuck with it. it's to big to turn back the clock on. so now i buy what i can afford like everyone else does. i hate the way things are but i don't have the power or the fortitude to do anything about it. so like every one else i have to go with the flow. the only thing i have left is my voice and i still say my piece and try to get out what i truly believe in every chance i get, and i will till the day i die. snarley bill :clap2:

[Leland]

You think that the lack of manufacturing in this country is bad now, just wait and see what happens if the "Cap and Trade" bill passes the Senate. The companies that have stuck it out here will be making a bee line for China and India.

[midnightventure]

My Trans Am was made in Canada but I personally consider them American.

[eusa1]

My Trans Am was made in Canada but I personally consider them American.

 

HUH?:think:WTF?

[Canuck]

Like a brother from a different mother, I think.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

My Trans Am was made in Canada but I personally consider them American.

 

Yeah, as in...North American?

 

[midnightventure]

yeah

[sofapilot]

You should get your facts straight...

 

the ONLY thing on the Ultra made offshore is the wheels. (Australia) and H-D bought that company to save it.

 

If you would like I can take you to the plant for a tour and you can see each part made.

 

Plastic- Tomahawk WI,

Power-train Menomonee Falls, WI

Frame York, PA

Tins, York, PA

Seats, York, PA

Wheels, Adelaide Australia

 

Now read this.....

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/28/business/news/6_04_382_28_08.txt

 

 

honda, and yamaha have plants in america, i believe i read somewhere that suzuki do as well.

 

it's just like GM and their "built in america" campaign.. honda,hyunda, and toyotas all have as many, if not more parts from america, and many models are assembled in america.

 

nevermind the fact that many "american" cars are using mitsubishi and toyota motors.

 

 

i have no problem with these brands at all.. just selling an image, and the reality aren't always the same.

[eusa1]

with that all said....where are the front forks//shocks made??

hmm?

[footsie]

If all harley parts are made in the US, explain why most of the parts the my friends order for their bikes, ordered from the local harley dealers, when take out of the box has Made in taiwan on them.

 

A friend of mine just received a carb, which came from the dealer, Genuiene Harley Davidson on the box. Made in Japan on the carb.

[flb_78]

Where do the Showa forks and Mikuni carbs come from?

 

How about the Bosch fuel injection?

[Mariner Fan]

I like Harleys. Yea, they are expensive, but the fit and finish on these bikes are outstanding.

 

I don't know if I will ever own one but I wouldn't count it out.

[YamaGeezer]

On a ride to the Dragon with some friends a few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to ride both a 2005 Ultra Classic and a 2009 Ultra Classic. My friend payed 24K+ for the 2009.

 

Both bikes shook badly at idle. They smoothed out once we got going. The shifters were clanky on both - very clanky on the '09. Both bikes were much, much smaller than my Venture. I felt cramped and uncomfortable, even on the bigger '09. I thought both were sluggish, but handled very well in the curves. Both were much hotter on my legs than my Venture.

 

I loved the gauges on the dashes and the better speakers. Both had stock seats. Those, combined with the seating position, would almost certainly mean I couldn't ride for more than a hour before having to get off the bike.

 

They both rode mine and the only complaint they had was the gear noise, which didn't surprise me.

 

Made in America or not, I do not understand what the attraction is to HD's tourers. They're beautiful, no doubt. They sound good. But looking at it and hearing it is not riding. The Venture is a smoother, faster and more comfortable ride. I really felt good about my bike once I got back on it.

[Sailor]

Some time ago I read an article on Harleys Evolution engine. The man in charge of development said they could not get the tolerances they wanted in America as they could not guarantee the volume. Consequently they had the engine parts manufactured in Japan and assembled them in the USA. That was a while ago so I don't know if that has changed since then. One main reason Japanese, and other, manufacturers built plants in the US was to avoid heavy import duties. I think with trade agreements those duties have been reduced to the point where they no longer need the US facilities. With NAFTA it is cheaper for US manufacturers to move their plants to Mexico. It is not just cars and bikes, the Evil Empire (Walmart) is destroying American and Canadian jobs daily. The largest freighter in the world is for Walmart and just to go between the US and China.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

It is not just cars and bikes, the Evil Empire (Walmart) is destroying American and Canadian jobs daily. The largest freighter in the world is for Walmart and just to go between the US and China.

 

It always amazes me how someone who has spent thousands of dollars buying an imported motorcycle, using an imported computer, and an imported cell phone, tv, cam corder, digital camera and wearing imported clothes and maybe has a wife driving an imported SUV or mommy car, is so eager to declare it is ok for them, but its everyone ELSES fault things are going down the tubes. Its easy to blame big companies...but go shopping in any mall, Best Buy, Radio Shack, or Target, Payless, or the local flea-market...its EVERYWHERE...sure...blame it on Wal-Mart, but the truth is, American consumers want inexpensive goods. Period. Not ONE single customer walking into Wal-Mart is doing that under threat of harm.

 

I'm biased, but the fact is, we live in a globally sourced world. If I could buy the high tech products I want to buy, from an American company, for a reasonable price, I would. Fact is, I cant. But I dont blame anyone other than the government for this situation. Our politicians are the best money can buy, and have, over the years, implemented trade policies that unfairly balance the production and purchase of high tech products off shore.

 

I'm getting off the soap-box for now.....