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Post by prodigit on Aug 25, 2013 11:20:09 GMT -5
Chinese bikes of today are much better than US bikes of 20 or 30 years ago. They're lower in CC's, naturally, because times have changed, and gasoline is expensive, but Harley Davidson made some pretty crappy motorcycles themselves in the 80's, where important engine parts where totally inaccessible, and modern comforts where not present, like eg: an oil dip stick (some harleys had an oil window, where you needed to keep the bike level, by putting someone on it, but the rider would not be able to see the window, and even then, the window readout quite often wasn't visible, even in daylight; or where a valve adjustment meant demounting the complete engine, or where the spark plug was hidden behind so many things, you needed a special sized tool to get it out!
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Post by crawdad on Aug 25, 2013 11:45:34 GMT -5
I have been on two wheels for a very long time . I remember the jap bikes and all the crap everyone would talk about them also had a few older friends that remember the British Invasion in the sixties and fifties with their bike . It comes to mind now about the chinies bikes and all the negative comments I read and hear about on the web and at meetings with other scooter enthusiast . Hear ....is the deal everything they say bad about the chinies scoots was also said about the Hondas , yamahas , triumphs , BSAs and others when they came . Brit bikes used cheap electronics and would rust because their chrome was thin , ......jap bikes were cheap and junk , would rust because their chrome was thin and used to much aluminum ( back when Harley's still made the old shovel head ) .....even Vespas as much as we hold them dear were also bad mouthed amongst the cushman crowd as being a cheap Italian sardine can with rubber band engine . Now it's the Chinese scoots and bikes that are getting the bad rap. Does anyone but me and others who have some grey weathered hair ....or what's left of it ...lol....remember that everything that is said now was said years and years ago about those other bikes and scooters that we think are so awesomely great now? Yes they are great now but when they were just making it into the markets they faced the same critasizum as the chiniese scoots and bikes face today . There are many differant manufactures on the Chinese scoots now and world markets will see who will survive and who will be the best of the best. And when it is ten or twenty years down the line only a few will still be producing , but those few will be the best of the best and can compete every bit as anything from Europe , Japan , USA, or were ever you want to say is the best ....they will be able to raise the bar just as others have . Weather it be best bang for the buck or refinement into something others want to have to play catch up with . They are the worlds biggest manufacturing country and although their copywrite laws suck big time I'm sure there is plenty of enovation to be had . Japs were also branded as copiers of everything if memory serves me correctly ...they copied something from the states or Europe and tried to refine it and make it better .....something's worked out well , others didn't . When the Chinese manufacturing sees a need to innovate and such they will just like Honda did in 69 with the 750 and Kawasaki did with the old triple two stroke 500s ....they just needed that one thing that was truly their idea to make it big and set them on the map for others to take notice . Ok my rant is done . Lol. Didn't want to step on any shoes . The scootes and bikes out there now are great , no question but don't forget they were also at one time called everything these chinese scoots we ride and enjoy so much . Now get out on ya scoot and ride ;D I like the ranting ! It keeps the old things of this world alive.I had a Francis Barnett ,one lung and push start.great little bike. English ,you know !!!
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Post by wheelbender6 on Aug 25, 2013 11:53:23 GMT -5
I bought a kawasaki in the mid 70s. Nobody that I knew, had heard of a Kawasaki back then. It was very reliable and fun. The AMF Harleys of the period were not near as reliable. Brittish bikes were fast but you didn't want to get too far from home.
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Post by bhinch on Aug 25, 2013 12:02:22 GMT -5
My first motorcycle was a 1969 Yamaha DS6C 250 2 stroke, mid pipes and was called a scrambler. which I rode in 1975. I obtained my motorcycle license on it. I still have that bike and I am building a cafe racer out of it. I have most of the parts to enter the time warp and the parts are very hard to find. Time does fly....enjoy your ride.....
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Post by nassauequipment on Aug 25, 2013 15:50:29 GMT -5
I grew up in the 50's and 60's....and all the "Jap Crap". We laughed at them. We had just demolished the country. Their stuff was cheap, but people bought it so they made it batter.
Then by the time the 80's rolled around, I was in my 30's and the 5 largest banks in the world all ended in "A" or "I".
Ninety's and I'm hitting forty and here comes China.... bye-bye Japan. China has done in roughly ten years what it took Japan took twenty five years.
Scary.
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Post by skyrider on Aug 25, 2013 16:27:57 GMT -5
Oh yes, those were the days! Started with a Harley Topper, then Harley FLE retire police machine, Harley Sprint. Then to Yamahas--YDS3 250, man wou that thing go----
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Post by scootrboi on Aug 25, 2013 19:23:01 GMT -5
[replyingto=spandi]spandi[/replyingto]Heinkel made the first jet airplane that flew. Heinkel was always an innovator, a leader in streamlining, inventor of the ejection seat (for the jet). When the He 111 bomber was introduced in the early days of WW2 it would outrun the fighters that tried to destroy it. The Heinkel scooter was successful in hundreds of motorcycle races in Europe, winning many gold and silver medals. They went head to head with motorcycles of the day over all kinds of terrain and placed very well. www.photoservice.com/volumeLR/phs_volume111/375797_3851986/m_15979189_0.jpgwww.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/jet/he178.jpg
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Post by scootrboi on Aug 25, 2013 19:27:16 GMT -5
I grew up in the 50's and 60's....and all the "Jap Crap". We laughed at them. We had just demolished the country. Their stuff was cheap, but people bought it so they made it batter. Then by the time the 80's rolled around, I was in my 30's and the 5 largest banks in the world all ended in "A" or "I". Ninety's and I'm hitting forty and here comes China.... bye-bye Japan. China has done in roughly ten years what it took Japan took twenty five years. Scary. Hondas were small but impressive from the start. A major problem at the time was the lack of metric tools. To this day very few Japanese bike owners have a screwdriver that fits the Japanese Phillips screws. Except the little one that comes with it!
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Post by rockynv on Aug 26, 2013 4:25:09 GMT -5
I've posted this before. When I first asked my Harley-friend for advice on scooters, he told me to stay away from Chinese, because I'm not mechanical and they're not reliable--yet. He said he remembers when the same was true of Japanese products. And that Chinese products will get there with quality and reliability, but they're not there yet. And then it'll be someone else's turn to mass-produce low-grade products. Maybe India or Korea? >'Kat No such luck Kat. The folks over in India make the Genuine line of high quality scoots and also have been turning out these beauties for years. vvvv However Genuin was not a copy but the real deal licensed from Piaggio and with some mentoring from Piaggio. Manufacturers in India also bought out the Lambretta designs and tooling and made those for quite a while still making the Autorickshaws based on the Lambretta. A bit of a different approach was taken in India compared to China.
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