British Bike Photos

[Gary A]

Maybe some of you have heard about Shumacher Racing in Van Wert, Ohio. He specialized in Harley racing bikes. He had one of the first CNC milling machines I have ever seen. He machined connecting rods for the Harleys. They then had a lot of crankshaft failures so he cut and modified Chevy crankshafts. Not much, other than the block remained of the original Harley engine. A guy I worked with loved his Rice burners. This has been a long time ago, actually in the late 70's. He always made fun of Shuey's Harleys and told him that he would make a large bet that his Kawasaki would blow off the highly modified Harley. They met at the local drag strip and the Kawasaki did indeed win. Shuey was devastated. The Kawasaki was mostly stock but had a nitrous oxide injector. Thus ended the Harley domination at the drag strip.

I still remember when the old Indian motorcycles were cruising the roads. I wasn't real happy when the Japanese took over and dominated the motorcycle industry but you have to give credit where credit is due.

[H2oDunc]

So how much of a bike can be manufactured in Thailand etc before it isn't "British through and through" - the capacity restriction for bikes in Thailand is I believe 150 cc but Triumph won't be building for sale in Thailand - it's the world market they're interested in so I can see no reason why they don't build the big machines here....they'll have to clean up their management a bit though first - allegedly!

I dont know of any car,bike truck or what have you which is totaly manufactured in house. Everbody has parts made else where. So nothing is a Triumph or Honda or Harley etc. What makes it British is the Name, tradition and reputation of the brand. The domestic capacity for Thailand is now 250 hence the Platinum 250. Its also why the Honda Phantom went from 150 - 200 when they upped it to 200. As for building them here, I wouldnt hold my breath. They would have to invest a shed load of money into a factory here and as we all know investing in Thailand is not exactly pro farang!

[Lickey]

Hi Dunc, yes, basically the same post i posted earlier about the wing, thhttp://www.goldwingworld.com/pages/Goldwing%20history.pdfat 1972 was the prototype year, Oct 74 was the release to puplic yr in europe, also, i would think that you know that the Bennelli sei 1000 & 750 were Honda engines, my ex father in law had the 750, i took it to Brands Hatch once, not an impressive ride but got a lot of rubber necking in the parking place.

The Kawasaki Z9 & Z1 were the machines to have in the early 70s, they would outgun anything in standard guise anytime, the 750 triple 2 stroke mach 3 was awesome to, but all Kwackers were renowed for bad handling, that has since improved, 1985, i bought a GT550, it was a great little bike, then 2 new GTR 1000s mainly for touring Europe, then a 4 yr old ZZR1100 in 1998, i still have this in the UK, it has a full Givi luggage system, auto chain oiler and is looked after by an ex Kawasaki race mechanic, in Thai i have an XJR 1200 Yam, its a good looking bike, but just doent have the grunt or the fabulos intake roar when its hitting the power band as the ZZR, but what the hel_l, im going home for 3 weeks holiday in Oct so will ride it to my hearts content, keeping on the british bike subject, im glad im not going home to my old 1956 BSA C10L, used to put some pimsolls on the carrier so it would be more comfortable to push home when it broke down!!

[wilko]

The Honda Goldwing never started production till 1975,

Sorry!! think you are a bit confused, I have mailed my old club in Germany, the pages from Das Motorad with my picture on the goldwing, are framed on the wall of the clubroom, so I hope to be able to post them here real soon, Could not have been 1975, because that year I was on an all expenses paid holiday in Risley!! Nignoy

"Grisely Risely"!!!

[wilko]

So how much of a bike can be manufactured in Thailand etc before it isn't "British through and through" - the capacity restriction for bikes in Thailand is I believe 150 cc but Triumph won't be building for sale in Thailand - it's the world market they're interested in so I can see no reason why they don't build the big machines here....they'll have to clean up their management a bit though first - allegedly!

I dont know of any car,bike truck or what have you which is totaly manufactured in house. Everbody has parts made else where. So nothing is a Triumph or Honda or Harley etc. What makes it British is the Name, tradition and reputation of the brand. The domestic capacity for Thailand is now 250 hence the Platinum 250. Its also why the Honda Phantom went from 150 - 200 when they upped it to 200. As for building them here, I wouldnt hold my breath. They would have to invest a shed load of money into a factory here and as we all know investing in Thailand is not exactly pro farang!

You do realise the factory here is already up and running?

Edited September 16, 2007 by wilko

[wilko]

Essentially the Brit motorbike industry got the fate it deserved - they had completely lost the plot by the 70s - 60s even.

As for "tradition" - well, I seriously hope that Triumph have shaken off all vestiges of their "traditions" or they will surely go down the pan again - which is of course one of their strongest traditions

[wilko]

Triumph are moving all production to Thailand......I hear that in fact they just about have already with 3 factories in Chonburi

[H2oDunc]

Triumph are moving all production to Thailand......I hear that in fact they just about have already with 3 factories in Chonburi

Triumphhave no plans to move all production to Thailand. Period!

Triumph Motorcycles (Thailand) Ltd.

Since 2002 Triumph has operated a factory in Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate, Chonburi. The Triumph factory in Chonburi is responsible for producing high quality motorcycle components which are exported to our assembly factory in the UK. Under the supervision of a UK management team Triumph Motorcycles (Thailand) Ltd produces components to the high standard demanded by our UK parent company and Triumph's world-wide customers.

The components currently produced in Thailand include Steel & Aluminium Fabrications, Exhaust Systems, Fuel Tanks and Chrome Covers. Due to the success of our factory in Chonburi we are now looking to expand and develop more processes in Thailand. These will include Wet Painting and Assembly.

We are looking for intelligent, dedicated and motivated people to help Triumph to expand our production. We are looking for people capable of leading a production team to meet the output and high quality standards required. Attractive salaries are offered to suitable candidates. We are proud to invite you to join us and become part of our success.

The above is from the official Triumphin Thailand site. They are now going to do some assembly and painting but still no Actual assembly and export of complete bikes.

There have been lts of rumours about production but thats all it is.