Iconic American Harley Davidson Motorcycles to be Made in Thailand

[Bikeman93]

Just now, Techno Viking said:

Why are you even in this thread then if you do not like people that ride motorbikes ?

Most Harley owners don't ride motorbikes either and they're here too!

[RigPig]

27 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

Why are you even in this thread then if you do not like people that ride motorbikes ?

I think is just a matter of TROLL!!! in his case.....

[transam]

31 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

That you should have bought a car instead if those are your criteria?

Good grief...................

[Stevemercer]

Some people will never get it. Some people will buy an imitation/substitute Porshe for half the price, an imitation classic motorbike, or an imitation Van Gough painting, and try and pass it off as the real thing. They may even rationalise it as better and cheaper than the real thing. However, some things are ageless and appreciate with time. That's what having class is all about, as opposed to being a <deleted>.

 

Not that there is anything wrong with being a <deleted>.

[ben2talk]

2 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

That you should have bought a car instead if those are your criteria?

Looking at the back of a Goldwing you'll see a two-wheel car...

Actually there are many choices, and Harley's aren't a bad one if you want to carry huge loads over long distances with no curves and at moderate speeds.... 

 

2 hours ago, Stevemercer said:

Some people will never get it. Some people will buy an imitation/substitute Porshe for half the price, an imitation classic motorbike, or an imitation Van Gough painting, and try and pass it off as the real thing. They may even rationalise it as better and cheaper than the real thing. However, some things are ageless and appreciate with time. That's what having class is all about, as opposed to being a <deleted>.

 

Not that there is anything wrong with being a <deleted>.

Okay - now go out and test drive a 1976 Jaguar XJ6.. absolutely beautiful car. I appreciate it is beautiful - but I would never be interested to own one. If I want a car now, I'd prefer a new Camry for the same money. For a bit more money then I'd go for a Porsche Panamera - better than any 'classic' IMO. To each his own... but we're talking a new bike factory here, not 'classic'.

[Techno Viking]

2 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

Looking at the back of a Goldwing you'll see a two-wheel car...

 

Ive never seen a Goldwing Trike, got a picture ?

[RigPig]

3 hours ago, ben2talk said:

Does ANYONE actually think that a bike is a superior tool for travelling long distances?

 

Sure, if you want to go 'touring' across continents, a Harley is one option. So are Adidas shoes and bicycles.

 

Actually 'REAL' bikers are the people who use their machines to commute to/from work, go and pick up shopping, take your kid and his go-kart to the local park, daily school runs...

 

'Dream' bikers are people who think it's actually a normal activity to decide not to take an aeroplane, but to make an 'event' of the journey (as if 3-4 hours sitting in a saddle isn't enough... I don't even want to spend more than that sitting on my sofa for chrisssakes!!).

 

So fine - you did your tour. Try to ignore the Honda Gold Wing brigade - it's hardly a bike (more like a pretend car-on-wheels)... The fact is that you're now entering a crazy tiny niche who buy bikes JUST for the tour. You look down on the 'everyday biker' brigade, even the 'weekender' holiday brigade.... In the same breath I can look down on you.

 

Harley are not really very known for their MotoGP bikes - the Japanese do it so much better, and you can sneeze as much as you like when you see a ZX10 being sold in a shop in a Mall and say 'you can't pick up a Harley this easily'. There's a reason for this... and it's not that you need to start spending heaps of cash to try to customise it into a half decent bike 'ok, let's spend a few thousand fitting a monoshock here... make it more like a real sportbike'.

 

If you want better sound, best upgrade from the ZX10 and go for Ducatti - the most amazing sounding bikes that actually keep up riding through traffic. That's right, we're not very likely to be heading up into the Rocky Mountains listening to Led Zeppelin on our ahem ipods any time soon. We ARE likely to pop down to The Mall to buy a new saucepan, maybe some socks, then maybe stop off at Makro and buy 20kg of supplies that will fit nicely in a plastic crate thrown on the metal rack at the back of the rider... 

 

I've seen more 'REAL riders' huddled under bridges when it rains 'it's just not worth the risk' than I could count.

 

Face facts - these are simply toys. People who love bikes will have a 650 Vstrom parked outside, next to a ZX14 (heavy tourer) and a Hyabusa, with a 1000 Fazer for real everyday use... They don't have Harleys. Only Harley worshippers have Harleys.

 

Collectors wishing to preserve expenditure (low depreciation) don't choose good stuff - Toyota are reliable and good cars to use, but we want an MGB because we can get our money back. 

 

The point of this thread is that Harley will build in Thailand - that's money for the Thai economy and good for the country maybe... but if it leads to an increase in the number of Harleys on the roads of Thailand getting in my way when I want to get through traffic (and jeeeez I never saw a Harley that didn't block traffic when I want to go through) then it's definitely not good for me.

 

Real bikers - I bet you never met one.

" but if it leads to an increase in the number of Harleys on the roads of Thailand getting in my way when I want to get through traffic (and jeeeez I never saw a Harley that didn't block traffic when I want to go through) then it's definitely not good for me."

 

Well judging by that part of the post I would guess you ALWAYS have to be at the front at the lights when on a scooter, ALWAYS pull out and block the traffic in peak hour so that YOU can get across the road, Park out side the 7/11 blocking the traffic on a blind bend forcing everyone else to cross the yellow line, AWAYS push your way to the front of the queue in a supermarket......

 

How's it go ME ME ME ME ME.

 

So who cares what you think in reality!!!

[RigPig]

5 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

Looking at the back of a Goldwing you'll see a two-wheel car...

Actually there are many choices, and Harley's aren't a bad one if you want to carry huge loads over long distances with no curves and at moderate speeds.... 

 

Okay - now go out and test drive a 1976 Jaguar XJ6.. absolutely beautiful car. I appreciate it is beautiful - but I would never be interested to own one. If I want a car now, I'd prefer a new Camry for the same money. For a bit more money then I'd go for a Porsche Panamera - better than any 'classic' IMO. To each his own... but we're talking a new bike factory here, not 'classic'.

NO actually we are talking about a new bike factory manufacturing "CLASSIC" bikes in Thailand.....

[ben2talk]

3 hours ago, Techno Viking said:

Why are you even in this thread then if you do not like people that ride motorbikes ?

Try not to 'twist' things around. There are billions of people who ride bikes. Some daily, others not so... There are many KINDS of people riding bikes. Most of the ones that will stand up and say 'I'm a BIKER' are not MY kind of 'biker'. So I don't think of myself as a 'BIKER'.

 

Bikers are generally ignorant, uneducated, dirty... Their posts on here are generally riddled with primary-school spelling errors because that kind of thing was never important to them. They buy Harley and say 'commercial people buy Harley' thinking that the statement makes sense... assuming that they're entering a higher class of people simply because someone of class and education actually bought one.

 

Accept what that word means and get over it. 

It is moronic to say 'I am an individual, I'll call myself a 'biker' and ignore the fact that the word means something else to 99% of people who hear it'. 

[halloween]

15 minutes ago, RigPig said:

NO actually we are talking about a new bike factory manufacturing "CLASSIC" bikes in Thailand.....

New vehicles, by definition, are not "classic", even if the design is 25 - 50 years old.

[Techno Viking]

6 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

Try not to 'twist' things around.

Which part of

 

"I certainly do not like bikers."

 

Am I twisting ?

[In the jungle]

Back in the 1970s Harley put their badge on a twelve horsepower two stroke 12 two stroke manufactured in Italy.

 

Get your motor running.  Head out on the highway.

[Jai Dee]

Several troll and argumentative posts have been removed from this thread.

[RigPig]

16 minutes ago, Jai Dee said:

Several troll and argumentative posts have been removed from this thread.

GOOD!!  Let's get back to the subject!!

[impulse]

6 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

That you should have bought a car instead if those are your criteria?

 

Gotta be honest, if you can't split lanes to beat traffic (and you have the bucks), I can't see why anyone in Thailand would forgo air conditioning, not to mention seat belts and a 95-97% reduction in the risk of death according to some US and Oz studies.

 

Even if it's a Harley.  Unless you're going to load it up on the trailer and head out of town on weekend jaunts.  That, I could see.

 

Edited May 28, 2017 by impulse

[transam]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

Gotta be honest, if you can't split lanes to beat traffic (and you have the bucks), I can't see why anyone in Thailand would forgo air conditioning, not to mention seat belts and a 95-97% reduction in the risk of death according to some US and Oz studies.

 

This thread should have been in the bike forum....

[RigPig]

On 27/05/2017 at 6:27 AM, waders123 said:

Ban all bikes that blast loud noise in Thailand.  Hopefully the bike manufacturing facility will not be developed.

me me me me me.....

[impulse]

Just now, transam said:

This thread should have been in the bike forum....

 

It's more about manufacturing, tariffs, balance of trade, US jobs and Thai factory quality than bikes.

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

It's more about manufacturing, tariffs, balance of trade, US jobs and Thai factory quality than bikes.

 

But many posts have been about blokes who ride them and other stuff....Sadly..

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, transam said:

But many posts have been about blokes who ride them and other stuff....Sadly..

 

That's going to happen any time you mention Harley's.  

 

Even if the article was about the HD factory burning to the ground after being hit by a meteor(ite), the discussion would go sideways.

 

Edit:  My favorite biker story out of China was the burly group of riders I saw 10-15 years ago, all decked out in their black leather jackets with the word "Kotex" on back in bright pink letters.  Beautiful craftsmanship, though.  The jackets I mean.

 

Edited May 28, 2017 by impulse

[retarius]

'Assembled' rather than 'made' in Thailand.

[Stevemercer]

I think HD will sell plenty of bikes in Thailand if they can get the price down. After all, many Thai love cowboy stuff, the wild west, pick-ups and all that sort of stuff. Whether true or not, Harleys have that modern day cowboy image that the average Thai loves. 

[William C F Pierce]

Will be like Cheap foreign made Fender Guitars. Serious owners will not touch them as they will not hold their value like Cheap Fenders not made in the USA.

[impulse]

26 minutes ago, retarius said:

'Assembled' rather than 'made' in Thailand.

 

But how long do you think before they figure out they can contract the frames, wheels, engines and...well, just about everything, to SEA factories a lot cheaper than shipping them from the USA?  If they haven't already.

 

Edit: And once they're feeding the Thailand facility with those  cheap SEA (or Chinese) parts, how long before they're shipping them to Milwaukee, displacing their US parts suppliers?

 

Out of curiosity, I remember cars had a sticker that detailed the percentage of American content in their manufacture.  Do scooters back home come with the same info, and if so, how do Harley's come in for domestic content?

 

Edited May 28, 2017 by impulse

[RigPig]

All I can say is... More Harleys, More beutiful sounding loud torquey V twin engines, More long hair and beards with people shunning the norms of society and not giving a toss about the consequences, can ONLY be a good thing !!

[ben2talk]

5 hours ago, RigPig said:

NO actually we are talking about a new bike factory manufacturing "CLASSIC" bikes in Thailand.....

Suzuki V-strom is a classic.

[ben2talk]

5 minutes ago, RigPig said:

Ther are 2 7/11's within about 200 metres of my place it happens all the time at.....

To scared to ride the bike to the supermarket... have to take the cage?

Why have a vote from people that ride rice burners, it's a Harley thread...

I was travelling at over 80Mph most of the time when I toured Thaialnd on the "Night Train", 40Kph is a pain on a Harley...

Man handling through cars, or not being patient enogh to wait and drive safely?

Who is being ridiculous?

It's a thread about Harley assembling bikes in Thailand. That means your so-precious NON asian bike is being built in the rice paddies. No need for racist connotations. My GSX-R could burn petrol and gasohol (not a big difference there) but not rice. A real bike will handle very nicely at 40kph - so big of you to admit that your Harley is too much of a handful for you. I found it a hassle to get a Harley off it's stand - it's not like a normal bike, very top heavy... I guess varying with models... but V-twins are generally taller.

 

I have been driving through cars since I bought my first 125 - I never needed to wait. I can ride slower than you can walk and not wobble and I can keep up with a Honda Wave on a GSX-R without any danger or risk of hitting any cars.

 

So don't assume that 'going through cars instead of holding up traffic' means 'wait to be safe'. That's just a sign that you are a Harley rider - most people are on bikes because they are a fair bit quicker to get around on than cars and they don't get stuck in traffic at the lights.

 

Just keep pushing off topic dude.

[ben2talk]

12 minutes ago, RigPig said:

To scared to ride the bike to the supermarket... have to take the cage?

I said 'and I never ride my bike in a supermarket.' NOT 'ride to a supermarket'. Do you understand the difference?

 

Remember - you said "cross the yellow line, AWAYS push your way to the front of the queue in a supermarket......"

 

 

[harleyclarkey]

13 hours ago, ben2talk said:

Does ANYONE actually think that a bike is a superior tool for travelling long distances?

 

Sure, if you want to go 'touring' across continents, a Harley is one option. So are Adidas shoes and bicycles.

 

Actually 'REAL' bikers are the people who use their machines to commute to/from work, go and pick up shopping, take your kid and his go-kart to the local park, daily school runs...

 

'Dream' bikers are people who think it's actually a normal activity to decide not to take an aeroplane, but to make an 'event' of the journey (as if 3-4 hours sitting in a saddle isn't enough... I don't even want to spend more than that sitting on my sofa for chrisssakes!!).

 

So fine - you did your tour. Try to ignore the Honda Gold Wing brigade - it's hardly a bike (more like a pretend car-on-wheels)... The fact is that you're now entering a crazy tiny niche who buy bikes JUST for the tour. You look down on the 'everyday biker' brigade, even the 'weekender' holiday brigade.... In the same breath I can look down on you.

 

Harley are not really very known for their MotoGP bikes - the Japanese do it so much better, and you can sneeze as much as you like when you see a ZX10 being sold in a shop in a Mall and say 'you can't pick up a Harley this easily'. There's a reason for this... and it's not that you need to start spending heaps of cash to try to customise it into a half decent bike 'ok, let's spend a few thousand fitting a monoshock here... make it more like a real sportbike'.

 

If you want better sound, best upgrade from the ZX10 and go for Ducatti - the most amazing sounding bikes that actually keep up riding through traffic. That's right, we're not very likely to be heading up into the Rocky Mountains listening to Led Zeppelin on our ahem ipods any time soon. We ARE likely to pop down to The Mall to buy a new saucepan, maybe some socks, then maybe stop off at Makro and buy 20kg of supplies that will fit nicely in a plastic crate thrown on the metal rack at the back of the rider... 

 

I've seen more 'REAL riders' huddled under bridges when it rains 'it's just not worth the risk' than I could count.

 

Face facts - these are simply toys. People who love bikes will have a 650 Vstrom parked outside, next to a ZX14 (heavy tourer) and a Hyabusa, with a 1000 Fazer for real everyday use... They don't have Harleys. Only Harley worshippers have Harleys.

 

Collectors wishing to preserve expenditure (low depreciation) don't choose good stuff - Toyota are reliable and good cars to use, but we want an MGB because we can get our money back. 

 

The point of this thread is that Harley will build in Thailand - that's money for the Thai economy and good for the country maybe... but if it leads to an increase in the number of Harleys on the roads of Thailand getting in my way when I want to get through traffic (and jeeeez I never saw a Harley that didn't block traffic when I want to go through) then it's definitely not good for me.

 

Real bikers - I bet you never met one.

10

You seem to have a lot of time on your hands...better spent learning a bit more about biking. Maybe you are an ex GP rider, Supersports perhaps or even a T god.

 

Nobody here suggested the best tool for long journeys...that is solely and entirely up to the individual...car, bike, bicycle, plane, bus, train, hitchhiking, "Adidas runners". Whatever. What's your point? You say as if 3 hours in the saddle isn't enough is laughable to guys who tour. 

 

Reliability......Honda are about the best-built bikes in the world. The Harley reliability rate is just double that. So for every single Honda reliability issue, and there are very few, there are a mere two Harleys. Hardly mind-blowing. The supposed bullet proof BMW had double the reliability issues as for Harley. Harleys today are utterly reliable as testified by the guy I met with 280,000 MILEs on his bike and NO failures (normal replacements such as clutch, pads, etc excepted).

 

From the same USA survey; When it comes to repairs, cruisers are the most reliable category with a 15% failure rate by the fourth year of ownership. They were followed by dual-sport/adventure, standard, touring, sport touring, and sport bikes ranging up to 23% failure rate.

 

If you knew anything at all about real biking then when you "huddle" under a bridge you think it's for what? Scared of a little rain, keep the bike dry? No...it's so an idiot in a car/truck won't run you over and kill you with vastly reduced visibility. Guess you never ventured out in the rain?

 

 

MGB as an investment? You are joking. I have a 1970 model with a chassis off rebuild over 5 years and it is worth less than what I have put into it. Get real. 

Love bikes? Ducati? I have an MH900e with a set of handmade pipes that are a symphony to hear.

Aprillia? What about a Tuono Factory "R" with an Arrow race/road can and upgraded engine? Know your subject before you try to rubbish them.

 

Your comment about (what...Harleys?) being toys is not worth a reply. Most of your other comments, such as stuck in traffic, are just so stupid as to ignore. Guess you figure they tear down the sides of cars? You reckon the big BMW's, Quackers, Suzy's should do the same with their panniers? Stupid comment.

 

Harley in Moto GPO....no. But they compete at the top level in the NHRA and Flat Track... and win.

 

Your twisted view of me looking down on other bikers says more about your weird views than anything to do with my post. Perhaps you might enlighten us as to where I hinted at such? Yet another clutch at straws to try and rubbish those who love their bikes. 

 

Stick to your armchair, play with your....remote...... I don't even want to spend more than that sitting on my sofa for chrisssakes!

[georgy]

Partially correct except that most Harleys are driven from Starbucks to McStupid only.
You seldom see a Harley on the road for trip.

Just what this country doesn't need, loud harleys with middle aged bad drivers wearing black cluttering up the mountain roads.