Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Engine change-brit to jap?

My hubby was talking to a dealer that told him the new '07 model will have its engine manufactured in Japan and not Great Britian. We are looking at the Bonneville America. I am not sure if the dealer meant just that model or others. I am wondering if any one heard of or knew that this was true??? Thanks........ ~*~ Painted Lady

That's a bunch of dealer BS. Some components are manufactured over in Thailand and most of the electric components come from Asia. Harley's use electrical parts from Asia as well. The Triumph's are all assembled in Britain.

Yeah - that's nonsense. Quote from Triumph 'home' site...

"With over 100 years of history behind us, Triumph is a privately-owned British company. Our motorcycles are designed, developed and built at our factory, one of the most technologically advanced plants in the world, which is located in Hinckley, in the heart of Great Britain."

Always have been, always will be.

See....that is what we thought. Thanks....I will tell my hubby later. I just didn't see how that could be true. ~*~ Painted Lady

Cars, motorcycles, boat motorcyles-anything mechanical or electronic has components made everywhere. The big Ford LTD is made in Canada, Honda's are made in the US-the source of manufacture depends on what country does the final assembly.

I would depend on company reputation rather than where any component is made.

Most Triumphs will have the mechanical bits made and assembled in the Hinkley factory.
They are building (might be finished by now) another factory in the far east, but that is to assemble motorcycles for sale there. Because of the current economic situation, it would be much more expensive to build engines in Japan and ship them to the UK than to build them at home.

I heard before that the bikes built in Thailand were to be sold" over there" But I recently heard discussion of dealerships (in Atlanta, I think) having both kinds, English and Thai, on the showroom floor. Opinions were that the bikes may have even been better than the English ones! dont shoot the messenger,
G

Of all the components that go into our bikes, the engines seem to have the least of the quality problems. They are pretty much bullet proof. I think that the newer the plant and equipment, the less problems we are going to see. They are all forged and machined to the same specs.

The problems we are really seeing are with the electricals - igniter, switches, etc. Those probably are sourced from the lowest bidding non-Triumph vendors, and they could already be coming from anywhere in the world. I recently got a new ignitor for my bike. The ignitor has the name Gill stamped on it. That name sounds British, but I'd bet money the part was manufactured in someplace like Korea or Taiwan.

The place of assembly makes little difference, except in the ethical sense. If the assembly workers are underpaid and unfairly exploited, then that would be a problem.

Where they make them has a great deal to do with the company profile IMHO> If they seek out the very cheapest country to assemble, do you really think they are not low bidding all components too? Toyota and Honda assemble in Japan and America because of the quality of the worker. Chevy builds in Mexico. I wonder why GM keeps going backwards in the car market share lol.

I still think the Thailand plant will be a huge mistake for the image of the legendary bike. I know I won't buy one and doubt I am alone. I will go so far as to say it will drag down the image of existing bikes. The uneducated will eventually say "Oh, are they the knockoffs made in asia?".

unfortunately, be it good or bad, big business to stay alive now does everything as cheaply as possible for a better bottom line. in todays economy, if they dont they will die. this includes their parts and labor.
G