Ok, allow me to stir the pot on the other “American†motorcycle company, Victory.
Victory marketing is very careful to point out that the bikes are designed and assembled in the good ol’ U.S. of A….THAT’S IT!!! The parts on the bike are 90% Taiwan, China, and Japan. So, please lets’ call them what they are, “just another American based company outsourcing our jobs.†Now, I’m not putting Victory down, as they are very careful not to say that the parts are manufactured in the US, but for the price they command, they’re not worth the investment, IMHO. Let’s also recall that Polaris was slipping in the outdoor adventure market and needed another way of increasing their return, motorcycles, when they created Victory. This was not a “let’s produce a great American motorcycle†but more a “let’s increase our profits, which are slipping, and design and assemble an ‘American’ motorcycle that’ll have all of its parts manufactured overseas, so we get the highest rate of return.†Now, with that being said, I have one other point to make.
I agree that an American manufacture needs to come along and make the all American motorcycle line. They need to manufacture everything in the states and produce a LINE of bikes, just as most of the other manufacturers do by producing a standard, cruising, touring and sport bike. Now, if you can do that, with a price tag of 11K, you’re in business. I know hundreds of small machine shops that would jump at an opportunity to start manufacturing parts for the new American motorcycle company. I just need the engineers and draftsmen……oh, and a couple million to get started...any takers?
