Comments on: Motorcycles Made in America

By: olds_cool63

olds_cool63 — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 04:05:41 +0000

Makes no difference to me where the bike comes from. I like what I like and ride what I ride. I tend to stay away from the “big names” anyway. But, as much as I like some Hogs, I can’t ever see myself actually ever owning one. If Victory put a much smaller engine in the Vegas 8-ball getting superior mpg’s, I’d be all over it as a daily commuter. The fact that it’s an American company has no bearing on anything for me (yeah,it’s a “big name”, but not as common as the others).

BTW, don’t forget American Motorcycle Company, which began in 1902!

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:01:25 +0000

Wait a minute….. There seems to be some ambiguity about what makes an American motorcycle “American”. On the 50th anniversary of Sputnik, I’m reminded how silly it sounds to hear people still complain “the Russians did it first”. But I guess it goes back to the WWII era of “Buy American, buy a Ford”.

Things like that shouldn’t matter now. If it weren’t for Sputnik, The Kneeslider may not exist today and that would be terrible.

Step outside the motorcycle world for a second and think in terms of cars. There’s a Honda car plant in Alabama who makes every component for the Odyssey and Pilot, including the entire V6 engine castings and all, completely in-house. All 4,500 workers were hired and trained locally. Is THAT American? Ahh, but where were the vehicles designed? Exactly. Japan. Even if they used California Art Center grads, it’s still a Japanese product, right?

Therefore, a U.S. led company having mfg facilities overseas, or foreign suppliers, shouldn’t make it any less American. It shouldn’t matter what nationality is behind the Buell-Rotax motor. It’s a bad-ass motor, and it just makes sense. Buell is probably kicking himself for not doing it sooner. What makes it American is Erik Buell.

There’s an inventive spirit that still exists in this country, I’m certain of it. We need to celebrate it. Like Apple. Made in China, designed in Cupertino, CA.

I think once you make the choice that HOW and WHERE a product is made is no longer relevant, you can begin to hone in on what is at the very core of a design. And that’s how it functions, how it looks, and whether it solves the problem.

Also, all 5 original Cannondale prototypes are currently sitting in the Barber Motorsports Museum, along with over 1000 other makes of bikes from 1901-2007. Including something as rare as a New Orleans Simplex. And if you’ve never seen a 100-year-old board-racer ridden on a modern track, go there. The Vintage fest is Oct 19-21. It’s motorcycle Mecca.

By: Steve h.

Steve h. — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 05:27:53 +0000

Also, in response to Mark Savory – the engine in the Canonndale was designed and prototyped in Sweden by Folan, suspension by Ohlins. I was briefly involved with introducing a suspension system that Mario Gallaso (Cannondale Motorcycle Manager)wanted instead. The company failed due to the expense of relocating all hardware from Sweden to Pennsylvania due to hard feelings in design esoterics, funky fuel injection and not having a complete retail function completed before the money ran out – which almost sank the bicycle company. Not a happy situation.

By: Steve h.

Steve h. — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 05:18:21 +0000

Yes, the early manufacturers do deserve the attention you will be giving them. Good work.
I can only say “Thank God” for Erik Buell and Michael Czysz! Two guys who went at the bike guy’s ultimate dream from different points and have succeeded brilliantly and are very close, respectively. To look back on what Buell has done is a study in intelligent tenacity that few can match. And the effort at MotoCzysz is very nearly as impressive.
By the way, thank you for this very good website.

By: hoyt

hoyt — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:55:25 +0000

yeah, I was (and still am) a fan of the Cannondale effort. We will continue to see some great stuff from them, even if it remains only in bicycles.

interesting — the bicycle cross-over 100 yrs ago is now being repeated in another form. Cannondale could add a lot to motorcycle chassis & suspension design.