In article , PAROADHOG says...

Yep , I remember the Dream and since you replied in such a civil manner let
me
take the time to explain why I dislike Japanese bikes as much as I do.
Years ago I had the occasion to visit a motorcycle salvage yard in search of
some Japbike parts that were no longer available from the dealer , a common
problem.
The bikes there were divided into sections by make . There were hundreds and
hundreds of bikes of all sizes and in all stages of disassembly . Some had
been
smashed but most had not.
What struck me the most was that they were all Japanese . Honda,
Kawasaki,Suzuki, and Yamaha. There weren't any Triumphs, or any Nortons, or
any
Ducatis, or ant Harleys, etc etc etc . I asked the owner why so many Jap
bikes
ended up in salvage yards and he replied " because their owners felt they
were
no longer worth fi

Oops, flubbed that post. I'll finish:

.....fixing.
Last time I visited a bike salvage yard the same thing was true, lots and lots
of motorcycles that were considered disposable by their owners but no *
keepers * .
There will always be a demand for good machines such as those produced In
England, and in Germany, and in the USA simply because they're worth repairing
and keeping , while much of the glitzy plastic stuff from the land of the
rising sun will be tossed away in the same manner as the dixie cups you
mentioned in your last post.

I never said they weren't good. I just said that british electrics
simply sucked and I do stand by that statement. Also the one where
I said that honda used the manifold deficiencies present in brit
and american bikes at the time, as a 'hook' to gain entry into the
US markets.

"You meet the nicest people on a honda" is not about personalities.
It means you can ride a motorcycle and not be an electrical engineer.

The german electrics are a whole 'nother thing. The BMWs that
were contemporary with the british zener diode thing had honest
to god electrical systems, with tiny 60 watt, 6 volt excited field
generators, and tiny jewel-like bosch electromechanical voltage
regulators. Once again, those items were well engineered and
outlasted their expected lifetime for me, many times. Indeed they
were *over*engineered because I think the teutonic watt must have
been about 1.3 US watts, or about 2.5 british watts. I regularly
ran 60 watt H4 headlamps in my bikes which would leave nothing
left over for charging, taillight, etc. but the battery never
wanted for a charge.

The reason you find salvage yards full of jap bikes is simple,
they just made and imported so damn many of them. Also of note
was Honda Sr's edict, which was in force until he died, that
customers *would* be able to purchase literally ANY part for
ANY motorcycle, that his company ever made. From the factory.

That was his rule.

Jim

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