On 12/20/2010 4:40 PM, Eric Stevens wrote:
On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 07:42:19 -0800, Savageduck
wrote:

On 2010-12-20 04:40:23 -0800, said:

"David J wrote:
I remember when Japanese-made products were routinely criticised as
junk on exactly the same basis - the same blind prejudice.

Same here, and I already made that point.


Apologies for repeating it, but it needs emphasising that China is
following much the same path as Japan did nearly half a century ago.

I remember friends who scoffed at my shiny new Honda motorcycle which,
according to them, didn't match up to their British bikes. But my
Honda took me everywhere reliably and economically, whereas they
needed to pack a set of tools every time they left home and always
ended up tinkering with their bikes during a journey.

Within a very few years, Japanese bikes took over most of the market
and Britain's largest manufacturer, BSA/Triumph, had closed.

Aah! The folly of the English motorcycle engineers.

I can think of two things, suggested at the time which BSA/Triumph
could have done to help their cause in the 60's, and which in their,
"but we have been doing it this way since 1932" wisdom they refused to
do. Dump the cork faced clutch, and re-engineer/re-design the
vertically split crankcase.

My cousin's Triumph 500 was always in pieces needing cluch repairs and
always leaked oil due to the vertical-split crank case which never
sealed properly.

I found that Rolls Royce gasket cement did a good job of keeping the
oil in my Triumph 500.

My 305 Honda 305 Super Hawk would just run, and had an
electric starter!

The English motorcycle industry was locked into their post war "Golden
age" of the late 40's-early 50's using pre-war 1930's manufacturing
technology and design.

That was the real problem. The British motorcycle industry was stuck
with what were basically pre-war designs because they were stuck with
pre-war machine tools and manufacturing methods. To some extent the
continuance of obsolete designs could be blamed on the government of
the time which would not allow new models to be introduced until after
1949.


How do you explain the mechanical issues with the Jag. I know about 10
people who had them and all have had mechanical issues. The car was
great when it ran, but IIRC required frequent servicing.

--
Peter