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Que es esta mierda?
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Que es esta mierda? -
a hahahaharley, made in China.... a Charley?... a Chinley?
"The Chinese X500
The made-in-China Harley-Davidson X500 is built by QJ Motors, the same company that owns Benelli..."
Been a long time since a Harley was made in the far east:
The Japanese Harley-Davidsons
"...Since no love was lost between Child and Okura by this point, and a friendship blossomed between Child and Fukui, and since Fukui’s Koto Trading Co. had set up a successful Harley-Davidson import and sales organization, it seemed natural that Alfred Child join forces with Fukui. They set up the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Sales Company of Japan in 1924, with Fukui/Sankyo providing investment capital, and Child as Managing Director...
After the global economic crash of 1929, the Yen was devalued by half; this combined with new import tariffs made importing any foreign-built vehicle nearly impossible.
With the price of Harley Davidsons suddenly more than doubled, Child reasoned the only future for Harley in Japan was to license the outright manufacture of H-Ds to a Japanese company: his company.
He sailed in 1929 to Milwaukee, with a representative of the Sankyo Co to discuss a deal, armed with an undisclosed cash payment (reputedly $75,000) from Sankyo. This stunned the Harley-Davidson management, who granted exclusive rights to manufacture H-D bikes and spares in Japan to the HDMSCoJ.
That reputed $75,000 payment from Sankyo, in the worst year of the Depression, probably saved Harley-Davidson from bankruptcy, and was a company secret for generations...
Production began in 1932, and no mention was ever made of this unique agreement in the American press, nor was it publicly discussed by Harley Davidson until the 1980s..."
"Rikuo, a licensed copy of the Harley-Davidson, started production in 1929. In 1931 Dabittoson Harley Motorcycle Co., Ltd. was established in Japan. Dabittoson started domestic production of the Harley-Davidson Road King Motorcycle. The 4-cycle, 1200 cc, side-valve V-twin engine produces 28 horsepower for a top speed of 97 km per hour...
When Harley-Davidson was prepared to produce the new EL OHV Knucklehead design, they insisted that the Japanese factory buy the license to produce the EL as well. However Sankyo, Rikuo's parent company, was reluctant to produce the new vehicles and refused to make this commitment.
Japan’s government was becoming increasingly militaristic leading up to World War II and eventually suggested that Harley-Davidson employees, including Mr. Child, leave the country. The motorcycle continued to be produced under the name of Rikuo, meaning "Land King" or "Continent King." Rikuo built approximately 18,000 motorcycles between 1937 and 1942, most of which were sold to the Japanese military and Japanese police departments...
After the war the remaining factory continued producing the 750 cc (46 cu in) RQ and 1200 cc (74 cubic inch) VLE models still using the old flathead, total-loss lubrication design...
the 1950s 750s are basically the Harley-Davidson 45 cu.in. RL of the early 1930s, and the 1950s 1200s are the Harley-Davidson VL of the same era, but both with updated sheet metal...
In 1950 Sankyo sold Rikuo to Showa (the same company that supplies parts to HD today)..."
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Cool history! Maybe the new Chinley will be dropped by their dodgy balloons...Comment
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Neat to know about the details. Rikuo was widely known in the vintage bike world but only that it existed.
Had Japan bought the Knuck license they could have gone much further much earlier in large displacement motorcycle manufacture.
The combination of Harley design with post-1960s Japanese quality casting and manufacturing could be impressive.Comment
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