GOFASTMG@aol.com wrote:
> I also said that the Japanese M/C industry was not inovative, but were
> immitative.
> And if you will think about it, it's very true. You would be hard pressed to
> come up with one really new idea they have had.
How about the reed valve two stroke?
(I'm limiting myself to the early '70s as that's when the British
companies were still trying to compete with the Japanese)
or to continue with Yamaha RD350 fun facts;
First motorcyle to generate over 1.5g braking
First motorcyle to generate over 1.0g skidpad
both on factory street tires-'out of the box'-so to speak
or Honda 750-4 fun facts;
First production motorcycle to have a front disk brake
First production inline four since WWII (Indian four before)
Sold over a 100,000 by 1974
>4 cylinder engines? Try MV
> Augusta, Indian, etc. Electric Start? Old as the hills Shaft drive? BMW,
> Moto Guzi, et al.
Which were all copied from automotive technology that was previous.
Electric start? Cadillac!
What new idea has any non-japanese motorcycle company come up with that
was not an automotive one previous?
What I believe the Japanese did (and did well) was take mediocre ideas
and make them viable. Yes, MV Augusta had a four cylinder engine, but it
was vastly over priced, and unobtainable for the average person. The
Japanese made four cylinder motorcyles reliable and affordable, partly
due to avoiding ridiculous engineering weirdness like magnesium cases,
seperate cylinders, longitudinal mounted engines, square fours, etc. The
British response to a vibrating engine was to isolate it via rubber
mounts (whoa....big thought process there), the Japanese response was to
cure the engine.
What it comes down to is, if Norton made such a good bike they wouldn't
be out of business.
Norton's dead, BSA's dead, Vincent's dead, Matchless's dead, Royal
Enfield's dead, Velocette's dead, MV Agusta's dead, Indian's dead,
Greeves's dead, Scotts's dead, Sunbeam's dead, Ariel's dead, NSU's
dead, etc, etc.
Triumph lives in name alone and Harley has become a orthodontists fantasy
'bad boy' bike.
Honda lives, and for a reason, they were better.
-Aron Travis-
"always in a automotive frenzy"
1965 Honda CA95
1974 Kawasaki G4TR
1976 Honda CB550-4
All of which I can go the local dealers and get parts for......
(If I needed to);o)
P.S. All facts are from the book "Street bikes" by Rich Taylor, pub.
1974 by Golden Press. A book reviewing the current bikes for sale in
1974.
To quote on Norton motorcycles "By contemperary Japanese standards, it's
a genuine antique....."
|