Why China has got it wrong

[Buckster]

Once upon a time British bikes pretty much ruled the world, there were some Italian oddities around that were exotic and a bit crap and BMW made boring bikes for architects to ride. Harley Davidson was horrendously expensive and out of the reach of most British bikers. Then along came the Jap bike revolution. 
 

Japanese bikes were pretty badly made back then, the materials were sub standard and they rusted if you looked at them too hard but what they did have was innovation and speed, the British bike industry had basically stopped developing things according to riders demands and gave people what the manufacturers decided they should have so saving money on R&D. The products were solid and made with good materials but they were outdated. The Japanese saw the opportunity and in they came and instantly dominated the market, their bikes cost less and were faster and speed was the order of the day.

 

Fast forward to today, Italian exotica has gained reliability in the most part, the Japanese still dominate the market and we even have a successful British bike manufacturer, BMW have branched out a bit but retain their core customers. Enter China.

 

China is seeking to build itself into the world’s manufacturing system and everything is game, motorcycles are a prime target for them but what are they offering? Poor copies, crap build quality and no innovation. They are bringing nothing to the table other than cheap bikes for people without any sense. They are buying up old bike brand names and sticking it on small capacity crap bikes instead of lifting up their manufacturing standards and actually developing new and exciting products. All they have a reputation for is being crap. There is no upside. The early Jap bikes were fast, China has got it all wrong.

[XTreme]

1 hour ago, Buckster said:

Once upon a time British bikes pretty much ruled the world, there were some Italian oddities around that were exotic and a bit crap and BMW made boring bikes for architects to ride. Harley Davidson was horrendously expensive and out of the reach of most British bikers. Then along came the Jap bike revolution. 
 

Japanese bikes were pretty badly made back then, the materials were sub standard and they rusted if you looked at them too hard but what they did have was innovation and speed, the British bike industry had basically stopped developing things according to riders demands and gave people what the manufacturers decided they should have so saving money on R&D. The products were solid and made with good materials but they were outdated. The Japanese saw the opportunity and in they came and instantly dominated the market, their bikes cost less and were faster and speed was the order of the day.

 

Fast forward to today, Italian exotica has gained reliability in the most part, the Japanese still dominate the market and we even have a successful British bike manufacturer, BMW have branched out a bit but retain their core customers. Enter China.

 

China is seeking to build itself into the world’s manufacturing system and everything is game, motorcycles are a prime target for them but what are they offering? Poor copies, crap build quality and no innovation. They are bringing nothing to the table other than cheap bikes for people without any sense. They are buying up old bike brand names and sticking it on small capacity crap bikes instead of lifting up their manufacturing standards and actually developing new and exciting products. All they have a reputation for is being crap. There is upside. The early Jap bikes were fast, China has got it all wrong.

Until Chinese machines prove themselves on the circuit like the Japs did in the 60's they'll never be taken seriously.

[Motobiker]

I'm not so sure that really matters any more and as the years go by.. will be even less relevant.

[Clive]

40 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Until Chinese machines prove themselves on the circuit like the Japs did in the 60's they'll never be taken seriously.

WK took their 650 to 4th place (was a couple of seconds adrift of 3rd place)) at the Isle of Man a couple of years ago.

[XTreme]

8 minutes ago, Clive said:

WK took their 650 to 4th place (was a couple of seconds adrift of 3rd place)) at the Isle of Man a couple of years ago.

Then it disintegrated?

[Clive]

The TT bike was still racing (new owner) in the UK Supertwin racing series in 2019.

[Clive]

6 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Then it disintegrated?

Several guys said my WK650Tr would disintegrate within a couple of years......after 5 years it still looked good, a few bits of corrosion.....nothing fell off or broke.

Only reason it's off the road (new owner) now is because of some dodgy Italian electrics.....can't blame the Chinks for that.

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, Motobiker said:

I'm not so sure that really matters any more and as the years go by.. will be even less relevant.

You’re right, what matters more now is design quality and lifestyle, maybe. Originality maybe? They’re going with cheap instead, instead of making something people will want to buy, they make copies of stuff people want, and then some of those people, the ones that convince themselves they really want cheap instead of desirable in order to buy something new.

 

17 minutes ago, Clive said:

Only reason it's off the road (new owner) now is because of some dodgy Italian electrics.....can't blame the Chinks for that.

Yes you can, they can put whatever they want on their bikes.

3 hours ago, Buckster said:

All they have a reputation for is being crap. There is no upside.

They have a reputation for being cheap too, which is sometimes not really the case if you compare specs, at least here in Portugal. For similar money you can buy a japanese bike with the same size engine, quite more power and torque, lighter, but that bike is not pretending to be a Ducati.

 

[Pedro]

That TT 650 bike, when choosing between being given one or a CBR600 / Yamaha R6, would you genuinely go for the chinese bike?

[Clive]

1 minute ago, Pedro said:

That TT 650 bike, when choosing between being given one or a CBR600 / Yamaha R6, would you genuinely go for the chinese bike?

It would hold no fears for me owning another Chinky.......but iam not saying I would not say thank you for either of the Japanese bikes, but I do like a twin.

Being a cheapskate (poor)....cost has alway been a factor for me........that's why I own a Dacia!.

 

[boboneleg]

Go Duster ,  la la la la la, la la la la la, very annoying advert off

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

I love my little Chinese bike, never had any problems with it. A mechanic said to me if you look after it it will be fine, people don’t look after them because they’re cheap, they’re not valued enough to bother taking care of, everyone expects them to break. I’m aware there’s plenty of evidence that they are just crap but I’m sure there’s an element of it being a self fulfilling prophecy. 

[Six30]

Their foods ok though 

[Tym]

You should be blaming importers, they order china to make crap, dint you know? If you pay them enough they can make as good stuff as anybody. I love their wall by the way, brilliant idea. 

[Pedro]

5 hours ago, Clive said:

 

Being a cheapskate (poor)....cost has alway been a factor for me........that's why I own a Dacia!.

 

I like Dacia, they’re not pretending to be a Ferrari, nor are they chinese 

[Clive]

24 minutes ago, Pedro said:

I like Dacia, they’re not pretending to be a Ferrari, nor are they chinese 

It is a Renault Clio under the bodywork......

[skyrider]

7 hours ago, Clive said:

WK took their 650 to 4th place (was a couple of seconds adrift of 3rd place)) at the Isle of Man a couple of years ago.

i think a guy rode a cymaco over there 6 or 7 years ago dont know how he got on with it, and last time i was there there was someone going round not too badly on a super moto

[Pedro]

5 hours ago, Clive said:

It is a Renault Clio under the bodywork......

Doesn’t matter, a Clio can act like it’s a Williams and be all Motorsports, a chinese piece of cro can only pretend to be a toaster!

There was a Dacia on the 24H Nurburgring this year, ran by some twats, but all the same they’re not acting the twat like they’re bigger than they are! That’s cool!