| Author | Message | ||
     Avalaugh |
Over the past few months i have pulled my bike apart for various reasons, i have noticed nearly all the parts have a date and initial written on them in silver pen, mine looks to have been built in May 2007 ? It's a February 2008 registered bike. Anybody else noticed this ? | ||
| Badlionsfan |
What's the last 4 on your vin number? Mine has that writing on the body panels, but I think that's when the supplier made and inspected the part. | ||
| Nillaice |
me too. the inner pod pieces have initials, dates from the year prior to build date, and 'inspeted' stickers to boot | ||
| Avalaugh |
1386 | ||
| Nattyx1 |
Mine has those numbers and signatures, and also includes baby and vacation photos of the guys who worked on the various parts. Oh, and there was a small piece of cherry pie cooked by the wife of the guy who welded the tail section subframe, jammed in there behind the battery, which I thought was a nice touch. You guys didn't get the pie?  | ||
| Christaylor |
Mine came with wheels stamped "Made In China." Wish some of my North American brothers and sisters had signed off on them. Chris | ||
| Ratbuell |
Get over the wheels. Enkei makes some of the best wheels, automotive OR motorcycle, in the world. | ||
| Christaylor |
Just say'n, wish the American Motorcycle Company would keep more Americans employed. Chris | ||
| Froggy |
I wish an American wheel company could meet the demands of Buell and provide 14k sets annually of light weight high performance rims and still meet Buell's specifications. If it could of been done, it would have. Enkai isn't bad, they make OEM rims for many sports cars. | ||
| Court |
Tough to find any manufacturers in the United States interested in making parts. HD started going overseas for parts in the mid-80s. Kind of a shame that there are no American manufacturers interested. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Just did some Enkei surfing. Seems they recently acquired a foundry in India called........ Pegasus Castalloy I'm cool with Enkei wheels. They aren't Marchesinis, but I'm late(never had a tuber) and not a Rockefeller. I did manage to acquire a second Buell tho  Zack | ||
| Christaylor |
Could the Company have found a vendor for this product in North America?   Possibly employing individuals and enabling them to purchase a new motorcycle? I'm not trying to start an argument, I'm trying to propose a solution: employ the unemployed, sell the product! Chris | ||
| Freight_dog |
I wish an American wheel company could meet the demands of Buell and provide 14k sets annually of light weight high performance rims and still meet Buell's specifications. If it could of been done, it would have. Enkai isn't bad, they make OEM rims for many sports cars. It could have been done, it just would have cost more than two goats a week to hire American skilled labor... Apparently modern industrialists (not referring to EB) do not get what Henry Ford knew so well, that there has to be well paid workers around to buy his products or there is no point to it all. (Message edited by Freight_dog on September 13, 2010) | ||
| Froggy |
There was another made in china thread a few weeks ago discussing what you asked. Not everything is black and white. One poster mentioned how his company was able to keep more Americans employed by having the product made overseas, allowing more money to be spent for sales and marketing staff. As for the hat, I can't say if they could of found an American vendor or not, I don't know any hat making companies off hand. Court did some research was able to prove that many clothing companies touting "Made in USA" labels really weren't made in the USA and were really made elsewhere but taking advantage of loopholes in the system. Again, unfortunately nothing is cut and dry.  | ||
| Freight_dog |
That sounds like a BS shell game to me Froggy. In the era of $100 mil CEO salaries, if a manufacturer needs to save production costs, he is looking to make more profit, not employ more people. That is the 21st century "free market". Unless you are saying it takes three people to sell something it takes one person to make, how could that possibly create jobs? (Message edited by freight_dog on September 13, 2010) | ||
| Father_of_an_era |
I don't understand this thread's argument. If buying un-American products is a concern then why buy a bike that is built of products made from all over the world? Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer that we as Americans should take pride in buying American but when you have knowingly purchased a product that is only partially American made, then why bicker about other products that are not American made but are sold by the same company that you purchased you bike from? Maybe I am way past my bed time and can't see straight right now and subsequently am unable to think rationally about this argument. I don't know...  | ||
| Court |
>>>That sounds like a BS shell game to me Froggy. Do some research. It's disgusting how difficult it is to find, and it you do find one trying to convince them to produce, any of these things in America. This is the 4th "Made in the USA" thread this year. I'm not playing this round, but there is a good deal of data (facts, not opinions) readily available with a quick search. Don't believe everything you hear. | ||
| Froggy |
Widget costs $3 to make in the US (including boxing, and shipping to warehouse), vs 25 cents in China (including boxing and shipping to the warehouse). Instead of having one American operating a machine to make the job, we now have 1 Chinese worker. But, due to the reduction in costs, there is more room in the budget to hire 20 white collar American workers instead of 4 previously. Obviously this example is for a small scale operation, and not a corporate giant like HD. | ||
| Whistler |
We make a quality US printed product related to the garment industry and can sell it for less (including freight) than our global competitors that service their immediate regions. Consequently we export almost all of our capacity of this particular product. Unfortunately we make very few shipments to US factories simply because very few factories in that segment remain in the US. Of course this has been the case for some years and I do not expect to see a US base re-emerge in my lifetime. In addition, in our experience and given the choice, few foreign buyers will purchase from someone out of their region so over the years we have developed printing facilities and partners in Europe, Central America, South America, and Asia. I do not deny that change is a fact but speaking from my perspective, I remain concerned about the lack of present and future options available to the US work force in my industry. We will continue to fight for our share here in the US but truthfully, we lose a little ground everyday. | ||
| Court |
>>>I do not expect to see a US base re-emerge in my lifetime. I'm not sure. And, when I say that, I am not saying I disagree. . . just that I am really not sure. I think there is a chance that American manufacturing could regain it's stature. But it's as much an attitude as an economic or public policy. What seems to be absent is that "no one can do it as well as we can" mindset. When I talk to folks now, who work in factories, they seem much more predisposed, when confronted with something like foreign competition, to simply dismiss it with a "whatever" than to bring any innovation and creativity to bear. They seem quite willing to surrender. I think there is too much emphasis on wages. To get a flavor for the dynamic . . . watch what is happening in New Jersey. Nearly all the unemployment is in the private sector. Christie proposed to teachers that they take a 1 year pay freeze (no cuts) and that they pay 1.5% of their health care (covers their entire family) at a cost of about $700/year. This would have resulted in $700,000,000 in savings to the state. They flat out rejected it and have taken the attitude that they'd rather see the state suffer than take even the most meager sacrifice. We've become fat, dumb and complacent. | ||
| Whistler |
My memory sees a US garment industry that evaporated long ago. Bit by bit and so much so that very little real infrastructure remains. As you know there is a lot more to it than sewing up a cap or tee shirt. In my mind that lack of infrastructure prohibits any quick startup of the industry but of course it could be accomplished in stages just as our US production was pieced out. But where is the motivation for a turn around like that? I agree that costs may be the prime factor from the retail shelf on down but it will take something extraordinary for that mindset to change enough to cause a rebirth in my industry. Some source, some motivation will be necessary. And like my dad used to say, "who motivates the motivator"? | ||
| Freight_dog |
Court, in this recession, there is a lot of refusal to make meager sacrifices for the greater good from a lot of people who can afford to. I would believe that a union hating governor would take advantage of this situation to try to discredit a union and I think saying no was an appropriate response. Most of these teachers aren't exactly millionaires. I am sure there are other sources of revenue... | ||
| Freight_dog |
And Froggy, it still sounds like crazy math...losing one labor job to China equals 20 white collar jobs. Ohhkay... You know what they say about things that sound too good to be true. Nevermind the importance of an economy that actually MAKES something. | ||
| Jdugger |
> Nevermind the importance of an economy that actually MAKES something And you don't consider IP something, I presume? We make more of that than anything else at this point, and frankly, it's more valuable than anything else we make, too. | ||
| Nillaice |
i'm about to use caps lock to stop the thread jack -gasp- wait for it ... steady men, steeea-dyyy ... WHY ARE OUR BIKE PARTS INITIALED AND DATED? | ||
| Mikellyjo |
WHY ARE OUR BIKE PARTS INITIALED AND DATED? Maybe its because they take a little pride in workmanship and they know people like finding little nuggets like this. Kind of like finding old news papers in the walls.} | ||
| Davegess |
This is the same as the code on back of road signs. It is their to guide the UN troops as they take over the country. They will stop every Buell they see and follow the coded instructions on the inside of parts. Beware the Mongolian storm troopers! | ||
| Blake |
That's too funny Dave!  | ||
| Dannybuell |
I heard that the UAV's could read them from 30,000 feet. |
