nah, my new one is a 2003, 100th aniversary model. my third. have owned 2 honda's, 2 yama's, a penton, 2 puchs, and one kawasaki. they all died horrible deaths...cept for the 2 honda's. fact: if u add up all the bikes that all the japanese manufacturers make and sell every year in the usa...it would not equal the amount that harley sells here in the same time frame. by the by, i lived in japan for 2 years...what's the pentultimate bike of chose there? yep...harley. got a friend over there...he served on the other side in ww2...re-built himself a '54 H-D. he's about 80yrs. old now and his harley is his pride and joy. p.s. how many hondas and yamahas have you seen lately that were built in '54? another aside, my entire HT system, save the vcr & cass. dk. comes from ...the USA. and it seriously rocks! (most hi-end & HT japanese...prefer US or european equipment or they just build it themselves.
In japan working for the DOD in crypto...i met many engineers and such...most have macintosh amps w/ home buillt speakers...they rock! not to put down their home built products...companies like marantz (org. USA), yama, nak, etc. are now bulding some wonderful gear. ya just gotta understand that originally, the 60's & 70's, the country was more concerned about mass, mass production...the bottom line was sell sell sell...money money money. witness the evolution of the toyota and honda. still, today, the major roadbike they imitate is the ...tah dah...harley. the cars immulate the germans (although ford and chevy now own most of their market). the triumph motorcycle co. went under in the 70's (now back) mainly because of the '72/73 xs-650 yama...a direct rip-off of their main bike.
harley, a year or so ago, started proceedings to patent their sound, since all the copy cats started designing exact replicas of their road machines. by the way, it was the triumph that was famous for leaking...engine casings were split vertically and all the oil accumulated at the bottom seal and eventually leaked, the copies split their casings horizontally...problem solved...hey those copy cats are darn good. to bad they can't do what we do. domo arigato, tomadachi.


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t higg