I agree with all that I have a very keen interest in Japanese culture and it still facinates me!
I agree we come up with some of the best designs there is, just with a piss poor work ethic then it’s all for naught unfortunately…
What you said about bike is very true, I remember one of the team managers saying about the japanese bike when they were first released, triumph had been dominating the manx tt then along came the japanese bikes (well Honda) and when the triumph engineers took one apart they just couldn’t beleive how amazingly accurate everything was, something that even with the design principle they could actually manufacture!
Also at the GFOS Honda had a massive display, one of their old bikes was a 125 5 cylinder jobbie, so each cylinder is only 25cc, 4 stroke with 4 valves per cylinder and revved to something like 26,000 rpm!!! Now this was in the 60’s or something silly! Truely amazing stuff!
But then I’ve seen Katana from the 14th century and they are just absolutely perfect! And still had a edge like a surgeons scapel, absolutely amazing! And that’s 600 years old
And the MX-5 is a very good example involving our very own Lotus. The Japs just copied the original Elan, added ABS (so it didn’t slide down the road in to the back of things with it’s lightweight and skinny tyres), made it well, and reintroduced it to a willing market. Bingo, biggest selling roadster ever!
But then I’ve seen Katana from the 14th century and they are just absolutely perfect! And still had a edge like a surgeons scapel, absolutely amazing! And that’s 600 years old
Its like japanese 4-cylinder motorbikes -totally competant but boring beyond belief.Thats why I have a Ducati 748 and I have owned Japanese bikes.Same with the K-series.
And the MX-5 is a very good example involving our very own Lotus. The Japs just copied the original Elan, added ABS (so it didn’t slide down the road in to the back of things with it’s lightweight and skinny tyres), made it well, and reintroduced it to a willing market. Bingo, biggest selling roadster ever!
Its like japanese 4-cylinder motorbikes -totally competant but boring beyond belief.Thats why I have a Ducati 748 and I have owned Japanese bikes.Same with the K-series.
In fact, you have a good point there.
I’ve owned so far several Suzukis and Hondas, and the best bike I had was the Ducati 916 SP.
Am contemplating buying another bike now, and although the Honda CBR600, 1000, Suzuki GSXR 1000, Kawasaki ZX-6R and ZX-10R are great, am thinking on going for the new Triumph 680 triple. Loads more character, about same power than a Japanese 4 cyl 600 and very light.