Guest Post by Eric Peters
The hand of Uncle – which aways wields a gun – distorts our lives in so many ways it’s impossible to catalog them all. There are the things we’re forced to have – and things we never had. (Frederic Bastiat, the 19th century economist, called this phenomenon “things seen and unseen.”)
In the things-we-never-had category: Affordable big motorcycles; particularly, large touring/cruising bikes.
There are plenty of full-size bikes on the market, of course. But they are pricey – and it’s not so much because they’re big.
It’s because Uncle.
Herewith some history:
In the early ’80s, Uncle stepped in to “save” Harley Davidson from the Japanese competition, which was helping motorcycle buyers by offering them much lower-cost (and better-built) alternatives to the big cruisers and touring bikes Harley specialized in – but which Harley hadn’t done much to improve, engineering-wise, since the ’60s. Early ’80s Harleys still had generators and points and overhead valves while the Japanese bikes had maintenance-free alternators and transistorized ignitions and multiple overhead cams.
The Japanese-made engines were made entirely of aluminum while Harley was still using cast iron for cylinder heads, which were heavy and did not dissipate heat very well. The Japanese engines made more power with less displacement, used much less gas.
They didn’t leak, either.
Not surprisingly, the Japanese – Honda and Kawasaki especially – began to eat Harley’s lunch.
The free market response to this ought to have been: Let’s make a better (and lower cost) motorcycle; let’s improve our products.
Instead, Harley did the Crony Capitalist Thing – and appealed to Uncle.
Who – at this moment in time – manifested in the ruddy-cheeked guise of Ronald Reagan. He issued a fuhrer befehl that slammed the “Japs” with a heavy tariff on any motorcycle with an engine larger than 700 cubic centimeters.
Harley built no motorcycles with a capacity of less than 700 cubic centimeters.
The befehl was written in such a way as to specifically shelter Harley.
It was to be protected from “unfair” competition – by artificially increasing the cost of the competition. In this way, the playing field would be “leveled” … in Harley’s favor, courtesy of Uncle.
An article in the April 2, 1983 edition of The New York Times (here) quoted then Harley Chairman Vaughn L. Beals: “We’re delighted … it will give us time that we might otherwise not have had to make manufacturing improvements and bring out new products.”
Naturlich.
Harley’s torpor and inefficiency were rewarded – while the efficiency and industriousness of the competition was punished.
This from the man deified by “conservatives” (the beast that is neither fish nor fowl nor anything else you can lay a finger on) as the avatar of free market policies.
But that’s another rant.
The obvious – the seen – effect was the continued production of Harley’s technologically obsolescent, over-priced bikes. And of course a rise in prices generally – because (courtesy of Uncle) there was no alternative. You had your choice of an overpriced Harley (the over-pricing due to the company’s Soviet inefficiencies) or an overpriced (because Uncle) import bike.
But what about the the things unseen?
The things we might have had?
As it happens, I own a 1983 Honda GL650 – Interstate version. It’s a touring bike, with fairings and (hard) side bags.
What’s interesting about this bike is that it’s not actually a 650 at all.
It’s almost a 700.
On the left side of the engine, there’s a number stamped on the case: 673. That’s the actual displacement of this “650.”
Not quite 700 cubic centimeters.
So, just under the displacement that would have triggered Uncle Ronnie’s punitive tariffs.
Honda had planned to develop the GL; the engine was a recent design and the GL 650 had only been out for one year. It was a bigger, stronger version of Honda’s popular CX (and GL) 500, similar in layout but re-engineered and ready for more. The “650” engine was designed to grow – like (in car terms) the original 1955 Chevrolet small-block V8.
Honda had plans to increase the displacement of the bike’s technologically brilliant, all-aluminum “twisted” twin cylinder engine, which had a four valve head and could spin to 10,000 RPM and which – even in “650” form – already made more power than Harley’s 1,000 cc twins did.
But 1983 turned out to be the last year for the GL650 – and Honda abandoned further development of this engine.
The projected 800 cc version never appeared.
Because Uncle.
And – as usual, when Uncle is involved – everyone lost. Harley buyers paid more for crappy bikes – and those who preferred Japanese bikes paid more for theirs and – saddest of all – never had a chance to buy bikes that would have been, had it not been for Uncle.
Some argue that Uncle “saved” Harley. And it’s true – as far as it goes.
But what might Harley have become, absent Uncle’s interferences? What kinds of bikes – all types, all brands – might we have had, absent Uncle?
We’ll never know.
” Uncle Ronnie’s punitive tariffs” were aimed at protecting American industry and workers from competing on an equitable basis with the rest of the world. A purely evil intent from the start.
And they did.
Clinton finally came along and began undoing this vicious trade policy with the original “Free Trade” of NAFTA that let poor but superior foreign workers compete with us on an even playing fiele.
Since then American industry and American workers have been freed of the tedious drudgery tasks of actually working and producing our needs here in the United States, and those onerously high American wages have come down far more in line with world wages although there is still much work to be done in this area.
Clinton was a true American Hero for his work in this, and in freeing the American workers of the drudgery of labor to produce stuff and that vile, evil protectionist Reagan needs to be scrubbed fro history the same way the slave owners were.
Viva Clinton, Muerte Reagan.
I was watching TV the other night. A commercial for Mercedes came on, and touted the latest safety features, auto breaking, collision avoidance, etc.
Then flashed on the screen: Starting at $53,000.
Holy fuck! We’re being cooked like the frog in the warm water.
Anon….nice cherry-picking. Didn’t Carter (your fav Pres) give a loan guarantee to Chrysler. Look, you can slice and dice any Pres on a host of items, but if you stick to major issues the Harley item to defame Reagan is nothing but a disgruntled Democrat realizing that Obama gave everything to the Corporates and wealthy and shit in your face – thanx for your vote.
Once again, St Ronnie of the Republicans is shown to be nothing but another big government statist. Color me shocked. Thanks for pointing this out yet again, eric
My Mr. always had a big bike…but never a Harley. Too expensive,
and too unreliable.
Honda and BMW bikes were better. Me, could I handle a Vespa?
I wish.
Greetings,
In my youth, I rode Hondas starting with a 450cc and working my way up to 650cc. These were excellent bikes that never once let me down. Affordable and fun to ride and always ready to take me on an adventure.
“What kinds of bikes – all types, all brands – might we have had, absent Uncle?”
———— from the article
Hmmm, I dunno …
—- bikes that don’t break down all the time?
—- bikes that go beyond just sounding and looking cool?
—- bikes that can actually compete in performance with Jap bikes? Or, even German ones?
—- bikes that aren’t woefully overpriced?
“Life is dangerous enough as it is… “
Well, yeah… to a degree.
You can minimize risk by not doing that (insert death-defying activity of choice).
I’ve done my share of death-defying, stupid shit over the years. Then I wised up and stopped doing those things because – I realized – if I kept it up, I was gonna die. You can’t cheat death over and over and get away with it. Always gonna be a butcher bill to pay… sooner or later.
Risk minimization involved giving up something I dearly loved. Riding motorcycles very fast.
I’ve mentioned it before, but I even went so far as to rebuild a 1967 Triumph T120R into a Thruxton Bonneville… even tracked down a Triumph factory-trained mechanic to rebuild the engine into a real badass…
Painted it blood red with a big “67” in a circle on the fairing… 5 gallon aluminum toaster tank. Clip-ons. Solo seat. Those big, up-swept trumpet mufflers. Avon Speedflow full fairing… It was gorgeous and it was mine and it flat-out hauled ass.
Hauled ass until some old dude turned left from the right hand lane, right in front of me. No warning. I t-boned him amidships and flew 100 yards. My prized Bonnie was destroyed on impact. I spent 6 weeks on crutches.
Close, but not quite…
[img
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The Japs flooded our market in an effort to kill off competition. I’m sure once they ruled the American market, they wouldn’t have been nearly so benign in their pricing. Sort of what Walmart does now, before there was a Walmart…
I like Harley’s. And Indian’s. And Royal Enfield and BSA and Norton and Vincent and Triumph… They all got their own thing going on, and that’s cool.
But what is UN-cool is someone trying to kill off all competition so they can control a market. Fuck that shit. Ronnie was right to do the protectionist thing and slap their asses with tariffs.
If the Japs weren’t being dicks, we wouldn’t have to slap them with tariffs, which killed your “what if” bike.
Gonna blame anyone, blame the fuckin Japs for provoking us. If they would have been cool about it, you’d maybe have waited a bit longer, maybe paid a bit more, but you’d have your “what if” bike…. But no, they had to be dicks about the whole thing.
Here… some eye candy.
Say what you want, it’s badassed. 2010 Indian Bomber.
[img
?itok=8m7lHd5j[/img]
Hey Stucky…
If you’re looking for another subject for your next pictorial essay, I suggest old motorcycles.
Here… some advance material for you to use…
Bikes so cool, I don’t have a chance in hell of owning them.
1930’s vintage BMW R12 with sidecar.
[img
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1937 BMW R17 with original sidecar.
[img
?la=en[/img]
1965 Norton 650 SS cafe racer.
[img
[/img]
1952 Vincent Black Shadow.
[img
[/img]
But hey… if folks want to wring their hands about soulless “what if” fantasy Jap rice burner bikes that never fucking existed, I won’t stop them…
“But what is UN-cool is someone trying to kill off all competition so they can control a market. Fuck that shit. Ronnie was right to do the protectionist thing and slap their asses with tariffs. ”
You just missed your own point. Harley wanted to kill off all their competition so they could control a market that was rejecting their bikes. Fuck that shit, right?
I bought my Yamaha from a fellow HPer who was getting divorced. I really wanted his other bike, but couldn’t afford it. It was a BMW … a 1980 something …. couldn’t tell you the model if my life literally depended on it …. all I recall was him telling me “it’s a racing bike”. He knew I couldn’t afford it, but let me ride it for about an hour.
So, I’m in the Indiana countryside … not a person or car to be seen. “Hmmmm …. I wonder what this thing can REALLY do from a dead stop.”. Guessing here, had no stopwatch. I hit about 65mph in 2nd gear … I’m pretty sure in 4 seconds or less. Thought I was safe .. opened the throttle and shifted into third …… WHEELIE!!! ………not a huge wheelie, but still ….. I about shit and pissed in my pants. Have no idea how in the fuck I maintained control. I was shaking for the next 10 minutes (I am NOT a hot-dogger.). Anyway, it was THE most exciting thing I’ve ever done on wheels. What a machine!!!
Motorcycle pic essay …. not a bad idea.
Hope you Bikers got to see “The World’s Fastest Indian”.
You just missed your own point. Harley wanted to kill off all their competition so they could control a market that was rejecting their bikes. Fuck that shit, right? – Ed
Nope. Sure didn’t.
I thought about including the market competition between Indian and Harley decades earlier, with the result that Indian closed it’s doors.
Then I rejected that because the OP’s gripe was about extra-market influences, not intra-market influences.
Specifically, Jap bikes being imported into a market on the other side of the Earth (meaning: Us) and being slapped with protectionist tariffs, as vs. two motorcycle companies already here competing for the same market.
Or are you going to argue that Indian or Harley should have been slapped with tariff’s? How that would have worked – being as they were and are both already HERE – is anyone’s guess.
Sorry Ed. Not really a good effort, but I’ll give you a C+ for the effort anyways…
Go on back to Suck Dick Village and come at me again when you got your shit together…
“Say what you want, it’s badassed. 2010 Indian Bomber.”
I’ll take the Piper J3 in the background
“Or are you going to argue that Indian or Harley should have been slapped with tariff’s?”
No, you’re the one justifying tariffs. You claimed, laughably, that the Japs were trying to control the US motorcycle market so tariffs were deserved. You also said that “we”slapped them with tariffs for “being dicks”.
Why would anyone (besides you) imagine two domestic manufacturers, one of which was already defunct (Indian croaked in 1953), being “slapped with tariffs”? They weren’t importing motorcycles. In case you didn’t know, domestic producers aren’t subject to import tariffs.
You can’t admit that you don’t have the foggiest idea what you’re talking about. That’s OK. It’s obvious to enough people reading this thread that you’re just spouting off. Be careful though. You might get slapped with tariffs for being a dick.
Sheesh.
“You can’t admit that you don’t have the foggiest idea what you’re talking about. That’s OK. It’s obvious to enough people reading this thread that you’re just spouting off. Be careful though. You might get slapped with tariffs for being a dick.” ———— Ed (the talking horse? the talking horse’s ass?)
I’m pretty tied up with lots of shit right now. I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend your funeral.
However, I’d be glad to send flowers. Black roses, maybe? Or, maybe contribute to your favorite charity. The Suicide Hotline For Retards, maybe?
Just say the word. I gotcha covered,
No, you’re the one justifying tariffs. You claimed, laughably, that the Japs were trying to control the US motorcycle market so tariffs were deserved.
Why is it “laughable”? Coz YOU say so?
Heh… fuck that and fuck you. Right when all the shit the OP is talking about is right when I was getting into bikes, so I was sort of paying attention. Sort of the opposite of what you’ve been doing in this thread…
The Jap economy was wasted after WWII. Took them awhile to get their shit together. Their bikes in the 60’s were fast, but they couldn’t steer worth a shit and got totally owned by the Brits, time and again. They improved in the 70’s and by the 80’s they were making a good bike – credit to where it’s due.
But then, yes, they became DICKS about the whole thing. They practiced economic warfare and they admit to that shit, same as they did with their automobiles. And, more credit to where it’s due, they chose the timing brilliantly. They made good cars. We didn’t. They made good bikes. Us? Not so much. They waited and bided their time and then came at us.
You forget – or maybe you don’t know or care to know – the guys running the Jap car and bike companies were WWII vets who were Jonesing for some payback against us. You honestly think they weren’t? Of COURSE they were. They were competing against the very companies that produced tanks and all sorts of war material we used to beat them. I’m sure it was very, very personal for them. In fact, I remember entire books being written on the subject of how the Japs did shit.
You also said that “we”slapped them with tariffs for “being dicks”.
Yep. We did. Because they totally WERE being dicks. Got greedy, wanted some payback, tried – and damn near succeeded – in tanking not only Harley, but the car companies as well. You think that’s “Not being a dick”?
You and me, we got to work on your definitions of shit…
Why would anyone (besides you) imagine two domestic manufacturers, one of which was already defunct (Indian croaked in 1953), being “slapped with tariffs”?
It’s called reductio ad absurdum, you slackjawed idiot.
OP’s article bitched about tariffs being slapped on Jap bikes – the only way they can BE slapped with tariffs is if it’s imported.
You said this —> You just missed your own point. Harley wanted to kill off all their competition so they could control a market that was rejecting their bikes.
Which, as anyone familiar with history would take it, means you are referring to the Indian/Harley competition some decades earlier. If you didn’t, then I’m afraid you need to be more specific in your piss-weak attempts to snark at me…
Harley OWNED “the market” outright for decades. They HAD no competition, save some outliers who rode Brit or Herm bikes… Brit bikes were growing more popular thanks to the British Invasion of the 60’s. Maybe the really far outlier who rode Italian bikes… other than that pittance – which Harley probably tolerated more than anything else – their only other main competitor was Indian. And they were long gone.
So… “wanted to kill off all their competition”?
WHAT “competition”? (Prior to the Japs flooding our markets?)
They weren’t importing motorcycles. In case you didn’t know, domestic producers aren’t subject to import tariffs.
Wow… just… wow.
You can’t possibly be this fucking stupid, can you? Sorry Ed The Talking Ass, I’m not going to ‘splain any more of my snark to you – it ceases to be funny once you have to explain the joke.
If you’re not intelligent enough to get it, then I got nothing for ya. I can’t make you any more intelligent.
You can’t admit that you don’t have the foggiest idea what you’re talking about. That’s OK. It’s obvious to enough people reading this thread that you’re just spouting off. Be careful though. You might get slapped with tariffs for being a dick.
Dude, I regard you as a large boot regards an insect.
And what a fucking narcissist!
“It’s obvious to enough people reading this thread…”?? You speak for everyone reading the thread now, do ya? Nice to know you promoted yourself to King Shit of Fuck Mountain and Official Arbiter of What Everyone Thinks.
Howabout you speak for yourself – and only yourself – and quit trying to gin up support for your ass-backwards, indefensible position? Fucking pathetic, really…. I don’t squeal and call for help like a little bitch.
You know what the Dunning-Kruger Effect is? ‘Cause you’re pretty much the walking, talking pile of anus leakage that defines it…
Ed
Again, what kind of flowers you want?
Actually, Billy done gave you a fairly LIGHT ass whupping. Must be your lucky day.
Billy
1) How do you italicize in posts? (Thanks)
2) Today on Fux ….. reports that Sec Of Navy wants to change “Yeoman” to something more gender neutral. Ain’t that fucked up?!!!
Stuck…
If you look up “List of HTML code”, it will list most of the ways to bold stuff, italicize stuff…
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/
I don’t use much of it, but someone creative can use it to good snark effect…
Watch.
“Bolding” stuff is this “”…. turning it off is the same thing, but with a backslash in it…
So, bolding a word would be (and I’m spreading this out – hope it works) words you want bolded
Italicizing shit is just the same thing, only with an “i”…
words you want italicized
The snark kicks in when your imagination does…
Like the “delete” content command… which is this …. insert backslash to turn it off…
Using it can be fun… like this…
“Stucky can be a real
pile of anus leakage,douche canoe,fucktardgood friend, when he wants to be… “I don’t think Jim would mind if you experimented with these commands….
Enjoy.
Shit… spreading it out no workie…
Okay… THIS:
Turning it off is just the same thing, but with a backslash (THIS: / ) before the “b”…
Crossing shit out – the “delete” thing – is “del”
Putting a backslash in front of the “del” turns it off…
Hopefully, this went through and you unnerstan’…
FUCK!!!!
The blanked out shit that’s missing are the angled thingies above the comma and the period on your keyboard… the “greater than” and “less than” signs…
Use them like parenthesis…
“Yep. We did. Because they totally WERE being dicks. Got greedy, wanted some payback, tried – and damn near succeeded – in tanking not only Harley, but the car companies as well. You think that’s “Not being a dick”?”
In your own fevered imagination is where that was happening. Harley was in the tank because of the weirdness that AMF had gotten into with the design of engines. Japanese bike makers were doing business, period. Harley had already tanked before the first big bikes by Honda made the scene here. That “payback” fantasy of yours would be funny if you weren’t so serious about it.
“Which, as anyone familiar with history would take it, means you are referring to the Indian/Harley competition some decades earlier. If you didn’t, then I’m afraid you need to be more specific in your piss-weak attempts to snark at me… ”
Jesus, you’re completely lost here. You claimed that the Japs were trying to kill off all their competition….somehow, who can tell WTF you were imagining. I pointed out that Harley’s whining for protectionist tariffs made them guilty of what you imagined the Japs were doing. No snark was involved. You just took it that way.
“Harley OWNED “the market” outright for decades. They HAD no competition, save some outliers who rode Brit or Herm bikes…”
When? At the time they begged for daddy gov to save them, their share of the market was police departments, Shriners, and 1%er bikers, a relative handful of riders. You can’t say that Harley still had the lion’s share of the market when The tariffs came down. They were a shadow of what they had been before AMF ruined their product.
Too bad your ass got chapped just because someone who hasn’t been posting here for years disagreed with a really dumbass post you made. That’s how it goes, Billy. Your response was kind of funny, but I still can’t see this your way, I just ain’t that fuckin blind.
BTW, all that cussing and insulting is just words on a screen to me. I’ve been online since ’95, and shit like you write is very old hat to me. The facts of what I’ve been discussing (while you puked up loads of cumballs and called it valid points) are still there, and you still don’t know what you’re gassing about.
Shit, you didn’t even know that Indian had been dead for decades before AMF fucked Harley’s product up. Go find somebody who is scared of your blowhard bullshit, if anybody online is still that fuckin stupid. It ain’t me, dude.
“Actually, Billy done gave you a fairly LIGHT ass whupping.”
Stuck, the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Billy just kind of cussed me out, he didn’t whip my ass. This is the internet, dude. Cussin and insultin ain’t ass-whippin, it’s just cussin and insultin.
Y’all “big dogs” on this site are just comical. There ain’t a real flame warrior amongst y’all. Go ahead, though if it’s fun. I don’t mind.
OK. Me try.
Ed is a
vaginadick.Wow.
COOL!
Thanks. 🙂
In your own fevered imagination is where that was happening. Harley was in the tank because of the weirdness that AMF had gotten into with the design of engines. Japanese bike makers were doing business, period. Harley had already tanked before the first big bikes by Honda made the scene here. That “payback” fantasy of yours would be funny if you weren’t so serious about it.
Man, you are one pig-ignorant motherfucker, ain’t you?
The Japanese economy is highly regulated. In the postwar period, this turned it into a well-protected economy practically closed to foreign competition by tariffs , restrictions, and quotas. Pressures by its trading partners and competitors (mainly the United States and the European Union) forced it to begin opening its market to foreign competition (goods and investments) in the 1980s. The economic decline of the 1990s inclined the Japanese government to encourage foreign investment by further liberalizing the economy. Since the early 1990s, the government has sought to reduce its role in the economy by initiating deregulation reforms that removed an enormous number of restrictive government regulations.
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Japan-OVERVIEW-OF-ECONOMY.html
So, in other words, the Japs had restrictive tariffs already in place on foreign goods, and we did not.
And this is somehow – according to you – NOT “economic warfare”?
The Japs running the various companies were veterans of WWII. In their early 20’s in the 1940’s, by the 1970’s/80’s, they were in their 50’s and 60’s. Precisely when they were flooding our markets with their shit. The guys in their government making policy were also WWII vets of the same age.
And this is somehow – according to you – NOT true?
Man, you are one ignorant fuck. And your pathetic attempt at gaslighting me has failed. In fact, the totality of your posts in response to me could be just classified as petulant foot-stamping and “Nuh-UH!”.
You got being a whiny bitch down to a science. Go hold your fuckin breath elsewhere, fuckstick.
“Harley OWNED “the market” outright for decades. They HAD no competition, save some outliers who rode Brit or Herm bikes…”
When?
Apparently, we can add reading comprehension to the list of shit you suck dick at…
I already addressed “when” – you are blatantly ignoring that and demonstrating breath-taking intellectual dishonesty, or you didn’t bother to read it – demonstrating intellectual laziness – and are thus attempting to get traction with some shit that’s already been dealt with and dismissed.
I’m not going to quote my own damn self. Go back and re-read what I wrote.
Or don’t. I gives a fuck at this point, you drooling, window-licking bone smuggler…
AMF this… AMF that…”
Backstop it. If you got a valid point, then backstop it. I ain’t my job to disprove your shit – it’s your job to prove your own shit.
I cited chapter and verse that kicks your “economic warfare not happening” gaslighting right in the balls. You got nothing but AMF! AMF!…
Fine. Prove it. I’m not gonna go do your fucking homework, asshole.
If you don’t feel like proving it, then put the dick back in your mouth and shut the fuck up.
testing
red
Followup:
And even if you manage to backstop your puny little “AMF” point, it only reinforces my own position.
That being: the Japs chose their timing perfectly – for IF your puny “AMF” point pans out and Harley was “on the ropes”, then they waited till their opponent was at his weakest before acting.
Which anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together would easily classify as “economic warfare”.
You don’t qualify, by the way.
Fucking retard makes a point that reinforces my own, then declares “victory”….
What a lightweight asshat. Begone from my porch!
one more time …. attempting to change font to red
Red
FUCKIT!!
Maybe blue will work
fucken blue
Last motherfucking attempt
This is some red text
This is some blue text
Those colors are beautiful.
“Those colors are beautiful.” ——- Admin
hahahaha No shit!!
There are web site with the EXACT CODE for changing color. In fact, I copied the entire code for the sentence — “This is some red text” —– which is ACTUALLY RED on that website!!! Yet, here, no fucken change.
This is reason #174 why I fucken HATE computer work.
Erm, Stucky?
I might have forgotten the caveat that not all the HTML tags are supported and work everywhere, all the time…
If you were formatting an OP for TBP, then I guess they would work.
But in the comments section? Eh… apparently, not so much. And I don’t know which ones are not supported… well, except for the “colors” tags…