Posted on 08/03/2009 7:29:34 AM PDT by BraveMan
We knew the day would come when the final Gold Wing motorcycle would be built in America after Honda announced last year that it would eventually close its motorcycle plant in Marysville, Ohio. Apparently, that time is now, as Honda has confirmed that the Gold Wing assembly line has halted. Moving forward, all Gold Wings – along with just about every other two-wheeler from Honda – will be imported from Japan.
Finished in 1979, the 330,000 square-foot Marysville Motorcycle Plant that has assembled the Gold Wing since 1981 was the first Honda manufacturing facility in America. Since then, over a million Honda Gold Wing motorcycles have made their way down the assembly line and four additional assembly plants have been erected in Ohio producing cars, SUVs, engines and transmissions.
While we're sure it makes sound financial sense to close the Marysville Motorcycle Plant, it strikes us as odd timing to shutter its first U.S. manufacturing site given that Honda is right in the midst of celebrating its first 50 years in America. Conversely, Honda plans to further expand its automotive manufacturing footprint in the U.S. Currently, about 76 percent of all Honda vehicles sold in the United States are produced in North America. Unfortunately, we can now strike the Gold Wing off that list.
One for the Hooligans . . .
I guess the stimulus isn’t going too well. At least not for real jobs. Where people make real things.
Honda Gold Wing in 2007 had 97% American sourced content.
Harley Davidson in 2007 had 94% American sourced content.
I found this information in Motorcycle Dealer new last summer.
Interesting.
Oops
Motorcycle Dealer NEWS
...because your driver’s license has been suspended?
One of my friends bought a big Honda several years ago and was really proud of it. When I mentioned what I had seen in Tulsa he became downcast in the mouth and was never happy till he traded off his Honda for a Harley.
Lots of the people where I used to work bought Harleys during their midlife crisis. I just kept my old pickup. I want four wheels under me.
Reminds me of the old Mustang we had as kids. Wish I had it now.
Well, there goes the best cafeteria on the Honda Marysville campus.
You say that as if riding a geezer-glide road sofa is a bad thing. I rather enjoy riding my rolling Barcalounger. It’s much easier to lay down a trail of sparks . . .
Best of all, no Lucas (also known as the "Prince of Darkness") electrics.
Every time one of these stories about lost profits and downsizing are published, the market jumps another 3-5%. It’s amazing.
Hell yeah.
Saw a buddy's GL1800 smoke some rice rocket out of the gate one night.
 |
  |
| Visit the FMH Swag Store & support FR! | |
| Send FReepmail if you want on/off FMH list | |
| The List of Ping Lists | |
I certainly didn't mean to suggest road-sofas were a bad thing. I've had some myself but the GL1800 brought back a some of the teenager in me, but (hopefully) not the dumb part.
I got my first cycle at the age of 20, an old 1980 CX500 Deluxe.. solid bike drove it through College. When I graduated from college and got my first real job, I bought myself a Harley to celebrate.
I sold it about 6 years ago, due to financial reasons. Now I could go buy one again, but choose not to, I’m not even 40 yet, but can tell my reaction times have slowed just in the past 6 years. I also know how many times my reaction time was the only thing that kept me from become roadkill due to some idiot on the road not paying attention and pulling out in front of me, on top of me, etc.
While on sunny days I at times miss my bike, I don’t think I’ll ever own another one. I shake my head everytime I see the guy who hits his midlife crisis and has never rode a bike before and goes out and buys his Harley, or monster of a bike. I know that beautiful bike is going to hit pavement at some point, and just hope the guy on it or his wife doesn’t wind up killed when it happens.
I was at the Oshkosh fly-in last week and was surprised to see that Honda had a huge display of jet aircraft engines that they were planning to build and market in the US. I wonder if they need the manufacturing facility for higher profit items — like jet engines.
Off topic, but this guy was the tech advisor for CHIPS; it surprised me a bit when he said that the blonde guy was the absolute prima donna, and that Erik Estrada was the nice, friendly, down to earth guy........almost makes me want to move to "The Villages"!
Lucas is the Prince of Darkness because he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the short circuit.
That video is very entertaining. The sound of ‘whatever’ grinding against the pavement gets pretty intense past the halfway mark.
If I see you coming up in my rearview, I’ll move over and give you the preferred line. I’d have to let you guys slink down the road & out of sight. The Dragon is a long way from home for me. I want to be able to ride back.
Scaring the Hell out of myself isn’t as much fun as it used to be.
Thats is the sound of floorboards dragging the pavement;^)
I hate to be daft, but what is it?
What a sad state of reality, you live in. You should just sit in a rocking chair and pray that a rocker didn’t break and pitch you off of the porch and break your neck.
I’m almost 79 and still ride a bike, I’ve been riding since 1948. My hand and eye coordination are still good (I practice) and scratching around on the back road twisties on my Suzuki SV650 is still a blast.
Enjoy your frighened view on life.
I’m in a full-tilt-boogie-with life!
Honda Aircraft Company, Inc
6430 Ballinger Rd.
Greensboro, NC 27409
http://hondajet.honda.com/default.aspx?bhcp=1
"Engine assembly has begun on the GE Honda Aero Engines’ first HF120 jet engine that will be used for FAA certification testing. It will be used on the HondaJet. It will be operated at the end of the summer and begin certification testing that will continue into 2010.
In all, 13 HF120 development engines will take part in the certification testing at seven locations spread around the United States and Japan. By the time testing is completed, the engine will have completed more than 15,000 cycles of ground and flight testing.
HF120 engine production will initially begin in GE’s plant in Lynn, Mass., and will later transition to Honda Aero’s recently completed engine production and overhaul facility in Burlington, N.C."
http://www.aopa.org/oshkosh/oshkosh09/articles/090727honda.html
Ohio sure doesn’t need this rigth now but I’m sure it was chosen because doing buisness in Ohio has gotten very expensive with Tax it to death Strickland.
There are some in Harley circles that are very racists. The guy will probably never be bothered ever for wearing it. When I first started riding Harley’s it surprised me how some blacks seen petrified of bikers on Harleys? I have no explaination for it but crusing up next to a carload of black’s on a Harley usually makes them all reach for the door locks fast?
You’ll probably have to buy it used- Honda stopped selling the Big Ruckus in Canada a couple of years ago and AFAIK they discontinued it in the USA as well.
A bowman doesn't get many opportunities to hold on much less look down, so there's no substitute for practice.
Motorcycles are the same ~ if you don't ride often, you temporarily lose some of the bond with the bike and the instinct of the road.
It always cracks me up when sidewalk commandoes accuse middle aged men and women of having a mid life crisis because they bought a nice bike. It never occurs to them that the bike might just be the newest in a long line of bikes owned, or maybe, after spending all their adult lives & money so far raising kids (maybe grandkids as well in your case ;~), it's time to do something for themselves.
BTW, my brother's roomate has a SV650, and he went down Mt. Baker's tightest twisties like he was in a bob sled a couple months ago - he was a bit over his head, but his bike sure ate up the switchbacks. Impressive little bikes.
Honda may return motorcycle manufacture to the US, but it will be a new plant in a right-to-work state.
If I see you coming up in my rearview, I’ll move over and give you the preferred line. I’d have to let you guys slink down the road & out of sight. The Dragon is a long way from home for me. I want to be able to ride back.
Scaring the Hell out of myself isn’t as much fun as it used to be
Ha, I am up there at an age where I won't be going as fast as Rick (a.k.a. Yellow Wolf) would in the twisties but there probably won't be any HD drivers or inexperienced squids passing the Wing if I am getting it on - we stop a few millimeters short of seriously polishing her pegs on the pavement.
For some of us, who've been riding for over 50 years, riding has nothing to do with a midlife or any other life crisis. It is something we love to do and are sufficiently good at it to mitigate the risk to an acceptable level. I suspect you are one of those who either didn't enjoy riding that much or weren't good or confident enough to continue.
I wasn’t speaking about people who have ridden for decades, I was speaking about folks who have never been on a bike before in their lives at in their late 40s or 50s decide to go buy themselves way more bike then they can handle. I was quite clear about that in the original post.
Now if you have been riding for decades, you know exactly who I’m talking about, because they can be spotted in a heartbeat by anyone who’s been riding for a while.
Thanks 4woodenboats, yep, you’re right on all counts. Actually, riding a motorcycle is much easier than crewing on a racing sailboat. I sailed with friends back in the late 60’s and early 70’s, in the SF Bay and out the Gate. I was on a 24 ft sloop and a 33 ft sloop. The owners of both boats were also avid motorcycle guys, one even owned a dealership.
Yes, the SV650 is a great handling bike, it stops quickly, accelerates quickly and goes where it’s aimed.
I’ve owned 22 motorcycles, three of which were Harleys. The rest we/are Japanese, English, German and Spanish.
Think I’ll check the air pressure of the Suzuki’s tires and go for a blast this afternoon.
It’s ok, I want one too
I can get you one for $5,000
Pretty impressive for a “geezer-glide road sofa” as you say. I could barely hear the engine noises on the chase bike’s video for all the scraping sounds from dragging hardware (presumably floating floorboards).
Guys that ride at the limit on the Dragon’s Tail are just asking for it. I don’t mean the speed so much as the cornering clearance. If he’d been on a competent sport bike he’d have another 15 percent of clearance left, easily. Clearly this guy is riding at 100 percent, which leaves no room for error on either his part or to compensate for the wayward rider (or car or truck) violating his space from the opposite direction. The shoulders at the Dragon’s Tail are all gravel, leaving no room for runoff, and there are plenty of cliffs, steep dropoffs and solid rock walls too.
You’d be amazed at how many Gold Wings go down at the Dragon’s Tail. Almost always because they leverage a wheel off the ground with fixed hardware in a turn, especially the bottoming turns that compress their suspensions.
Because that is one bad-ass little scooter, that’s why!
[and I want one too!]....:))
My surname is Lucas.
How do you think *I* feel about that godawful company?
I *cringe* every time I see their sponsor logo on something...LOL!
[ironically, Lucas [from Luke/Lucifer/et al] means “bringer of light” in Latin so “Prince of Darkness” is really funny]
No, I said it is a race bike on steroids, NOT a geezer glide road sofa. As for the scraping, the Wing has fold up footpegs that, when starting to scrape, tells us we are approaching the edge of the envelope. I am amazed at how many hogs and squids get bitten by the dragon - Goldwings, not so many.
Gold Wing is overpriced.
My ride..'01 Shadow VT1100 (with some accessory enhancements)
R O C K O N !!!!!!!!!!
2009 Gold Wing: 101 HP, 933 pounds, 40 degree lean angle (max)
2009 Suzuki GSX-R1000: 190 HP, 475 pounds, lean angle 60 degrees (tire-limited)
You do the math. More like a race bike on tranquilizers and Maalox.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.