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Buy American?

Wes Fleming's photo
DC Motorcycle Examiner

Photo courtesy Buell.

According to Fed Chairmen Ben Bernanke, the recession is over, so it must be time to get out there and buy a new motorcycle.

In my recent exploration of motorcycles under $10,000, I found you multiple bikes in what many people consider the "affordable" range, but one thing several readers noticed was that, not only did I forget or neglect a couple of bikes, but American builders were basically absent from the list.  Other than one Harley-Davidson (Sportster 883), there's only one American-made motorcycle I know of, the Buell XB9SX (MSRP $8,999), that fits on that list.

So where exactly are motorcycles made these days?  All over the world.  When money is no object and you're a die-hard V-Twin fan, it's easy to buy American.  Harley-Davidson and Victory offer full lines of oddly-named cruisers, and of course Buell offers the sport rider's take on the V-Twin.

Honda made some Shadow cruisers and Gold Wing luxo-tourers in Marysville, Ohio until June 2008, when they ceased all motorcycle manufacturing operations in the US and moved those functions back to Japan.  As you probably already well know, joining Honda in manufacturing motorcycles in Japan are Kawasaki, Suzuki (including "Star" motorcycles), and Yamaha.

Regular readers of this column know I ride a BMW - and of course, everybody knows BMW motorcycles are made in Germany; some of their current line's engines are made in Austria (by Rotax), China (by Chang Jiang), and Taiwan (by Kymco).

Next door to Germany is Austria, where KTM makes their line of dirt, adventure, and supermoto bikes.

The other country most riders associate with European manufacturers are England and Italy.  In England, there is only one mass manufacturer now - Triumph.  Relegated to the stories of our forefathers (and mothers) are Norton, BSA, Brough-Superior, and Royal Enfield - although a new Royal Enfield company is making motorcycles and sidecar rigs in Chennai, India.

Italy is packed with major and minor builders, and big names in racing fill out the majors.  Ducati, Aprilia, Benelli, and Bimota have all had turns 'round the GP circuit.  Moto Guzzi is more an everyday motorcycle builder, as is Cagiva, but MV Agusta makes some really sweet supersport bikes.  Both Cagiva and MV Agusta are currently owned by Harley-Davidson.

Other brands you might see on US roads - or more likely, trails - that are built in Europe are Gas-Gas (Spain), Voxan (France), Husaberg (owned by KTM) and Husqvarna (owned by BMW) - both built in Sweden, Tomos (Slovenia) - which builds mostly mopeds, and of course, IMZ (Russia) - better known in this country as the maker of Ural motorcycles and sidecar rigs.

Coming soon to a dealership near you might be Taiwan's Kymco - also known as the Kwang Yang Motor Company - Korea's Hyosung, and China's Chang Jiang.

Part 2 of this series will address where to find these motorcycles in the DC Metro area.

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, DC Motorcycle Examiner

Raised a military brat, Wes has lived all over the world and chose to make his base in the DC area. He has ridden his motorcycle from one side of this country to the other and can't wait to do it again. He can't wait to get his daughter involved in motorcycling, but he finds himself forced to...

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