Great Stuff on 70's Races

[riffraff]

Notice the variety of bikes in the early seventies and by the end of the decade it was pretty much all Japanese

http://www.mxbikes.com/vintage/bikes70.php

[SachsGS]

Up untill fairly recently the Japanese had the largest motorcycle market on this planet and the domestic manufacturers protected it with a vengence. Meanwhile in Europe there was a post WWII shift to automobiles and the European manufacturers could in no way compete with the Japanese goliaths.Add to this unfavoreable currency movements and it's amazing the Euros even survived.

Payback is a b*tch however and the Japanese are now caught between a revitalized high end European industry and Chinese competition on the other end that has a cost structure that no one can compete with.

My friends and myself ride mainly cross country these days and virtually every motorcycle we own is European.

[riffraff]

Yep, if you check out all the results for the 80's it's all Japanese bikes 

[JETZcorp]

One thing I'm noticing is that, unlike cars, bikes only seem to be in a two-way dual.  There's the Japanese and the Europeans, but there aren't really any American MX bikes being marketed on any sort of competitive scale.  Maybe it's the American sentimental attachment to the ridiculous-displacement OHV four-stroke that does it.

Well, at least we still have top-fuel drag bikes.

[SachsGS]

If we look at North America as a whole we had Can Am, Carabela and Moto Islo as fairly successful offroad MC manufacturers. Come to think of it, Highland has relocated to the U.S. and is producing dirt bikes as we speak.

[riffraff]

If we look at North America as a whole we had Can Am, Carabela and Moto Islo as fairly successful offroad MC manufacturers. Come to think of it, Highland has relocated to the U.S. and is producing dirt bikes as we speak.

Too bad they don't do 2 strokes     

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/newsandupdates/motorcycle_news/122_1004_highland_motorcycles_swede_dreams/index.html

[JohnN]

Too bad they don't do 2 strokes     

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/newsandupdates/motorcycle_news/122_1004_highland_motorcycles_swede_dreams/index.html

Not yet!!! 

[riffraff]

hmmmmmm, you know something we don't know? 

[TMKIWI]

Don't be a tease John.

[riffraff]

An American made 2 stroke with European roots and influences would be totally awesome and if it's made here wouldn't that sorta circumvent the AMA's homo rule?

[JohnN]

While I don't know if Highland will be making a two-stroke or not... it would make sense for them to do so. I do know that another American company has shown some interest in building a two-stroke mx bike. It may be a matter of gauging buyer interest before beginning...

The homolgomation (sp) rule would affect bikes made in the USA just the same... they would have to build at least a certain number of them to be legal for AMA racing....

[SachsGS]

I forgot all about the Cobra guys,they make class leading 50s and 65s!