Was my BMW Motorcycle Engine Made in China?

[gmcjetpilot]

First I am the proud owner of a R1150RT. Does any one know where was my bike and engine made? I just assumed it was made at Motorrad in Berlin or somewhere in Germany.

 

One "bike night" some guy with high waist pants on a Honda scooter, kid you not, walks over and says, "I hear they make BMW engines in China." Not totally shocked, I did feel a little insulted. I said, "I don't think this engine was made in China." Doing some research, like all major companies, they are global. It means little where it was made. My VW TDI Diesel Jetta Sportwagen for example was assembled in Mexico, but a majority of the assemblies, engine, trans and parts come from Germany.

 

BMW motorcycle do have engine production/factories in Germany, Austria, China and Taiwan.

Wiki: "All BMW Motorrad's motorcycle production takes place at its plant in Berlin, Germany,[7] although some engines are manufactured in Austria, China, and Taiwan."

 

No big deal, I don't have a German bike because it is foreign. The BMW logo or "status" does absolutely nothing for me. It could say Honda. I have a VW (bought it reluctantly) because it was the only diesel. It has been a great car getting over 50mpg and 750 miles on a tank on a recent trip. I just appreciate the engineering, the total package and the ride of my R1150RT. I have owned Japanese bikes; I'll own one again. I am assuming back in 2004 oil head engine production was still in Germany, but I could be wrong. I am just curious what was made where and when. Does anyone have the history of BMW engine production? Are the new liquid cooled boxers made in Germany?

[Guest Kakugo]

Relax, your boxer wasn't made in China.

It was actually built in Berlin using components mostly sourced from German and Italian contractors.

All boxers and I4 and I6 engines are manufactured in Berlin. Although the boxers are 100% BMW designed, the I4 and I6 engines are mostly designed by Ricardo of England, which is not a bad choice by any means.

 

Rotax manufactures the parallel twins in one of their Austrian factories (I think they build it at Gunskirchen but could be dead wrong). There are rumors part of the production is undertaken in Taiwan by KYMCO but I have been unable to confirm/deny this.

KYMCO used to manufacture some of the 650cc and the 450cc single cylinder engines in Taiwan and now builds the C600/650 scooter engine there. An excellent choice as KYMCO is a former Honda contractor which went independent.

 

The China connection is provided by the present 650cc single (used in the G650GS). The engine is built at the Loncin factory. From there engines are shipped to Germany (where they are used for the European and US market G650GS) and Brazil (for the G650GS sold on the local market) or used locally to build bikes branded as Loncin. Due to agreements with BMW, Loncin bikes cannot be sold outside of China.

However the Loncin factory recently issued a warning to "foreign customers" their engines have been cloned and are being exported by an unknown third party. No need to panic, as these engines won't end up in a BMW factory and probably won't end up in Europe or the US (though judging by how many Honda engine clones I see cleared for sales I am having a few doubts of late).

 

 

[John Bentall]

Such comments - usually intended to be cruel and hurt the recipient are made by nasty people with no feelings, They are following the latest rumours founded on hearsay. Keep away from these people if at all possible and do not attempt to change their minds with the truth - they are not interested unless it impacts them personally.

 

Your R1150RT was made in Berlin as are the new LC boxers.

 

Early BMW 650 Singles were made in Italy by Aprilia using Austrian Rotax engines. The BMW G650G Sertao is made in their Brazilan factory probably with a Taiwanese engine made by Kymco. The drive units for the scooters are made in Taiwan and shipped to Germany.

 

I think you will find that BMW cars are made in China for the Chinese market in a joint venture with a local Chinese manufacturer.

 

BTW his Honda scooter is probably not made in Japan. My Honda scooter was designed and made in Italy.

 

It really is best not to get too hung about this stuff.

 

Funnily enough, I was astonished to learn that the UKs famous Massey-Ferguson tractors are now made in France.

 

 

[DiggerJim]

One "bike night" some guy with high waist pants on a Honda scooter, kid you not, walks over and says, "I hear they make BMW engines in China." Not totally shocked, I did feel a little insulted.

I'm not sure why people get their pants in a twist over this. Your iPad or smartphone was made in China. Are those crap? The Chinese make some of the most sophisticated stuff out there (including spaceships - they're still sending astronauts in space on their own rockets something we can't do anymore). The old "made in China" = junk is a relic of the past.

 

Admittedly they do eff up with things like the Chinese wallboard issue (FL residents especially hard hit) or the tainted milk and other scandals but if anyone thinks we (or the Germans) are immune from doing similar cost-cutting fraudulent stuff they're naive at best. They're not building Chevy Vegas anymore.

[smiller]

BMW motorcycles might be more reliable if they were made in China.

[tallman]

What is this "bike night" you speak of?

 

Isn't every night "bike night"?

 

 

 

Best reply to idiots like that, "I hope so, that's why I bought it.

With luck the whole thing should fall aprt trailing pieces behind it on my ride home."

 

Try it.

Watch their smug expression change to one of tormented confusion.

[RPG]

One "bike night" some guy with high waist pants on a Honda scooter, kid you not, walks over and says, "I hear they make BMW engines in China." Not totally shocked, I did feel a little insulted.

I'm not sure why people get their pants in a twist over this. Your iPad or smartphone was made in China. Are those crap? The Chinese make some of the most sophisticated stuff out there (including spaceships - they're still sending astronauts in space on their own rockets something we can't do anymore). The old "made in China" = junk is a relic of the past.

 

Admittedly they do eff up with things like the Chinese wallboard issue (FL residents especially hard hit) or the tainted milk and other scandals but if anyone thinks we (or the Germans) are immune from doing similar cost-cutting fraudulent stuff they're naive at best. They're not building Chevy Vegas anymore.

 

I guess I possess a dissenting opinion. Most of my Chinese experienes have been met with utter disregard for any quality in design, testing, or manufacuring.

 

I really like the motorcycle trailer wheel chocks my buddy bought at Harbor Freight recently. The fasteners were especially humorous. Most of the threads were missing on the bolts and the lock washers looked like they were made from cheap paper clips. Then there was the guy who wanted me to lace up his old Yamaha spoke wheels. I get started and see that the new shiny spokes are made in China (supplied by the owner). Of the 36 spokes per each wheel, no less than four nipples were missing the threads. The rear wheel spokes were even worse, where 10 of the threads stripped ever so easy when torqaued.

 

When I can, I opt to pay extra for American made or from other countries with a reputation for producing quality. China is a long way off from having a similar reputation, I would say.

 

RPG

[Ponch]

One "bike night" some guy with high waist pants on a Honda scooter, kid you not, walks over and says, "I hear they make BMW engines in China." Not totally shocked, I did feel a little insulted.

I'm not sure why people get their pants in a twist over this. Your iPad or smartphone was made in China. Are those crap? The Chinese make some of the most sophisticated stuff out there (including spaceships - they're still sending astronauts in space on their own rockets something we can't do anymore). The old "made in China" = junk is a relic of the past.

 

Admittedly they do eff up with things like the Chinese wallboard issue (FL residents especially hard hit) or the tainted milk and other scandals but if anyone thinks we (or the Germans) are immune from doing similar cost-cutting fraudulent stuff they're naive at best. They're not building Chevy Vegas anymore.

 

Correction: It's not that we can't go into space, it's that we won't. There is a difference.

[Guest Kakugo]

One "bike night" some guy with high waist pants on a Honda scooter, kid you not, walks over and says, "I hear they make BMW engines in China." Not totally shocked, I did feel a little insulted.

I'm not sure why people get their pants in a twist over this. Your iPad or smartphone was made in China. Are those crap? The Chinese make some of the most sophisticated stuff out there (including spaceships - they're still sending astronauts in space on their own rockets something we can't do anymore). The old "made in China" = junk is a relic of the past.

 

Admittedly they do eff up with things like the Chinese wallboard issue (FL residents especially hard hit) or the tainted milk and other scandals but if anyone thinks we (or the Germans) are immune from doing similar cost-cutting fraudulent stuff they're naive at best. They're not building Chevy Vegas anymore.

 

I guess I possess a dissenting opinion. Most of my Chinese experienes have been met with utter disregard for any quality in design, testing, or manufacuring.

 

I really like the motorcycle trailer wheel chocks my buddy bought at Harbor Freight recently. The fasteners were especially humorous. Most of the threads were missing on the bolts and the lock washers looked like they were made from cheap paper clips. Then there was the guy who wanted me to lace up his old Yamaha spoke wheels. I get started and see that the new shiny spokes are made in China (supplied by the owner). Of the 36 spokes per each wheel, no less than four nipples were missing the threads. The rear wheel spokes were even worse, where 10 of the threads stripped ever so easy when torqaued.

 

When I can, I opt to pay extra for American made or from other countries with a reputation for producing quality. China is a long way off from having a similar reputation, I would say.

 

RPG

 

My big issue is not so much with Made in China, but with Western companies who instruct their Chinese contractors to build the nastiest, cheapest stuff possible.

Simple example.

There's a Chinese power equipment engine manufacturer called Sumec-Linhai. Granted, these are not Honda's, but for what they cost, they aren't horrible by any means. They start at first or second pull, don't use oil and, although heavy and a tad underpowered, seem to be reliable units for the average user. In short cheap and cheerful and without any pretense.

 

The absolute worst Made in China engines I've seen carried the brands of two well known European manufacturers, which I am not going to name. One is an almost direct knockoff of a Honda unit (but with quality and reliability which would guarantee a one way trip to the unemployment line in Japan) and the other is most likely an original design. And by original I mean designed by a very imaginative six year old.

 

Now, somebody in the offices of these two manufacturers sent specs to the Chinese contractors and green-lighted production when he saw the prototypes and keeps on green-lighting the present "quality" control process. Hence I blame the suits, not the Chinese.

[DiggerJim]

Correction: It's not that we can't go into space, it's that we won't. There is a difference.

I didn't say we can't go into space, I said we can't send them in our own rockets anymore. We're global hitchhikers. I saw a study from NASA that said it would take longer to get us back to the moon now than it did in the 60s when we had to invent every single thing. Pretty sad.

[Firefight911]

BMW motorcycles might be more reliable if they were made in China.

 

Everyone else passed over this but I find it to be so poignant!

[Burgi]

Toured the BMW motorcycle plant in Germany this spring. From what we were told, currently BMW makes all their engines as they want control of the quality so they won't outsource.

Pretty interesting tour anyway. I've never been in an assembly plant that was so clean, think you could just about eat off the floor of that place.

[Ponch]

Correction: It's not that we can't go into space, it's that we won't. There is a difference.

I didn't say we can't go into space, I said we can't send them in our own rockets anymore. We're global hitchhikers. I saw a study from NASA that said it would take longer to get us back to the moon now than it did in the 60s when we had to invent every single thing. Pretty sad.

 

If we wanted to, we could. NASA has been turned into a tourist attraction at best.

[Ponch]

BMW motorcycles might be more reliable if they were made in China.

 

Everyone else passed over this but I find it to be so poignant!

 

I'd settle for Japan.

[Skywagon]

Jet..next thing you know that crackpot will be telling you to watch your final drive..

[ESokoloff]

I didn't say we can't go into space, I said we can't send them in our own rockets anymore. We're global hitchhikers. ............Pretty sad.

 

"Oh, the times they are a changin"

[DiggerJim]

"Oh, the times they are a changin"

Yep - gotta love Elon. If governments won't do something adventuresome or useful, he'll do it Thank goodness for responsible eccentric billionaires eh?

[RavennaAl]

I refuse to buy anything from China if I can help it. I work on cars for a living and the auto industry is filled with Chinese replacement parts that don't fit correctly, or don't last very long. Too many times I've replaced sway bar links, ball joints, wheel bearings etc., only to have to replace them again 6 months to a year later because they have gone bad.

 

I had to replace an exhaust manifold and got 3 of them because the first 2 weren't machined correctly. I showed them to the NAPA rep who couldn't believe his eyes when I put the gasket over the plate where it bolted up to the cylinder head. You could see that the holes on each one were drilled in a different spot and that none of them aligned with the holes in the gasket. The one I finally used, I still had to ream out 3 holes to get the manifold to bolt up to the head.

 

This is all too often a problem with Chinese auto parts. If the holes on the old part are 4" apart, the new one will have the holes anywhere from 3 3/4" to 4 1/4" apart. I get sway bar links with nuts supplied that have different threads than what are on the links! That's right, the link will have metric threads and the nuts are American thread, or vice versa. And if you think that's bad, go to a body shop sometime and ask them what they think about Chinese body parts. I'm in contact with several in my area and they all say the same thing, the parts they get are horrible. One guy was telling me about the trouble he had getting a fender. Seems everyone he got was about 3" too short. He finally gave up and located a decent one from the wrecking yard.

 

However, I think Chinese fireworks are awesome!

[Albert]

Actually, maybe it was. I used to travel to China occasionally for work before I retired. I was in Shanghai one evening at a TGI Fridays (I kid you not) and happened to strike up a conversation with another American at the bar. Turned out he had been living there for a few years working for GM (GM has a huge presence there). Our conversations eventually turned to motorcycles and he told me he had a 19xx BMW with a side car that he purchased NEW around a year earlier. It turns out China obtained some BMW tooling facilities as part of war reparations following WW2. With right connections and cash, you could have the line fired up and they'd build you a brand new bike (with the hack). I believe he said it cost him around $6k to have the bike made and he routinely used it driving around town. He was planning to take it home when his stint in China was up but he said it was going to cost him more to ship it home than it cost originally.

[racer7]

Do distinguish between Taiwan and mainland China. There is a whole lot of Western business and influence on Taiwan and has been for many years.

While some of the dubious aspects of Chinese ethics still exist there, larger industry makes pretty good stuff. As anyone who has been to Taiwan knows, Kymco stuff is well made and in use by much of the population for daily transportation. The scooter lanes in major cities are the fastest way across town always and many use scooters in place of cars.

 

Mainland China is different- while cars are beginning to be common, a lot still use bicycles. Manufacturing talent is low in many places and operations and the education system is a joke- degreed folks are often not even US high school competent. No matter what you think you're buying and how good your specs are, you will receive only what you provide inspection and enforcement for- that means putting fully functional engineering oversight and QA/QC supervision in place- which cost $ that offset savings. Those who do it can get good results. Those who don't will get crap. I've got enough direct experience to not be guessing (and now retired from it.)

 

Got no idea what BMW or its subcontractors do there.

 

Building a rocket is no great shakes- its 1960s technology. Real scientists know the term "rocket scientist" is actually an insult. All the calculations needed can be done on a modern pocket calculator. As can big civil engineering stuff. Not much (anything?) innovative there unless they've invented a few hacking tricks (doubt that, westerners are pretty good at it).

Hope the euro folks taught them enough metallurgy to make decent castings.

[lkchris]

If we wanted to, we could. NASA has been turned into a tourist attraction at best.

 

Since the advent of the Space Shuttle it's been a barnstorming organization.

[Ponch]

If we wanted to, we could. NASA has been turned into a tourist attraction at best.

 

Since the advent of the Space Shuttle it's been a barnstorming organization.

 

It's an insult to the people that got us to the moon. Had we gone on with a logical progression, we'd be on Mars by now.

[SuperG]

Their reputation precedes them. (<-Chinese)

They have become the masters of duplicating products that became remotely popular and have shown even the slightest demand among consumers.

Some products are forged so well it is often difficult to identify the original from a copy.

In nearly any category of product line there is a documented counterfeiting scandal relate to China. Anything from Australian name brand boots to weapons optics (Eotech) to famous golfclub bags.

With Globalization, I would not be surprised if (today) part of a BMW motorcycle is made in China.

If I recall it correctly a local BMW sales person nodded when I asked about the 650cc Chinese engine.

The problem is once it is made there, a sheet metal form/mold or a blueprint of a product will find its way to a "copy shop" via a disgruntled employee or what not, where it will be reproduced and eventually find its way into the part supply chain and getting "resold"

 

CNN did an investigation /interview about a -brand X(?), expensive American made golf club bag that was reproduced in China, shipped and sold in the US.

Faulty golf-bags found their way back to the American manufacturer under their limited lifetime warranty process, where it was determined that it was counterfeit product.

The personal interview in China with the head of anti counterfeit division simply acknowledged that they are trying to crackdown on the practice but it is simply just the way of life in China. They close down a shop and a new one opens back up around the corner. Chinese police personnel walked on the busy streets and in the mall where fake merchandise (Nike, Adidas...) is/was sold to the masses, without no police intervention.

 

I do not understand how it is allowed to copy a powertool (DeWalt) to an almost identical product(externally) and simply slapping a "Chicago or Central electric" sticker on it, and call it a day.

 

[DiggerJim]

I do not understand how it is allowed to copy a powertool (DeWalt) to an almost identical product(externally) and simply slapping a "Chicago or Central electric" sticker on it, and call it a day.

It's just a different frame of reference. They don't understand why we don't understand. There's no concept of intellectual property rights (as a "thing" to own/control).

 

Probably like when Europeans came to America and "bought" land from the natives who couldn't understand how anyone could think that by putting marks on a tree or rock they suddenly owned the land contained within its perimeter.

[slipknot]

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1776

 

This is for those who think China will make a quality product.

 

I've been burned too many times, last week on a $1000 piece of landfill the vendor will have to trash because a bearing cannot be replaced. Everyone loses.

 

And some of the rear hub bearing failures in the Paralever models have been Chinese sealed bearings WITHOUT ANY GREASE INSIDE. Read the article above.

[DiggerJim]

This is for those who think China will make a quality product.

Yeah I guess 500 Million iPhones are all crap. (Well, they are but for a different reason - I'm an Android guy LOL)

 

They are business people just like any others. They will build whatever they're paid to build. If you contract to build at lowest cost then quality is lower. If you contract to build highest quality then price is higher. It's not magic.

 

They build good stuff and bad stuff. The good stuff is generally expensive (although arguably less expensive than what other countries including ours would cost at the same quality point). The bad stuff is generally cheap. Sometimes it's bad & expensive but that's most likely on the retail end where someone is taking higher profits and shortchanging manufacturing/build costs.

 

I'm always amazed when people tell me what crap country X makes (it's Vietnam in the Backpacking gear world, Bangladesh in the apparel world, etc.) while being perfectly content with some other thing that's not cheap they have but was also made by those same people.

 

Good luck finding a smartphone or PC that's not made at least in part in China. If you think all of that's crap too, well, you're entitled to your opinion regardless of how a couple of billion other data points might suggest.

[Guest Kakugo]

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1776

 

This is for those who think China will make a quality product.

 

I've been burned too many times, last week on a $1000 piece of landfill the vendor will have to trash because a bearing cannot be replaced. Everyone loses.

 

And some of the rear hub bearing failures in the Paralever models have been Chinese sealed bearings WITHOUT ANY GREASE INSIDE. Read the article above.

 

I understand what you mean and feel your pain.

Today I had to take my one week old, Italian pressure washer back to the seller because the detergent wasn't flowing.

I know these people very well and, upon hearing what the problem was, he immediately diagnosed the issue without even opening the washer. "One out of ten we sell does that out of the box"... and guess where the whole washer is made? Luckily the parent company is very reputable and will honor their warranty without questioning but how much is this shtick costing them? If 10% of their pressure washers require a warranty repair for a well known issue...

 

 

 

 

[Dietrich]

I saw it too, Phil. But I thought I let it go. There is always someone who is disenchanted with the product and has to add some snide remark. Possibly caused by personal experience, whatever.

Except for a 1951 R51 I don't ride BMW currently and went to a Burgman 650, but I miss my GS or GTL or RT. Great experiences over many years, no issues whatsoever. I don't care if they are made in China or Korea. It's a global market nowadays. Being in the VW business we are getting used to have more cars come from everywhere but Germany. And life goes on....

[racer7]

slipknot- that article is aboslutely correct but in fact it is even worse than that. I have been involved with sourcing stuuff from China and can guarantee that the only way you will get what you think you are buying is to put your own quality organization and possibly engineers on site to ensure it.

Otherwise unauthorized substitution and deliberate efforts to hide it are certain.

Two examples US consumers should know about have killed humans and animals in the US. One was subsituting melamine in a feed additive so it would appear to have higher nitrogen (eg protein) content on a simple test. It kiiled animals and got into human food in the US; it killed quite afew Chinese babies. The second was substituting aa poisonous anticoagulant chemical in heparin imported by Abbott Labs- FDA estimates it killed up to 80 people in the US though Abbott says the number is lower in their response to the resulting lawsuits (you can verfiy that on the FDA website if you know how to use it).

 

The relevant question for stuff coming from China is not whther its any good but how much on site supervision is BMW providing. Crap is guaranteed if iet is inadequate; quality will be OK if it is.

 

Its not about not understanding intellectual property or any othersuch nonsense- it is all about human greed unchecked, plain and simple. Not much different than 1870 capitalism at home.

[slipknot]

I think some are missing the point of the article. It is a cultural problem. If a company wants to keep high standards in China then standing over their shoulders and keeping constant vigil is the only way to achieve high standards. Contrast that with Japan or other countries.

 

An interesting side is when stopping in a store in Houston with a Vietnamese girlfriend I paid for a drink and my girlfriend asked me, "do you know how to tell a Chinese from a Vietnamese seller?" "The Chinese will never thank you for your business and will never smile." That same observation is repeated by natives in Tibet.

 

But back to the main point, they have a cultural bias that bends to constantly cheating in order to increase their profit margin. Cheating is what they do and only constant oversight can control this but even that will not control their suppliers that are doing the same.

 

[jbr7t]

BMW motorcycles might be more reliable if they were made in China.

 

Everyone else passed over this but I find it to be so poignant!

 

When I read that comment my first thought was.."wonder if Phil is reading this post?"

[John in VA]

Rocket science may be no great shakes, but it seems that, to the Chinese, building something as basic as an aircraft carrier IS great shakes. The only one they have they just recently built using an old Ukrainian hull. They test-landed their very first plane on it just a few months ago to great fanfare. They had never before landed a plane on an aircraft carrier.

[philbytx]

That's coz they prolly couldn't obtain/steal plans for the Nimitz Class carriers !

 

 

[gmcjetpilot]

Thanks for the replies. This thread drifted, a lot, got into a little cheering and bashing of: China, USA and BMW. I did not intend for that to happen. I can say a lot about the topic on both sides of the argument. USA is great and still is, but we gave much of our manufacturing away, from electronics to steel. German or China made is not God's gift to Cars, Bikes or electronics.

 

The first two replies by "Kakugo" and "John Bentall" pretty much answered my question. Back to the point, the BMW boxer oil heads and liquid heads were/are made in Germany. Which I was pretty sure of. I knew they had other factories for other engines.

 

However I enjoyed the following replies.... BTW Harley does have many USA factories, but they admit they have a factory in India for that market, making smaller bikes.

 

BTW - I know people with German heritage sometimes buy German cars or bikes because of that. A friend has Swedish ancestry, and he owned a hunk of junk Saab, cherished because it's Swedish. Saab car company is no more. Why would you put the ignition switch in-between the seats? Ha ha.

[DiggerJim]

A friend has Swedish ancestry, and he owned a hunk of junk Saab, cherished because it's Swedish. Saab car company is no more. Why would you put the ignition switch in-between the seats? Ha ha.

So your heavy key ring doesn't keep bumping into the steering column making clanky noises or weigh down on the ignition lock cylinder until it no longer works correctly and needs to be replaced.

 

Of course it helps that they do not have a culture of using their cars as dining establishments so do not have to worry about dropping crumbs into the key receptacle.

[SuperG]

Good reply Jim, but now it is a push button these days to start the vehicle, I guess we are getting too lazy to turn the ignition key or have a to have a key.

[Boffin]

A friend has Swedish ancestry, and he owned a hunk of junk Saab, cherished because it's Swedish. Saab car company is no more. Why would you put the ignition switch in-between the seats? Ha ha.

 

So it can also lock the car in gear to make a much more effective anti-theft device than a steering lock.

 

Andy

[tallman]

Good reply Jim, but now it is a push button these days to start the vehicle, I guess we are getting too lazy to turn the ignition key or have a to have a key.

 

My '62 Mercedes required you to turn and push the key to start.

 

Stumped more than a few valet parking attendants.

Some even wanted a tip when I had to go retrieve the car and start it...

[algover]

One "bike night" some guy with high waist pants on a Honda scooter, kid you not, walks over and says, "I hear they make BMW engines in China." Not totally shocked, I did feel a little insulted.

I'm not sure why people get their pants in a twist over this. Your iPad or smartphone was made in China. Are those crap? The Chinese make some of the most sophisticated stuff out there (including spaceships - they're still sending astronauts in space on their own rockets something we can't do anymore). The old "made in China" = junk is a relic of the past.

 

Admittedly they do eff up with things like the Chinese wallboard issue (FL residents especially hard hit) or the tainted milk and other scandals but if anyone thinks we (or the Germans) are immune from doing similar cost-cutting fraudulent stuff they're naive at best. They're not building Chevy Vegas anymore.

 

I guess I possess a dissenting opinion. Most of my Chinese experienes have been met with utter disregard for any quality in design, testing, or manufacuring.

 

I really like the motorcycle trailer wheel chocks my buddy bought at Harbor Freight recently. The fasteners were especially humorous. Most of the threads were missing on the bolts and the lock washers looked like they were made from cheap paper clips. Then there was the guy who wanted me to lace up his old Yamaha spoke wheels. I get started and see that the new shiny spokes are made in China (supplied by the owner). Of the 36 spokes per each wheel, no less than four nipples were missing the threads. The rear wheel spokes were even worse, where 10 of the threads stripped ever so easy when torqaued.

 

When I can, I opt to pay extra for American made or from other countries with a reputation for producing quality. China is a long way off from having a similar reputation, I would say.

 

RPG

 

+1

 

You should see the POS Lenovo Thinkpad I'm using right now. I won't waste money getting another of these!