Motorcyclebloggers.com has a very interesting post regarding the the rise of Chinese motorcycles and ATV’s in the United States market and the parallels to the overall “Walmartization” of our economy. The article is quite evenhanded, recognizing the benefits to be gained by overseas manufacturing, but also noting some of the tough questions that are right under the surface. You can read the full text of the post at “The Rise of the Chinese Motorcycle/ATV Business“.

These sentiments probably all sound quite familiar to owners and prospective buyers of new Triumph motorcycles as online discussions and arguments have been ongoing for quite sometime regarding the manufacture of Triumph motorcycles in Thailand. While I personally haven’t had the opportunity to examine a Thai Triumph yet, I’m sure that the quality is up to snuff, as Triumph has been manufacturing individual components there for years. However, I think if you ask the average Triumph owner, this transition speaks to something more emotional than just product quality and somehow, in an almost indescribable way, tears at the soul of their decision to buy a “Brit Bike”.