The century-plus history of motorcycle manufacturers looks like a field of hundreds of dry bones. Investors would be wise to always have that in the back of the mind when checking out an 'opportunity.' Here are some from just the 1910s! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motorcycles_of_the_1910s
Yes... And the fundamental rule they never seem to grasp: "Don't enter into a business you know nothing about."
So we have time on our hands and a few years ago we decided to get into the seal coating sales business . I have a successful distribution business selling pressure washers , soap and sealers www.acrproductsinc.com and went into something I new very little about . We lost money very year we were in it until this year . Now we are moving 2 8000 gallon blacktop sealer tanks out of our shop they are huge ! Just because a business looks like you will do good in it doesn't mean you will ! So there is a good end result to this blunder I am getting a new bike room it will be around 750 square feet and we get the shop back to the 5000 feet it used to be .
How low the cost of entry must have been then for so many to give it a go. These days that's one of the biggest barriers for small business.
It was much more than a cost issue. It was a very different time and especially culture. These were ballsy people. Very adventurous and almost uniformly skinny from always moving to the point of vibrating. Those were the people who brought us the insane, dense intensity of WW1. Tough people not so insulated from death. Pre antibiotics, TB alone created a lot of death and walking dead. The whole world then was vibrating in mechanical technology, and they did more in house, even at small firms. The following three moto manufacturing videos show skinny folks vibrating away doing things later slowly given up to mostly to Asia.
In 1910 the average worker made 22 cents an hour. They were skinny, because they could not afford to eat much. That is why hunting and fishing were big American past times.
As a small town kid in the 70s, going into western auto and checking out the Hodaka lineup (maybe two bikes) made the trip to town cool.
Funny, how history is! In 1/4 of a century a brutal people of conquest who made the Battleship Yamato make Hodakas to decorate Western Auto. Then Nixon goes to China....
They can't say that we Americans are a vengeful people who hold grudges or vendetta's. We seem to be more adept at consumption as anything. Use it up and move on should be our motto.
Back in the day, Made in Japan was like Made in china. Metal toys and harbor freight stuff. Motorcycles, Cameras, and watches was the good stuff.
I mean an American made competition bike would be a game changer that would eclipse the ho hum that europe offers with all its labor problems.
If I can get a newer bike it will either be a trs or a scorpa but most likly a TRS.Only thing I don't like about trs is the puke yellow color.
I noticed that on the current GG webpage they only have trials bikes listed under "motorcycles" and "Products" and only the "2020 TXT racing". If you look at the dealers most of them are KTM or Husky dealers and I only found one dealer that had any GG bikes listed as being available (didn't check them all).
I didn't realize that Shineray, the Chinese company that owns SWM and builds the old Italian Husqvarna models in Italy, uses the SWM badge on it's Chinese built SUV's....