Doc - this gets pretty political also very off topic and certainly aint about bikes so this may not be the place to put this and it may well get struck off but I will answer your question and maybe it may be of interest who want to travel and see the wonder of our world and share it with the creatures that inhabit it with us. I have many years ago worked in many parts of the world, where I have dived as part of my job - but even prior to this I had an interest in and empathy with the worlds oceans, seas and the creatures that live in them. For over thirty years I have campaigned against the various whaling industrys and been part of various anti whaling action groups - and have campaigned against all the whaling nations and now only three remain of note - (Norway and Iceland on a different level to japan but still in there on a miniscule scale) but mainly the Japanese nation ( yes I include a lot (not all) of the japanese people who for some weird cultural reason hold the fisherman, whalers and dolphin slaughterers as national heros). The Japanese have broken international treaties and have ignored all nations and used blackmail and industrial might to persuade smaller reliant nations to back them on the issue of whaling etc ( if you vote against us they threaten to withdraw all support - industrial, financial etc.). The Japanese have also for some time supported pirate whaling to try to move the pressure away from themselves as those ships fly under a different flag and operate totally illegally - financed by guess who - The Japanese - they are the only nation who continue against international protestation to carry out industrial level of whaling, dolphin and porpoise hunting etc they kill the largest number of whales of any nation on earth, protected species or not, young whales nursing mothers and pregnant females there is no mercy even worse they also do their hunting in the international whaling reserve in the south pacific and antarctic oceons - this area was put in place to protect pregnant whales and schools with young to allow a safe haven for depleted stocks of whales and dolphins to recover. Japan does not recognise this area and continues to whale it under the banner of 'scientific research'. Japan currently has 5 years stock of unused whale flesh that they can not sell or use on the home market. They continue to Whale and have massive dolphin hunts and slaughter as its a tradition. They continue to fish on unbelievable scale and are stripping the south atlantic and antarctic ocean to the point of extinction. I will not give my hard earned money nor anything else to a nation who in my opinion are supporting a cause as bad for our wildlife and seas as Hitler was to the Jewish nation. I am well aware other nations cause damage, wars, environment meltdown etc and I including our own but this one is my own little battle and has been since the 1970's.

Bye that got that one of me chest. So you now know why mista Honda or suzuki aint on my shopping list . Jake.

I can't deny... I agree with a lot about what you're saying with the Japanese culture. I don't like that either.

However !! You wouldn't buy anything from anyone if you started judging the countries ethics and atrocities.

You certainly wouldn't buy German for obvious reasons. The Yanks melted kids in Vietman and are popping off Arabs like rednecks on a rabbit shoot at the moment so you couldn't buy U.S Bikes.

Hmmm... The Brits are responsible for some horrific genocides of lands, people and entire continents so anyone with a conscience couldn't support Triumph either. And every time you'd sit on a CCM you would feel the wrath of Ghandi...

You could shop for something from Switzerland. They're fairly neutral. Oh sh*t, they got rich of Nazi gold and stolen jewish artworks so they're dirty too.


Get my point ?????

However.... I know as a fellow diver and nature lover, that it's something personal to you. And you're more than welcome to that opinion.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

If anyone gets struck off for saying what they think, I'm off too.

Got to agree with the whale thing, yet I have eaten it in Norway. No nation is perfect (because Yorkshire isn't independent!) so I'll buy from the perfectly nice people of Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda or Kawasaki. I'm a new bike buyer too, it is either being a snob or some authority problem with some *****y grease monkey forcing me to buy a non-strident horn and a new back light bulb to replace the one that stopped working between my house and his workshop on MOT day. I'm slightly anti-BMW too

Now, getting back even close to on thread, how does the Husqvarna fall into this? Owned by BMW, but does it have CAN and an engine made in a place with a currently poor reputation for quality, average human rights record and dog/whale/white tiger & chips menu?

Andy

Chaps and chapesses, this thread should now return to being ON TOPIC.

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TBS.com

"Finally, a single cylinder adventure bike"

CODSWALLOP!

Jap singles made in the last 2+ decades would be a wise choice for reliability, economy, preformance, adaptability, parts and price.

But at 20 years old you have carbs with rotting bits of rubber to sort out, electrics designed when communication and navigation involved lumps of tree bark and every year I'd have to let some greasemonkey fiddle with the thing and buy parts I didn't need before they'll let me pay tax. Probably not factors for a one off big trip and a disadvantage when buying a carnet, but when squeezing in riding with the rest of life, new can be better.

Andy

Some of those 20 year old bikes (DR650, KLR650, XR650) are still being made today, and others like the DRZ400 are quite simple tech as well, so you can have your old tech support and new bike reliability all in one...

I've got a newish chinabike that I'd rely to get me around the world as much as the CCM.
Much simpler motor to work on, and many parts are Honda compatible.

If you are into sub-250 cc bikes, plenty of strong, easy to service ag / business / delivery bikes and so on being sold in Asia, Africa and South America.

And prices mostly would come within the engine budget of the CCM.

None of above have nearly the snob appeal of a BMW, KTM or even a CCM though...

Sent from my A898 Duo using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Of course everyone with a BMW, KTM or CCM bought it because of the snob appeal. Or wait, maybe some of them don't want a sub-250cc delivery bike?

They scarcely exist in environmentally-conscious Europe now: most Jap manufacturers have moved to a parallel twin engine design of about the same capacity, such as the Versys, 500/700cc Hondas, + the V twin Gladius engine in the WeeStrom.
Yam are well overdue to update their 660 single engine but they have openly admitted that their bike division profits come from selling 125cc machines in Asia.

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Dave

well isnt that the point of being neutral???

If you say we will take sides against Nazi Germany, then you are taking sides, and you arent being neutral.

The point of neutrality is you dont take sides. You dont discriminate. you dont say, Americans good, Russians bad, or Nazis bad, Albanians good. The whole point of neutrality is ... we treat you equally and your gold equally, whatever country you come from.

Neutrality is pure. Its non judgemental. Its not preaching moral superiority.

The Swiss accepted American Gold, as well as the gold of invaded European countries just as realidy as they accepted Nazi gold. Thats pure neutrality.

The reason allied and german negotiators could meet in Switzerland, was because they were neutral. They didnt take sides.

If an allied or german tried to cross the swiss border, armed, they were shot at, equally.

Thats true neutrality.

Sadly, the Swiss gave up 800 odd years of true neutrality just a decade or so ago. Switzerland prior to 2000 was about as neutral as a country is ever going to get. The only way to approach true neutrality, is to have no foreign policy. Refuse to comment or have an opinion or try to influence the policies of any foreign country. Treat all foreign powers equally. Thats neutrality. That means accepting Nazi gold as you would accept anyone elses gold.

The Austrians pretend to be neutral ... they are not. The Finns pretend to be neutral. They are not. The swedes pretend to be neutral. They are not. The Irish pretend to be neutral. They are not. But the swiss .... they were as close as you will ever get.

but they dont make motorcycles

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I guess everyone is entitled to their views; I agree with yours about the whaling and killing porpoises BTW, but don't think HondaKawaYamaZuki are responsible so don't mind buying their bikes.

Horses for courses I suppose.

Personally, I don't buy Israeli goods, but that's just my bugbear.....

Thanks for explaining - ride on.