Now China ??

[tomb raider]

Picked up some dust seals this week for the 700S. Looking at them driving home I about went off the road reading where they were made ???  WTH is all I can say.

[ariwhiteboy]

Maybe it's just the bag...

[detdrbuzzard]

those japaneese laborers charge too much to make a simple fork seal

[Bumblebee]

Who do the Chinese outsource to for poor quality labor?

[Laminar]

The US.

[green427]

Don't feel too bad. I've read that about 25%-40% of H-D parts are made in China.

Japan outsources many engine parts to China. At least Japan does not outsource just about everything over there like US does.

It would not surprise me if Honda sold all the tooling for our NH's to China, and who knows, they might resurrect the NH's one day for only $1500.

[happycommuter]

The -003 number is used on very recent Rebel 250 models, so they likely changed over for then-current production parts recently.

[Option13]

Either way they're from another country, at that point what does it matter? It's Honda OEM, it's not like just because the factory is in China automatically means it's made of freeze-dried baby tears or something.

[tomb raider]

Never been a fan of out sourcing jobs, not muck one can do about though. I was just shocked seeing that print.  All mag wheels are from there, electronics etc....    I was quick to see what the rubber looked like..   Then I find I had some in a box from my parts bike with the bearings. OH well....

[instructorpilot]

It's interesting to note that China does make good quality stuff, However I have also noticed how many overseas companies have plants here. It just proves what I hvae been saying for years, The American worker is the best in the world. It's the American managemant that sucks.

[drdubb]

If you study the work of Edward Deming, who is responsible for the resurrection of Japan's quality industry after WW2, 95% of the problem is management. Another precept is to assure that your upstream suppliers are producing quality materials for your products. As long as Honda adhere's to Deming principals, I expect the quality will remain high. Japanese industries that have recently been hurt, drifted from those principles. The same applies to many of the US companies. If the focus is on customer and quality (do it right the first time), the rest takes care of itself. We tend to focus on dollars, which can destroy a company. Enron, Lehman Bros., GM, there's a host of companies that lost their way. Ford didn't need a buy-out b/c they refocused a few years back. Their overall quality rivals the europeans, haven't caught the Japanese yet.

[Laminar]

Ford didn't need a buy-out b/c they refocused a few years back. Their overall quality rivals the europeans, haven't caught the Japanese yet.

http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2010/12/did_ford_take_secret_governmen.html

[Option13]

Ford didn't need a buy-out b/c they refocused a few years back. Their overall quality rivals the europeans, haven't caught the Japanese yet.

http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2010/12/did_ford_take_secret_governmen.html

Hardly a bailout in the GM fashion. Ford took out loans in 2006 and restructured when Mulally became CEO. With a lot more money in pocket they were able to weather out the storm fairly well.

I agree, Ford really has turned around. I never had thought a new Mustang would be a cool car until the '10 and '11 model came with a competent suspension (not to mention the new 5.0). Like all the commercials chant, they're bringing out a host of new vehicles and engines - products of the restructuring and loans in 2006.

[drdubb]

of course, my ford escape is mostly Masda.

[Laminar]

V6 or 4cyl?

[Captainm63]

If you study the work of Edward Deming, who is responsible for the resurrection of Japan's quality industry after WW2, 95% of the problem is management. Another precept is to assure that your upstream suppliers are producing quality materials for your products. As long as Honda adhere's to Deming principals, I expect the quality will remain high. Japanese industries that have recently been hurt, drifted from those principles. The same applies to many of the US companies. If the focus is on customer and quality (do it right the first time), the rest takes care of itself. We tend to focus on dollars, which can destroy a company. Enron, Lehman Bros., GM, there's a host of companies that lost their way. Ford didn't need a buy-out b/c they refocused a few years back. Their overall quality rivals the europeans, haven't caught the Japanese yet.

Excellent point DrDubb,

I have read Deming's 14 points and the company I worked for violated nearly all of them, subsequently losing market share.  The guy that started that company is turning in his grave at what the idiots did that took it over.  If any company would read those and actually work to address them, they could be successful.

Here's a link to Demings Points:

http://www.endsoftheearth.com/Deming14Pts.htm#14%20points

[drdubb]

If you study the work of Edward Deming, who is responsible for the resurrection of Japan's quality industry after WW2, 95% of the problem is management. Another precept is to assure that your upstream suppliers are producing quality materials for your products. As long as Honda adhere's to Deming principals, I expect the quality will remain high. Japanese industries that have recently been hurt, drifted from those principles. The same applies to many of the US companies. If the focus is on customer and quality (do it right the first time), the rest takes care of itself. We tend to focus on dollars, which can destroy a company. Enron, Lehman Bros., GM, there's a host of companies that lost their way. Ford didn't need a buy-out b/c they refocused a few years back. Their overall quality rivals the europeans, haven't caught the Japanese yet.

Excellent point DrDubb,

I have read Deming's 14 points and the company I worked for violated nearly all of them, subsequently losing market share.  The guy that started that company is turning in his grave at what the idiots did that took it over.  If any company would read those and actually work to address them, they could be successful.

Here's a link to Demings Points:

http://www.endsoftheearth.com/Deming14Pts.htm#14%20points

I tried to be part of bringing Deming to education. I've been trained by GE, Siemens and ASQ. Deming would not present to companies if the CEO's were not present. The highest honor in Japan's business community is to win the Deming Award.

[His Royal Baldness]

Ford didn't need a buy-out b/c they refocused a few years back. Their overall quality rivals the europeans, haven't caught the Japanese yet.

http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2010/12/did_ford_take_secret_governmen.html

Hardly a bailout in the GM fashion. Ford took out loans in 2006 and restructured when Mulally became CEO. With a lot more money in pocket they were able to weather out the storm fairly well.

I agree, Ford really has turned around. I never had thought a new Mustang would be a cool car until the '10 and '11 model came with a competent suspension (not to mention the new 5.0). Like all the commercials chant, they're bringing out a host of new vehicles and engines - products of the restructuring and loans in 2006.

I can not speak for Ford America - but Ford Europe is doing a great job and is one of the more popular manufacturers in my country (1. Volkswagen, 2. Toyota, 3. Peugeot 4. Ford). They've been producing European tailored cars for some time now and it works for them. The rest, like Dodge and Chrysler, don't sell anything near the figures Ford does (nobody wants a Ram Van or a 300C here - too thirsty).

[drdubb]

China is full of Buicks. They love them.

We had a group of educators here from a sister school in Nanjing. All they wanted to do was shop. Most bought IPODS here, although they are made in China. They said that you can't be sure if you are getting a counterfeit item over there.

[Laminar]

I actually got a counterfeit iPod from China on eBay trying to get SOQS a Christmas gift.







I could tell right away it was fake, but it took a couple months of fighting with PayPal to get my refund. They wanted me to pay to mail it back to China so that the seller could resell it to another sucker. I refused and still managed to win. I also reported all of the seller's auctions on eBay and got his account deleted.