Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Are Harley Davidson's made in the U.S.A? They seem to be touted as the great American bike. Are some parts imported?

"Assembled in the USA" would probably be more appropriate. H-D outsources a lot of their parts and assemblies to offshore countries; some of the wheels are made in Australia, the front shocks in Japan, some of the electrics are Bosch (Germany), etc, etc. There's rumored to be a lot of Korean and Chinese content as well (just about every Screaming Eagle chrome thingy I've seen hanging off the walls at the dealer has a "Made In Taiwan" sticker on the back). There's even some Canadian content, as apparently most of the engine parts are chromed by a company in Ontario.

I've read somewhere that the Victory lineup and the Honda Gold Wing have more American content than Harleys, but I don't know for sure if that's true.

It seems to me, that with all bikes today BASICALLY being equal. I mean, there's not a lot of difference between a harley and a honda now. That you're basically paying for a brand name.

I'd spoken with someone on Saturday who'd mentioned he had a '78 HD (I think that was the year, at least). He had said something to the effect of 'I took off the front end and 'JAPAN' was stamped right into the metal- I was so pissed'.

We've come a long way since the Model T. I'm not sure you can get a stock mass-produced bike that was created in it's entirity in America. Heck, if what they did with computers and sports cars has any relevance, that might be all the more reason to look out for import bikes (hmm, wait, 4 of the top 5 companies are already imports, right? )

Well with mostly a global economy going on now, the 'Made in America' doesn't hold as much value as it use to, unless your like a military person and just want something due to being proud of your country etc...

But when buying a Honda/Kawasaki/Yamaha, your still putting money into your local economy and your local dealerships pockets and the people that deliver them are american truck drivers jut like the ones who deliver HD's.

I know Toyota "cages" are built 100% in America, at least the Corolla and Camry. For some reason i find that hilarious.

I think Boss Hosses are also entirely American made. Could be wrong about some of the small parts, tho.