I watched that a few day's ago. I have to agree, I would be a bit put off if my triumph was made in Thailand. Unfortunately, the one i want (Speed Twin) is already being made there. I also liked the point of putting all this electronics on retro bikes when most of the potential customers are not looking for that, they just want a simple bike. Personally, I don't see them going anywhere. 

This doesn’t seem like a big deal to me since the design, engineering and the profits all wind up in Hinckley.


BMW Motarrad has plants in 14 countries including India and Brazil.  KTM builds motorbikes in the Philippines.

Ducati has a final assembly plant in Thailand not far from Triumph’s factories 3, 4, and 5.  Shoot, Ducati’s Bologna plant is basically a final assembly plant.

And yet I don’t hear people complaining that BMWs aren’t German, or KTMs not Austrian, or Ducatis not Italian.


The logistics of building a motorcycle with domestic parts is, well, prohibitive except for (ironically) the Chinese, who do not have a reputation for building desirable exotica. China might be the only country in the world where you can buy a bike that was made from domestic parts.

I think we should be realistic about global manufacturing, and need to appreciate the quality of our Triumphs that were conceived in England and built in Thailand.   I have a (Thai built) Speed Twin and the quality is very good indeed.

And while we might want excellent British built Nitron or Protech shocks, do we really want to go back to Lucas Electrics?

Quote from: Smoothie on June 10, 2020, 04:25:57 AM

And yet I don’t hear people complaining that BMWs aren’t German, or KTMs not Austrian, or Ducatis not Italian.

Nope. They complain about reliability. 

Final drives, ABS pumps, fuel strips, fork clamps....   I have no idea what you're talking about 

Don't care where my Triumph was built.  It's been completely reliable.  As in never needed one emergency fix and still on the same AGM battery I put in it when I bought it. (?2014).