04-01-2014, 08:23 AM
It was very true. My now deceased brother in law was a factory trained HD mechanic in the 70's and 80's. He said they'd have to not only finish the bikes as they came in, but very often find and fix actual sabotage. Stuff like loose bolts in the primary case, crankshaft nuts that weren't torqued, etc. At one point they'd have a truck follow every test ride to both recover the bike if it broke down, or pick up the parts that rattled off.
But the most interesting story was how he moonlighted assembling CB 750s at the Ft Lauderdale Honda dealer at night. Every bike they could get was already sold for years after the first CBs came out. He said he could double his salary building CBs as they came off the trains. It must have been quite a time to be a rider.
But the most interesting story was how he moonlighted assembling CB 750s at the Ft Lauderdale Honda dealer at night. Every bike they could get was already sold for years after the first CBs came out. He said he could double his salary building CBs as they came off the trains. It must have been quite a time to be a rider.