BACK STORY (you can skip this little rant if you’d like)
Scooters aren’t made in the USA any more… very little is when you put it all into perspective. As a matter of fact, most everything we buy today seems to come from China. What happens when you start making everything in China? Prices go down! Now you can go to your local big-box and get “the hook up”, right? That’s right.
Over time, manufacturers in the US and abroad find it more and more difficult to compete with China. Slowly, they begin to move their operations to China or just shut down completely. Your only option now is to buy from China.
How is it that things can be made so much cheaper in China? Well, they have a LOT of people there starving for employment and are willing to work for $5 a day. The government is being accused to manipulating their money, the Yuan, to keep the value down and keep exports strong. So, what happens when the employees start demanding fair wages? What happens when China begins to reform their exchange rate? Do the prices of these items, which are no longer made in America, suddenly skyrocket? What happens if the Yuan collapses under the pressure of their current trade deficit and imminent housing bubble burst? Will those things you buy suddenly be unavailable? It’s anyone’s guess… but, one thing that is for sure is that this trade relationship we have with China is not healthy and certainly no sustainable.
THE REQUEST (please read this part)
So, here’s my request: Do you know someone in the scooter industry that is producing PG&A (industry talk for Products, Gear and Accessories) right here in the USA? I want to highlight them… give them a boost. I know scooter shops like Pride of Cleveland, MotorSport and Moto-Scoot are producing some home grown accessories. We recently discovered a product called Gen-U-Bin that is made here by an independent manufacturer and scooter rider. Crystal from ScooterSeatCovers too! Though she is taking a break.
I know there’s lots more. Can you help me find these “Made in the USA” products for scooters? Just leave a comment with the name of the manufacturer and the product, gear or accessory that you’ve found and we’ll do a story on them. It’s EASY! The only requirement is that it be designed and manufactured here in the USA. We understand that there are some industries where it is nearly impossible to source 100% of the components from North American manufacturers, but the more the better and gold-stars go to companies who manufacture their products in ecologically friendly ways. Thanks in advance for your help!
1. June 2010 at 10:36 am
Corazzo – http://www.corazzo.net/ – in spite of their Italian-sounding name, they are based in Oregon. They make great jackets! Expensive, yes – but I get compliments every time I wear mine. And the people who compliment it don’t even realize it has armor inside!
1. June 2010 at 10:51 am
Steve,
Check out the corazzo jackets “About” page, sixth paragraph.
http://www.corazzo.net/about-corazzo
“Corazzo is proud to design and manufacture our garments and accessories in North America (California and Oregon and Canada), sourcing our raw materials from companies that manufacture in the US, whenever and wherever possible.”
I don’t know why Corazzo doesn’t make a bigger deal about this. They don’t use all US produced components (YKK zippers, etc.). I wonder how much is US product, and how much is from overseas. Time for a little scooter investigative journalism? I’d like to know more about their manufacturing process.
And getting some Corazzo jackets to give away to your loyal readers wouldn’t be so bad either.
Leo.Urbis
1. June 2010 at 11:24 am
Only peripherally related to scooters, but a lot of garage doors are still made in the USA…the openers, not so much.
1. June 2010 at 11:39 am
Hot Rod Al modified carbs but also had some modest products of his own. Rob Hodge also made and marketed his reed-block kit through SIP. Clauss Studios has many interesting suspension and rubber offerings. The production of standard replacement items from Claus probably sets him apart a bit more as non-US alternative. http://www.claussstudios.com/
Jeb from Soundspeed was making his own moped frames as well.
http://soundspeedscooters.com/romeo_thunderhawk
1. June 2010 at 12:24 pm
High-performance, high-quality 2-stroke Vespa expansion chambers from 226 Vintage.
http://www.226vintage.com/
1. June 2010 at 2:48 pm
Corazzo Jackets are made not made in the USA, they are made in Canada.
Some of their gear is now being made in Asia.
1. June 2010 at 5:28 pm
(Although I just bought a jacket and couldn’t be happier with it!)
1. June 2010 at 3:20 pm
Alaska Leather is a sheepskin “butt pad”seat cover manufacturer that offers a couple of designs that fit well on scooter seats. They are plush,well made and we’re proud to be able to offer something made in the USA in our shop full of Asian goods even though they’re purchased from American distributors.
http://www.alaskaleatheronline.com/servlet/StoreFront
1. June 2010 at 5:04 pm
Corbin custom motorcycle and scooter seats:
http://www.corbin.com/
Great products; worth every cent. Sadly they will no longer customize (Corbinize) factory seats you send to them. The custom seat they made for my Suzuki 20 years ago was outstanding. If they made a P/PX/Stella seat, I’d buy one.
1. June 2010 at 5:39 pm
I agree 100% with the article.
We carry a full range of new ZTR springs and products for scooters ( over 2 years). The biggest issue we face is when we tell the dealer the cost of the spring compared to a Taiwan spring or Chinese spring the dealers cry because consumers these days are price based.
We try to push quality not price, but they still cry so its kind of hard, but the product really is that much better if they would just give it a chance. We carry tools from DS also made in the USA in CA.
We have both Gates USA and Gates China Powerlink belts. Our spacers are sourced from GBS here in made in Ft Lauderdale from US steel or aluminum its a local builder.
We distribute Slipstreamer windshields ( been carrying them for 4 years ) those are made in the USA. As a business owner myself I want to support manufacturing in this country as much as we can.
Honestly, if we could find more companies like these in the industry we would buy more items made in the US. I applied for a manufacturing loan from the state of Florida 3 years ago, wrote a 40 page application and proposal and the state told us to keep importing because our margins were better. The bank wouldn’t fund it because it wasn’t as profitable. I explained that wasn’t the point, the point was to create jobs and because the bank wouldn’t back it the state wouldn’t look at it because you needed a local bank to back it. Also, the program didn’t allow to apply directly with them by the time we were denied they had already issued all the money. It’s the dumbest thing ever.
I am open to suggestions and ideas, but the doors are limited as to how to support more manufacturing when even the state of Florida is against you.
1. June 2010 at 7:39 pm
Vanson Leathers, MFG. of fine MC jackets in both textile and leather.
http://www.vansonleathers.com/
1. June 2010 at 9:24 pm
Fly Scooters new Scooter Bug scooter trailer is supposedly built right here in the USA. You can see it on their website in either accessories or their news blog.
2. June 2010 at 7:58 am
Isn’t Jettin stuff made here in the US?
2. June 2010 at 2:36 pm
Not quite a scooter but this firm makes motorized bicycle conversion kits here in the USA. I’m not so sure where the engines are produced, but Tecumseh used to made here.
8. June 2010 at 3:28 pm
Schott still makes leather jackets, like the famous Perfecto, in the USA. http://www.schottnyc.com
12. June 2010 at 8:25 am
I believe that Chilhowee Leathers are still made here in the USA by Native Americans. Best leathers I’ve ever owned. http://www.chilhowee.net