JAP's Potato Chips.

Back in the early 1900's, the Jap family started making potato chips. Oddly enough, they called them Jap's Potato Chips. During WW II, they felt that might not work so well, so they changed the name to JAY's Potato Chips.

 

I don't think so. It's just a way many of us refer to a bike from Japan. Don't read anything into it.

 

Unless you're Japanese...It's no different then saying the following with no disrespect intended: ****, Wop, Dago, Honkey, Abba Dabba, Alladin, 539, Bird Turd, Biscuit Lip, etc etc etc, but don't read into it..LMAO

 

Agreed. It don't mean nothin. If someone does have a bad opinion of me I'd just as soon know it then to have them hide it anyway. I respect someone that will say what they think regardless of whether or not I like it more than I do some PC whimp that is worried about offending someone.

I think if people were honest about how they feel it would make it easier to try and change their way of thinking.

Just my opinion. Don't mean I'm right but that's the way I think.

 

Nori, they don't hate the Japanese people. Most of them don't even know the Japanese people. A few old timers from WWII still remember Japanese atrocities (as do many older Chinese, Koreans, and Philippinos) and they forget that most of the Japanese that committed those despicable acts are long dead. None of us should forget those times so we don't end up repeating them, or forget the sacrifice of those who died.

As a young Marine I was once stationed at Iwakuni MCAS, which isn't too far from Hiroshima. Sometimes we would ride the train there. Old people would sometimes hiss at us or spit on the ground in our direction, and cab drivers wouldn't give us rides. There were, however, lots of young college students who were friendly and wanted to practice their english on us.

For them, the day of the bomb was just something old people talked about. Of course we didn't feel bad about the bombs, and I still don't....it saved a lot of lives on both sides.....the invasion of Japan would have been a blood-bath. It is always shitty when evil old men get civilians and young military people pulled into things that should never have happened.

It's been 40 years since I was in Japan, so no doubt things have changed. A lot of Japanese didn't really like Americans but have a difficult time being openly hostile....in fact act friendly. I do remember many Japanese bars having signs that said 'Japanese Only', which I resented...and an American-Japanese Marine told me that Japan itself is very racist, and despite the fact that he spoke fluent Japanese he wasn't really welcome there.

 

LOL. "What heritage do those racing bikes have, except for winning all those races?" The Big Four have not been around as long as Harley, but they've been around a long time, with lots of wins and important technological advancements along the way. Kawasaki had the first fuel injected motorcycle in 1980. Yamaha's 2006 R6 was the first ride-by-wire motorcycle, and the cross-plane crank I4 in the '09-'10 R1 is breaking new ground offering the torque and midrange punch of a Twin with the top end power of an I4, and sounds wicked to boot. Honda was the first to offer slipper clutches in production motorcycles, and they had traction control in 1992. Suzuki offered the first mass-production liquid-cooled motorcycle in 1971. All of this technology is borne of racing R&D. A lot of the other important motorcycle firsts (linked ABS brakes, cartridge forks, shaft drive, etc. etc.) are credited to Moto Guzzi and BMW.

Maybe you don't care about performance... 10 second quarter miles, fantastic brakes, corner carving suspensions, flickable low weight motorcycles... but there is nothing "boring" about them. The may lack the intangibles like "character" that you seek in a bike, or nostalgia or the look of an HD that you value, but they are certainly purpose-built machines and do sport bikes as well or better than anyone else in the world. Honda and Yamaha have more Moto GP wins than every other motorcycle manufacturer on the planet combined.

And in the comparison to Aston Martin... c'mon. Harley is not elegant, not "proper". Not stately, not gentlemanly. That's part of their history which they obviously continue to tap. "screw it, let's ride" and "be a badass" are two marketing slogans A-M will never even consider using. Also, Aston Martin's racing heritage is on the track. In fact, H-D's flat track racing heritage is probably better compared to the long rally racing heritage of Subaru, which you derided in your post. And if you want to talk racing, of course the highest form is Formula One and has been for a very long time, in which Aston Martin has never had a team like that tractor company Lamborghini.

 

Most people do not mean it as a hate, just a term like I said in my previous post like us being called "yanks". Jap to a lot of americans is short for "Japanese".
When I was in elementary school, I used to get called ****, sauerkraut, and some other interesting terms for germans....all of which were meant in a derogatory way. Little did they know they were white trash, cousin loving inbred morons who cried at the alamo like little girls

 

Now wait a minute Schu....are you dissing my cousin Tammy, who has the sweetest little....but I digress...are you dissing the alamo?

 

i bought a bike i liked 1998 Dyna Wide.. but i am a big fan of old school on the bikes. (why i wanted an EVO they mod easy i do my own wrenching) My dad knows this and he is still complaining cause i plan on putting a kick start on the bike and decking it to look more like the 70's bikes. even the dealership was unwilling to help me with what i wanted acted like i was crazy and even said it will void my warranty (well duh the thing is 12 years old and i got it used if it has a warranty then punch me and call me periwinkle) side note why is periwinkle in spellchecker?

 

peri who?
You mean that moose?