Saturday, May 14, 2011

Motorcycles in Tainan - Hartford

Hartford is below SYM but they don't make a scooter, so all their eggs are in the motorcycle basket. To distinguish themselves, their machines are hip and modern(sexy, if a motorcycle can be sexy). Compared to Kymco and Sym they are the newcomers on the motorcycle scene.


Here is my timeline for motorcycles in Taiwan.

WWII+ Taiwan imports from Japan.
1952     Taiwan bans imports from Japan because too much money is leaving the country, in a dictatorship(like Taiwan at that time) economic policy can be implemented by fiat.
1959     Taiwan allows importation because the domestic product is inferior(fiat can not defy the laws of economics).
1962     Sym with Honda's support makes it's own
1964     Kymco with Honda's support starts making its own.
1979     Because of the price of oil, the government bans motorcycles bigger than 150cc, again policy by fiat

2002     Ban on big bikes lifted
2002     SYM breaks with Honda
2003     Hartford starts production

Nice modern color motif: black on black in black.

Different size front and rear tires.



I know girls don't like to kick start an engine.

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2 comments:

  1. PaulaMay 16, 2011 at 7:20 PM

    Mike, you are having way too much fun writing about motorcycles. How are your studies going?

    I think I missed an important point you probably made. What is the difference between a motorcycle and a motor scooter? I know that women don't ride the cycles. Is it just a matter of size?

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  2. UnknownMay 18, 2011 at 3:59 AM

    I think a scooter has smaller wheels and the engine is enclosed in a housing. Besides the larger wheels a motorcycle is more open, the engine is exposed, the rider rides higher. In a couple of days the "Motorcycles in Tainan - Big Bikes" blog entry will be out and then you can compare them to the pictures of the scooters in "Motorcycles in Tainan - Scooters" entry. Scooters normally have smaller engines, about 150cc, motorcycles can also be that small but can also be 1000cc.

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