Tag: Made In China

A Stag Film?

By Joe Berk

For a guy who doesn’t collect knives, I sure seem to have a lot of them laying around.  The one you see above came to me as part of what is perhaps the greatest sales gimmick of all time:  The “$100 Ships Free!” offer.

You know, the MidwayUSA.com come on…orders over $100 ship free.  I ordered a Safariland 1¾-inch wide belt in a smaller size because I lost weight, I got down to the last belt buckle hole on my old Safariland belt, and my pants were still loose.  The new belt was $71 (a lot, I know, but it works well when carrying concealed and Safariland makes a very high quality item).  If I could kick the order over $100 the belt would ship free.  Shipping if I didn’t make the $100 hurdle was $15.  So this Uncle Henry knife popped up, and it was like getting the knife for half price, because it ordinarily cost just over $30.

Bam! Add to cart.  A no brainer, if ever there was one.

The knife is a Schrade, part of their Uncle Henry line.  I don’t know if that means it’s good or not so good.  I couldn’t find anywhere on the knife that says it’s made in China, but I guessed that it was.  A quick Google check confirmed it.  That’s not a bad thing, though.  The knife appears to be well made.  A lot of things that are made in China are good.

The Uncle Henry knife came with a sheath and a tiny sharpening stone in another piggy-backed sheath (the idea being that you’ll always have a way to sharpen your knife), not that I’ll ever use the sharpening stone.   The stone is small enough that I could see myself slicing my hand open trying to hold it.

The Stagalon grip material is some sort of plastic that is supposed to look like, you know, stag.  That’s okay by me.  For just over $30, I wasn’t expecting real stag.  I wasn’t expecting the Stagalon to look as good as it does, either.  That was a nice surprise.  Stagalon. I guess I could make a video of the knife and call it a stag film.  Maybe just saying stag film will result in a lot of hits.  Do they still call them stag films these days, or is that no longer politically correct?.  Isn’t that terminology kind of insulting to all the deer out there sweating out this hunting season?  Anyway, to get back to Stagalon, the handle doesn’t quite match the look and feel of real stag, but it is kind of cool and it is nice.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my Uncle Henry Stagalon knife, other than look at it for awhile and write a blog about it.  If I was a camper I suppose I could wear it in the woods, but I don’t camp much these days (in my golden years, I find I like motels a lot better).   No, this knife will go on the shelf, along with a bunch of other “$100 Ships Free!” knives.   It is kind of cool, though.

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Triumph’s New 400cc Motorcycles

By Joe Berk

Well, what do you know?  Triumph is the latest moto manufacturer to jump on the small bike band wagon with the announcement of their new 400cc  single-cylinder motorcycles.  Not to be too snarky, but better late than never, I suppose.  Harley did the same thing a year or so ago with their 350cc  and 500cc motorcycles, but the Harleys were supposed to be manufactured and only available in Asia.  More’s the pity, although I get it:  A small bike wouldn’t go well with the typical Harley crowd.

Back to today’s topic:  The new 400cc Triumphs:  I like them.

Triumph announced two models:  A Speed 400, and a Scrambler 400.  They look like Triumphs, which is to say they look fabulous.  I like the colors (each will available in three different color themes) and I like the looks.

The Triumph Speed 400.
The Triumph Scrambler 400.

With a published 40 horsepower, the bikes will probably be good for 100 mph, and that ought to be enough for any sane rider.   I’m guessing the bikes will get something around 70 miles per gallon, and that should be good, too.  Triumph turned to Bajaj (in India).  There’s nothing wrong with that.  Triumph’s Bonneville line is manufactured in Thailand.  My Enfield 650 (which I’ve been riding for three years) is manufactured in India, and its quality is magnificent.  Prices on the new Triumphs haven’t been announced yet.  If the Mothership can keep the dealers from pulling their normal freight and setup chicanery, these bikes should be a good deal (but expecting dealers to abandon their larcenous freight and setup games is, I realize, probably wishful thinking).

On that Harley thing I mentioned above:  QianJiang (also known QJ Motor) bought Benelli (an Italian motorcycle company) in 2005.  QJ took the name and started offering bikes made in China but labeled as Benellis (I saw them at the Canton Fair a few years ago).  The QJ/Benelli bikes are not bad looking, but I’ve never ridden one and I have no idea how good (or bad) they are.  It’s that very same Benelli (i.e., the Chinese one) that Harley announced would be making 350cc and 500cc small Harleys.  The Harley plan was that their smaller models would only be sold overseas (i.e., not in America).  Harley makes and sells more motorcycles than I ever will, so I suppose they know what they are doing.  But I think they are making a mistake not bringing their small bikes to America.

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a QJ Motor! No, it’s a Benelli! No, it’s Super Harley!

Let’s not forget the new BSA Gold Star, another made-in-India Britbike reported here on the ExNotes blog about a year ago.  That one is still in the works, I guess.  For a delivery date, the new BSA website still says “available to order soon,” which is to say we have no idea when the new BSA Goldie will be here.

The revivified Beezer Gold Star. I think it is a better-looking bike than either the new Triumph or the small Chinese Harley.

While all this is going on, my friends in Zongshen (they make the RX3, the RX4, the Zongshen 400cc twins, the TT 250, the San Gabriel, and now the RX6 650cc twin that CSC imports to the US) tell me that the craze in China has gone full tilt toward bigger bikes.  That’s why they introduced the RX6.  I was the first journalist/blogger/all around good guy in America to ride and report on the RX6.  It’s a good bike, but I’m not a fan of the movement toward ever larger motorcycles.  I’m convinced that my RX3 was the best all around motorcycle I ever owned (especially for riding in Baja), and I’ve written extensively on that.

I’m looking forward to seeing the new Triumphs.  Hell, I’d look forward to seeing the new small Harleys and the BSA, too, but maybe that’s not in the cards.  Why the fascination and appreciation for small bikes?  Take a read here.

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