[krat]

The local state approved motorcycle training center runs a fleet of Suzuki GS125 learner bikes.

They quit making those back in 2000. Every bike in their fleet is now 24 years old minimum and they are ridden all day, every day, with the center being booked solid 6 months in advance for the past 15 years. They were booked solid all the way through COVID !

No CSC bikes, no Hawks, TT or any Chinabike. He tried a couple of Kemco bikes out of Taiwan but they would not hold up to the daily grind, and they are much better than the run of the mill Chinese products we deal with. He just keeps searching out the Suzuki 125 bikes and rebuilding/repairing them when needed.

As a side note that model GS125 was made in a Suzuki factory in Viet Namn for its whole production run from the 1980s until 2000, but it was made to Japanese QC standards.

The Chinese, Thias, Vietnamese, Koreans or Indonesians can build a bike, but only when the contracting company holds their feet to the fire and that costs money. That is why Hondas and Tryumphs made in Tialand still cost Hondas and Tryumph money.