Yamaha vs Honda quality...

[Garz747]

Although i did have a Yamaha RD350LC screamer back in the eighties, I left biking for many years.   When I came back 5 years ago mostly due to a new  cottage in the country with safer roads I went with a small Honda  CB 300F as a safe re-introduction. Needless to say I soon felt the need for  more speed,stability,brakes.tires, etc.  I love my Tracer 900 but I must say the switchgear, tactile feel of things like the keyswitch, seat release and plastics are inferior to that little Honda!  When fitting battery leads for a maintenance charger the other day the rubber battery strap retainer snapped off, a grommet fell out at the back where the seat slides in, and the ignition switch feels like its lubricated with sand. Honda quality seems noticeably superior.

[kilo3]

9 minutes ago, Garz747 said:

Although i did have a Yamaha RD350LC screamer back in the eighties, I left biking for many years.   When I came back 5 years ago mostly due to a new  cottage in the country with safer roads I went with a small Honda  CB 300F as a safe re-introduction. Needless to say I soon felt the need for  more speed,stability,brakes.tires, etc.  I love my Tracer 900 but I must say the switchgear, tactile feel of things like the keyswitch, seat release and plastics are inferior to that little Honda!  When fitting battery leads for a maintenance charger the other day the rubber battery strap retainer snapped off, a grommet fell out at the back where the seat slides in, and the ignition switch feels like its lubricated with sand. Honda quality seems noticeably superior.

Funny you mentioned that, my friend bought a 2018 cb500f and I couldn't help but notice how cheap it was built. No rear spool provisions, no gear indicator, heavy clutch, spartan display. To get to the battery you Quite literally fold the driver seat edges over to get to the bolts. Quite rubbish when compared to my wife's 2019 Kawasaki z400. I do like the rather beefy key however.

[peteinpa]

Well...The small Hondas aren't made in Japan anymore.

My FZ-07 had the same problem of bending the seat back to get to the seat bolts.

All my 80's through 2k Hondas never made any gear whines like my 9 does.

Honda doesn't make anything I currently want so I'm sticking with my 9.

[PhotoAl]

Have always felt that generally speaking Honda had great fit and finish with Yamaha close.  Kawasaki and Suzuki are lesser.  However sometimes it's not that big a difference.  Had a 2012 CBR600RR and the fit and finish were excellent.  Then a 2014 Kawasaki ZX6R 636 which also had great fit and finish but not quite so good.  The castings were a bit rougher and the fit of the plastics not quite there.  However the CBR didn't offer ABS in a meaningful way while the ZX6R had not only ABS readily available it also had traction control and a slipper clutch.  

Honda has a reputation which enables it to command a premium in the market which also enables them to spend a bit more on the product.  I have a Kymco scooter and it has good quality it's easy enough to see small details and quality points in plastics and parts that show it is lower down the scale than the Japanese companies.  

Had a BMW F800GT which was very nicely assembled and well thought out (generally) but parts availability and service costs were negatives.  

Honda seems to have missed out on a lot of recent trends other than the Grom.  They have nothing like the T7 or Tracer models.  I am totally underwhelmed with the 500 and 650cc bikes from pretty much all of the Japanese manufactures.  Simply too heavy.  Aprillia with the 660 has shown folks how its done but their reliability is questionable.  

My Tracer 900 GT isn't light but not heavy with adequate HP for hustling down the road loaded or when empty a little hooligan activity.    

[johnmark101]

Having owned Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki I find them all to be so close in fit and finish, quality and reliability that I would not let any one of the Japanese brands reputation influence my decision much.  Which ever of them builds the bike that best suits my riding needs gets my money.

But I will say my Kawasaki NInja 1000 is impressive.  At 36,000 miles it still feels as solid as it did on day one and I have yet to have a part on that bike fail.  I even skipped the first valve adjust interval since most owners reported no valves out of specification at the first scheduled inspection.  At 32,000 miles only four were out by the slightest of margins.

[Manxkiwi]

The GTs quality is pretty good in my opinion, apart from the fasteners. They are truly woeful. I try to replace each one I find the need to deal with. Honda are very good generally speaking, but in my opinion Triumph are beautifully put together with good design and components. My Daytona is littered with stainless fasteners. Of course there will be small exceptions and this is a generalisation of my opinion.

[oregonian]

As a long time Honda owner, I was initially negatively surprised by the quality of my 2016 FJ 09.  However, I have come to see it as a difference in strategy between the two brands more than a difference in ability to make good bikes.

I now appreciate them for what they are.  I really like the design of the FJ and even like the super-basic dash.

One of the big implications of the difference in quality relates to prices of parts.  I just bought black FJ 09 wheels to replace the blue ones and the price was around $600 total.  If the bike were a Honda, I'd be looking at closer to $1,500.  

[Garz747]

I don't think Honda would have put the purple/rims in the first place .  Not a fan either.

[Wintersdark]

1 hour ago, Garz747 said:

I don't think Honda would have put the purple/rims in the first place .  Not a fan either.

I'm strongly a Yamaha guy, but yeah.  If there's something Yamaha is particularly bad for, it's terrible colour schemes, and weirdly coloured rims in particular. 

I mean, the Night Fluo colour scheme, with those flourescent yellowish greenish rims?  Good lord.  In what world is that a good colour for rims?!  They're gonna be dull and pea-soupy within 10 miles riding.  And all the blurple rims, etc... No.  Just no.  Rims are black, steel, or brass/bronze.  Those are your options. 

[SKYFLIX]

I find both companies build quality about equal, at least based on the models that I've owned. My Tracer compares pretty equally to my former Africa Twin. And my Gold Wing compares pretty favorably to my former FJR. In fact, my Suzuki Burgman was pretty darn close as well, though that's a different animal (RIP. You will be missed).

[Garz747]

I knew the smaller Hondas were made in Thailand but was shocked to read that 85% of Triumphs are made there as well! The Brit engineers were  way ahead of the world in cars and motorcycles and blew it! Audi owns Bentley, Rolls Royce is owned by BMW.