Raydog, where's your evidence to back up the "and there's plenty of evidence to indicate they don't (perform equally)" statement? I was one of the first on this board to give the HK rotors a try and I spent hours & hours searching for that kind of info before I made my purchase. I found many unsubstantiated opinions, but no hard proof. Exactly the same thing is true of the knock off pazzos.
Also, in all of this, everybody is ASSUMING these rotors are made in some sweat shop in China, is it so hard to believe that somebody could be running a legitimate business with decent working conditions over there ?
Very fair question, without writing a book about fair trade and production, here's what I can through out in this post.....Google any combination of "inferior Chinese products" and you can read volumes of both personal experiences and company level experiences about this issue.
As to brake rotors, the general rules are: 1)quality of metals 2)how many moving parts 3)production specs of product AND 4)oversight done by the investor/company that is ultimately putting their label on and bringing it to market (you know, like the Consumer Protection Agency and regulations try to do in our Country...so things like climbing carabiners don't snap in half when on a rock face).
I simply DON'T KNOW what the quality/trustworthiness of a PRC rotor is! That's all, they may be fine and it's the buyers business and right to buy and use them.
That doesn't mean that I (or anyone else) do not have a right to voice concerns on this thread.
AND dear Afterhours, am I a hypocrite? My garage is full of parts from all over the world and Harleys aren't even in my top ten favorite brands. If one is so superficial as to think "buy American" is the cornerstone of this issue, then you're missing the point entirely AND suddenly changing the quality of this thread by namecalling.
Japanese products in the 21st century are in another world of quality compared to PRC products.
Since rotors are without moving parts, if production specs were complied
with, and in the absence of catastrophic failure reports, I see no reason to not fly with em (except if they're being made in the absolute absence of legitimate labor laws bothers you morally).
Doyle the hypocrite
