Quote Originally Posted by Supersignet View Post
Most companies in the world reverse engineer products and change them just enough so as not to infringe on patents.
Oh yeah. Did you know Yamaha got their start in motorcycles by building a copy of the pre-war German DKW RT125? Way back in 1903 Harley-Davidson's first engine was a copy of a French design. Today, American companies like S&S and Revtech make big bucks building close copies of Harley Evolution big twin engines.

Shineray for example is creating a new line of bikes of their own design. Of course the engines are still Honda based and the frames are KTM inspired, but it is a step in the right direction.
Yep, and Lifan, Zongshen and others are stepping out with more and more original design work, too. But Lifan, Shineray and Zongshen aren't decentralized colaborations (the point of the article) - they're traditional organized, large, vertically integrated manufacturing firms that can afford true R&D.

Best,
PJ