Yeah, many of us were dispassionate about Japanese bikes in the 80's. Not a lot of change was going on, and there were far more names than makers. It was clear that they were making more names to increase market share. But in retrospect, maybe they were not original, but they were damned good bikes.

As far as I know, Taiwan is where the best mass produced bikes and bike parts come from now. They used to make crap, but it's darned good. Some of the Chinese stuff is good, and some is not. So yes, we might look back at this stuff nostalgically. I suspect we will. I don't know where stuff will be made in the future. Chinese labor rates are on the way up. Laos? The Philippines? Maybe some African country.