The intelligent manufacturers outsource a lot of their work to people who do a better job.
I am not at all surprised that a German company designed the pannier latches.
How can you tell if these are the MK1 or MK2 latches? Perhaps they went to the Germans to fix the MK1 problem.
I would be surprised if all of the bike was Japanese made/designed.
In todays global market the whole idea of buying a particular "nationality" product is laughable.
I guess you could buy "nationality" beef steaks but something as complex as a motorcycle,.... nah.
Personally I like my anglo/french/swedish horse/beef Ikea meatballs as much as I like my Japanese/German/American/Korean steel/aluminium/plastic motorcycle.
