| Author |
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Larryjohn
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 09:20 am: | 
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"build your own Buell replica personalized to your taste"
Works if that is your taste. Not mine though. Doesn't much look like a Buell to me. I am guessing it doesn't handle like one either. |
Whatever
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 10:49 am: |
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I quite like it... but for 19K I will buy three used bikes before I do some wacky $hit like that... |
Just_ziptab
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 10:52 am: |
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New street Buell?
Per Erik on FB:
"We'll see what the future brings...my goal is definitely that, but it will take a while." |
Glitch
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 10:58 am: |
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This kit and a S&S motor you could build your own Buell replica personalized to your taste.
So, you disassemble a Buell, to make a Buell replica that doesn't even look or act like a Buell? |
Guy_glover
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 12:25 pm: |
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With that belt tensioner like that i'll bet you won't be doing a lot of riding anyway. |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 02:49 pm: |
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Erik wants to race. In order to race at the top levels in the US, there must be sufficient quantities of street bikes manufactured to meet homologation rules.
Unless Erik is content with dominating second and third tier race circuits (which could be the case, but I don't believe so), street bike production is a must. |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 05:02 pm: |
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ft_bstrd: The other alternative is MotoGP, which MUST be non-production based. Of course, Erik is going to need a LOT of DEEP pockets to finance anything like that.
I would think Moto2 would be the perfect venue for him, though. No need to worry about the engine, just engineer and build the frames and suspension parts around the "Trilogy of Tech" and slap in the spec motor and the spec tires... |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 05:24 pm: |
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MotoGP without street bikes to fund the effort is a loser.
Were it not, we'd be seeing lots of Motoczysz bikes on the circuit. |
Glitch
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 05:50 pm: |
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Moto2? Interesting.
Fast? Maybe.
Affordable? Possibly.
Erik's cup o' tea? Dunno.
Erik wants to race, that's the only thing I'm sure about. |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 11:03 pm: |
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Don't need street bikes, just sponsors willing to foot the bill. Ilmor is a name that means NOTHING to the motorcycling world but they mounted a MotoGP effort that failed because of lack of sponsorship.
Kenny Roberts Sr. also fronted a MotoGP team using his own chassis and first a KTM engine and then a Honda engine before he ran out of sponsor dollars. No street bike ever came out of that effort either.
Gary McCoy will soon be coming back to MotoGP on an off-brand bike. Rumor has it that it's based on the MotoGP prototype BMW built and abandoned. Don't know much more about it other than they seem to have the necessary sponsorship to make a go.
(Message edited by jaimec on April 11, 2010) |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 12:42 am: |
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Don't need street bikes, just sponsors willing to foot the bill. Ilmor is a name that means NOTHING to the motorcycling world but they mounted a MotoGP effort that failed because of lack of sponsorship.
Kenny Roberts Sr. also fronted a MotoGP team using his own chassis and first a KTM engine and then a Honda engine before he ran out of sponsor dollars. No street bike ever came out of that effort either.
Gary McCoy will soon be coming back to MotoGP on an off-brand bike. Rumor has it that it's based on the MotoGP prototype BMW built and abandoned. Don't know much more about it other than they seem to have the necessary sponsorship to make a go.
"MotoGP without street bikes to fund the effort is a loser."
I rest my case. A continued effort in MotoGP will ALWAYS run out of sponsorship dollars without a manufacturing base to generate funds to support it.
No street bike sales. No continued MotoGP effort.
Racing is a marketing expense. Period. Race on Sunday, sell on Monday. If there are no sales on Monday, the Sunday racing stops.
No one is willing to build a bridge to no where for very long. |
Glitch
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 05:55 am: |
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I had always thought of MotoGP as a test bed for prototypes.
You know, future features for future bikes.
Stuff like fly-by-wire, traction control, engine technology, a real torture test MotoGP is. |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 09:45 am: |
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Well, KR got to use what he learned from MotoGP to open his own aftermarket business. Ilmor was big in Formula 1 and wanted to showcase their engine capabilities. |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 09:47 am: |
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There is a difference between an "aftermarket business" and a line of motorcycles. |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 10:14 am: |
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If you look at the major sponsors in MotoGP, how many of them actually have anything to do with motorcycles??
Rizla makes rolling paper (Groovy, baby), Fiat makes automobiles, and I'm not sure WHAT Tech3 makes... |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 10:46 am: |
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2010 line up:
Ducati Marlboro Team--Ducati
Fiat Yamaha Team--Yamaha
Interwetten Honda MotoGP--Honda
LCR Honda MotoGP--Honda
Monster Yamaha Tech 3--Yamaha
Paginas Amarillas Aspar--Ducati
Pramac Racing Team--Ducati
Repsol Honda Team--Honda
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP--Suzuki
San Carlo Honda Gresini--Honda
I don't see many generic/independent motorcycles in the line-up. Geico wasn't manufacturing the motorcycle. They were just strapping their gecko to Eslick's ride. Same for Fiat or Marlboro.
Again, there is a difference between being a "sponsor" and funding the development and building of a motorcycle. |
Davegess
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 11:41 am: |
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There have many been times in car world were F1 cars are not connected to manufacturers. Right now there are several teams running Cosworth engines with no sponsor ship from car manufacturers. The profile for F1 is so high that it is possible to get enough sponsorship from other firms.
At this time you seem to be at a disadvantage in terms of winning without an automaker behind you but often this has not been the case. I suspect that it would be tougher to get enough money from non manufacturers to pull this off in MotoGP but it is possible. The engine would be the hardest part. |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 12:11 pm: |
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The profile for F1 is so high
Formula 1 television viewing figures
MotoGP enjoying healthy audience figures
Compared to MotoGP, F1 is a monster. |
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 12:38 pm: |
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"They only make a few of them, so the have to charge more, simple supply and demand 101 "
um. NO. Your supply and demand curves intersect where the relative value of the product equates to the customers perceived value of your product; not at the accumaltive values of production elements, taxes, regulation, transportation, marketing, and frontage.... And remember this when the VAT hits; you cant add component pricing to a product at each level of transaction and expect the consumer to still purchase your product.
So yes the cost per unit of production, with higher runs does go down, and you will be able to make more profit per item over time (which is why you have depreciation of the initial assets of manufacturing)
So if you price the shirt at 30, but enterprising and creative people can and will make their own for 6-7... guess what?.... this is where your licensing, trademark and restricted use clauses come in (good luck with it though, the knock off designer bags are a boon to business in foreign markets)
The only things that pull out of the supply demand curve are govt intervention with subsidies/regulations/taxes; fame or notoriety, or products with a more inelastic demand (Gasoline)
At some point you price the consumer right out of the market of purchasing your product.... who among us today would purchase a 20k bone stock 2010 XL883?....exactly. |
Davegess
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 12:59 pm: |
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"They only make a few of them, so the have to charge more, simple supply and demand 101 "
Sorta true, if you only plan on making a few the price will go up because of tooling costs and processes used. However will there be enough consumers willing to pay what you need to charge?
As the price goes up the demand goes down BUT limiting supply does not insure that the consumer will pay a higher price. That is why so many very expensive bike makers don't survive. |
Rohorn
| | Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 01:44 pm: |
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I'd LOVE to see more racebikes developed as/from racebikes rather than street bikes - production racers, in other words - a return to the RW750 concept, as it were. I'm under the impression that more and more "sport bikes" are getting turned into trackday toys and club racers - and never seeing the street.
I'm also wondering if a club level production racer could be faster & cheaper to run than a converted street bike.
No, I'm not referring to converted 450 dirtbikes, either. |
Rhun
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 04:34 pm: |
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Long after CEO KEITH WANDELL has been discovered to have been a very bad fit for HD (and the business world in general), his golden parachute will live on!
Also technically a Canadian company is an American company as is Mexico and Brazil. All reside in the America's continents. From what I see Victory's are sold in Jap bike stores who already have very good sport bikes and Polaris are sold in tractor stores. Let's see would you like a Buell with your John Deere today? 
As they are both visionaries I'd like to see a merge between MotoCyzt (sp) guy and Eric and maybe Warren Buffet for capital!!
All in all a very insightful article into the industry.
PS I would buy a CEO KEITH WANDELL for idiot of the decade shirt.
(Message edited by rhun on April 13, 2010) |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 06:22 pm: |
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Don't forget, it was Harley's Board of Directors who CHOSE that moron to head the company!!! |
Brumbear
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 07:01 pm: |
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they would do better here if the reruns were at a deent hour I always seem to catch em at 3 am cause Sunday I am riding |
Bigblock
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 07:30 pm: |
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Talk about self promotion! 41 billion saw F1 ? WOW!
They must be including other planets, even if they are counting people more than once! |
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 10:52 pm: |
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he did in under two years what it took AMF 15 years to do.
golden parachute.... how about some damn clawback. Its exactly like letting the captain of the Exxon Valdez keep his shipping license after he ran aground. |
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