| Author | Message | ||
     Cityxslicker |
Have heard this montra in the car biz for years. so is it true for motorcycles? Does the consumer really base their buying decision on what brand of bike won the big ride, the local rice, or the last big rally? And how much of that was the rider anyways?!? Inquiring minds want to know. Second part to question, would you care if your bike had a racing counter part? Would it make a difference for you at all? And the crux of it all (for me anyways) Would AMA rulings and sanctions on a bike that you want, keep you from buying the bike? Somnabiatch, I know there is a marketing Masters Thesis lurking in there somewhere. | ||
| Firstbuell |
all joking aside, for most motorcycle dealers it's: "Win on Sunday, Sell on Tuesday"...... | ||
| Etennuly |
I think the real effect would be on current owners and those ready to write a check for one. It would instill more pride in current owners there by making them extrapolate the same to people on the fence about buying one. Buell has sold a lot of their bikes through the encouragement of current owners, more public pride in ownership can only help matters. I think if the 1125r started winning in every televised race that is shown in biker hangouts and couches everywhere, sooner or later some HD owners are gonna make the connection and maybe even start to care about what the new heritage of their bikes are doing. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
The shi@t that gets me is how often AMA rules have killed bikes from ever seeing the sales floor. And I get more than a feeling that Buell is wary of it. The RW750, The XBRR, the dirt Bueller. Apparently the AMA change in RACING meant that we will never see that bike for customer riding... Still trying to find the actual racer to rider to buyer number that allows cr@p like that to happen. | ||
| Xb984r |
Cityxslicker,how did the AMA kill the XBRR and Buell dirtbike from seeing the sales floor? | ||
| Doerman |
I think racing enhances the brand image. It is a long process and pays off after results are consistent for a time. To make believers out of potential customers, wins must come on a regular basis and the brand must show that it is in the racing scene for the foreseeable future. Ducati and Porsche are examples of brands that built the "racing image" over time. And it is paying off. Another example is my local dealer which has fielded a race team at Willow Springs for years. and that has paid off for them. They sell as many Buells as they can get their hands on. There are no leftover 1125Rs on their floor. They have even sold five more this year through dealer transfers. It works. It is expensive and you'll have to have a passion and staying power for racing. Well, what do I know. I am just a spectator that is enjoying the local Buell racing scene immensely. Buell does not have a bottomless racing budget, but I think they are doing something very right with the contingency program encouraging the grass roots effort. On edit: And I almost forgot the Inside Pass program! That is just brilliant. It totally hooked me last year on the 1125R. (Message edited by doerman on October 22, 2008) | ||
| Trojan |
'race on Sunday, sell on Monday' is probably far more true in the bike world than it is for cars. All of the 'Big 4' Japanese manufacturers expend many billions of Dollars between them every year on racing, and although a lot of their racing R&D work finds its way onto road bikes eventually anyway, it is the connection with racing that sells sportsbikes for the road. if you want proof, why do you think that they offer 'race replica' paintjobs on new bikes? The current crop of Superbikes are actually more at home on atrack than they are on the road, but that doesn't put buyers off from wanting the latest, fastest, lightest, 'raciest' bike on the block. Ducati are probably the masters of this philosphy, and if it wasn't for racing they would arguably not even exist today as a credible manufacturer. This ethos doesn't just sell their top of the range sportsbikes either. People see a Ducati GP/WSB bike winning and assume that the same levels of technology and performance are translated into even minor models such as the baby Monster range (Ducati's best selling bike). If Buell ran a 'full on' Superbike race team in a major televised world series such as WSB it would be a no brainer that it would lead to more sales of the 1125 (unless it was a complete unmitigated disaster that is, but even then it did Benelli no harm and they sold bikes off the back of a disastrous WSB campaign). Whether the return would be worth the substantial investment required would be the only debatable point. I would be willing to bet that it would be worth the risk, and at least it would show sporting credentials to fickle sportsbike buyers that would otherwise not consider Buell at all. KTM will be running a one make RC8 series as a support race for British Superbikes next year, and following the huge success of the previous Superduke series I don't understand why Buell haven't done the same thing. | ||
| Court |
Has anyone, beyond internet chatter or bar talk, ever seen anything that ascribes and basis in fact to this? Racing is really expensive. Say you went with a minimum race program, which may in fact be worse, and only spent say $10,000,000 in a year. How may 1125R's would you have to sell, and let's assume Buell makes $500 off each bike, to make the numbers work? I don't know the answer and it occurs to me, making a mental extrapolation from cars, that a successful 1125R racing program could (I'm curious but unconvinced) increase sales of Blasts and Ulysses. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I don't think a brand has to actually win but if it "fought with honor" in all of the races, the name would get out to more people. But Court raises a good issue. It's probably more efficient to just put your company's adverts through the racing recap shows than to actually put your bikes into the race itself. | ||
| 4cammer |
I doubt that too many of the sandal wearing squids riding the latest GSXCBRR1ZX6 here in the Chicago are can even name an AMA or WSBK rider. My bet is that the latest and greatest magazine specification shootout winner captures more sales for a particular make/model than the AMA champion of a given series does. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Race on the Weekend, Buy on Monday? Personally, I don't believe it at all. If it were true, Toyota Camry would not be the best selling car in America, well before their entry into NASCAR. Some may argue that a motorcycle is an emotional purchase, and so is a hot rod car purchase. The 2008 SCCA World GT Champion is Randy Pobst, a guy racing in a Porsche. I highly doubt his win has inspired a lot of Porsche sales. | ||
| Swordsman |
"My bet is that the latest and greatest magazine specification shootout winner captures more sales for a particular make/model than the AMA champion of a given series does." +1 ~SM | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Right, so it doesnt seem to directly affect sales (which I had more than a sneaky feeling about) So WHY would an AMA change in the classes for closed course motorcycle racing mean the death knell for R&D, product development and production of the Buell Dirty Bike?!?! There is a big whole in the DS/SM 400-450cc market, currently only Suzuki and KTM have offerings. A Buell Dual Sport would fill that niche nicely. To my knowledge Kawasaki never raced the KLR 250, that bike is a key player in their brand for the last 20 years. Damnit there should be a petition and a deposit list. (if you build it they will come) | ||
| White |
My bet is that the latest and greatest magazine specification shootout winner captures more sales for a particular make/model than the AMA champion of a given series does. I think so too. I watch very very little racing but I always read the shoot outs and the full test in sport rider and cycle world every month. If the 1125R wins a race awesome, but in sport rider they talk about the heat coming from the bike makes it so unbearable you cant even ride the f@cking thing I'm going to think the production bike is just a big pile of $hit! I know that this problem is fixed now but it just pisses me off that I talk Buell up all the time to people I know and then they read things like this. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
For the love of God, build cityslicker his dirt bike! I think city wants a Buell dirt bike more than that kid wanted his red rider bb gun. (not that there's any thing wrong with that city. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Build it, I will trade you my Red Rider BB gun |
