| Author |
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Rocketman
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 10:41 pm: | 
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I think you'll find the high profits have little to do with cruisers. Small capacity machines are where it's really at.
Ask yourself what is the best selling two wheeler of all time?
Erik Buell knows this answer very well.
Rocket |
Elff
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 10:49 pm: |
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I would go with a schwin for that answer |
Slaughter
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 10:52 pm: |
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Ask yourself what is the best selling two wheeler of all time?}
Long live Honda's 50! |
Xbolt12
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 11:28 pm: |
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"Japanese bikes seem to win just about every race they are in,against Buell and Ducati."
Heh, heh,- tell that to the crowds watching Bostrom's Ducati 999 pull away from Mladin at Pikes and Laguna Seca.....
(loving it)
xbolt12 |
Xbolt12
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 11:36 pm: |
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"the motogp in laguna was a publicity stunt for usa viewers to come on board - NOT that nicky hayden & colin edwards lack the talent or bikes - it just when did u last see those guys beat vale so easily?! (its cool that it was contrived a bit or a lot, just seemed a little too transparent)."
Yeah, sure! If I were Rossi I would just throw a race away (and a chance at yet another win on the record books). Get real, Hayden pulled away and sure, maybe Rossi was a little more conservative with Edwards simply because if he crashed trying to regain second, he might have put the whole team out of the race.
Personally, I think Rossi is a winner, at that means not settling for second best. However, he is cool and very smart, so risking a big crash might have slowed him down a little.
xbolt12 |
Thepup
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 11:41 pm: |
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XB,notice I said most,not all.Heh,heh |
Nedwreck
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - 11:53 pm: |
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The test track in that article has a two mile long straight. That's as long as most road courses. You should be aware that other than for top speed, all the testers in said article had nothing but high praise for the Buell. Two of those testers, Gus Scott and Bruce Dunn are long time road racers. Mr. Scott, who's been a bike tester for Performance Bikes since at least the mid 90's said the XB12R had "one of the best production chassis I've ever ridden"
You should also know that the tyres used on ALL the bikes in the test were Michelin Power Race.
So instead of a contest of "Which Bike is the Fastest" it inadvertantly became a contest of "Which Bike is the Fastest on Michelin Power Race Tyres". Now, obviously I'm no tyre expert (mine are blue, remember?) but I can't help thinking the Buell might have been better through the twisty bits with different tyres.
Speaking of blue, that's what color the XB12R was. Dang near Parkway Blue from what I can see. Reet tasty with them gold rims.
Bob |
12r
| | Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 04:23 am: |
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Bob, sadly Gus Scott was involved in an accident with a marshal who was helping another rider at the TT. Both Gus and the marshal sustained fatal injuries.
http://www.iomtt.com/news/FullStory.asp?StoryID=1851 |
Nedwreck
| | Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 10:51 am: |
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Sad news, indeed.
Bob |
M1combat
| | Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 11:38 am: |
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RIP Gus.
"I'd wager a price per unit is set but the base line of that price is not determined by how cheap that unit cost can be made to be."
Again... We seem to be saying the same thing Sean  . That "price per unit" you speak of is set due to (among MANY other things I'm sure) the competition's wares. They need to be competitive in performance and price. Therefor, If they set the performance alone a LOT higher than the competitors then sure, they will sell a lot of bikes (look at all the '04 R1's running around) but they will almost certainly make less profit on each of them. It's a trade off. Likewise, if they set their price VERY high they will sell less, but make more money on each. It's a trade off. What does that mean? All of the Japanese liter bikes have about the same amount of value... Why? Because they all target very close to the same performance/price point.
I'm not saying that they try to make the bikes as cheap as possible. I'm saying that they build the bikes using the least amount of denero that they can and "still be competitive".
Homologation specials and race bikes are different. I thought we were talking about your average liter bike... As a matter of fact I'm fairly sure of it...
(Message edited by m1combat on July 14, 2005) |
Vonsliek
| | Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 12:02 pm: |
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yup .. 999r is abt CA$45000+ in canada but readily available .. 749r is CA$32000+ here & also readily avail ...
special order ltd ed.s are available from most manufacturers, if u have the cash & patience.
this yrs ltd ed. suzuki gsxr1000 (k5) is all black & is avail in small #'s ..
yes xbolt12, i was a little inflammatory suggesting laguna was a stunt .. nicky WAS faster & i guess track knowledge was the thing .. sadly .. we didn't get the typical post-race interviews that the podium guys let us know what went right/wrong .. so i had to go from gut instinct.
i am happy for nicky tho .. i really want that kid to get up there more often .. seems he picks softer compounds than vale in most races & i wonder - due to his losing grip & occasionally crashing out (as do others), if maybe picking med/hard combo's like vale wld help? i see vale as thinking abt getting thru the races, where the comp. seems to be concerned w/ getting the jump on vale or, keeping w/ him so they get better points .. he has them beat b4 every race, tho i imagine colin wldn't give in too easy (he's a pit fighter-type) but perhaps laks that extra fearlessness to push beyond tires .. i dunno .. just thinking out loud. |
Bomber
| | Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 12:19 pm: |
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I think bein on his home turf had a lot to do with Nicky's performance -- if you grow up racing in a different country every weekend, that might not be as alrge a factor for ya, but I think it really gave the man the push his talent needed to do better than he has before
now that he's won one, he knows he can, and he knows how -- I'm betting his performance has reach the majik point on the exponential curve, and he'll show that the US race wasn't a one-off . . . .
taking nothing from the good Doctor -- he's come close to redefining the sport in his career . . . he's amazing, for sure |
The_bob
| | Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 01:05 pm: |
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Ask yourself what is the best selling two wheeler of all time?
Long live Honda's 50!
Check out my honda 50 race bike
http://nbriders.ca/phpBB2/modules.php?set_albumName=Fiddy-Racin&id=IMG_4762&op=m odload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 - 09:51 pm: |
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Well Combat I can't argue with you nor do I really want to. I just didn't see the sense in you saying most companies choose power because it's a LOT easier. All you have to do is run a balancing act between component price and purchase price vs. your competitors... No REAL thinking involved in making power. There's certainly thinking involved in making power at a competitive price though, and that's where their thinking was pointed. As long as your bike handles as well (read - Pretty much the same) as theirs then why rock the boat when you have the vast majority of the buying public convinced that they can't handle any better or that all bikes are far superior to the general populations ability to ride them?
Frankly darling I still don't understand how this type scenario works but hey dude that's cool because I could be the A hole here and you might well be bang on.
Now here's something I didn't know.
this yrs ltd ed. suzuki gsxr1000 (k5) is all black & is avail in small #'s ..
My friend just got one of those a month ago. Had to wait a few months to get it but I don't believe it cost anymore than a blue\white K5. Are you sure it's a homologation model because my friend didn't mention that to me. Mind you when we were out last Friday riding the Crowle TT he was pulling some humungo stand up wheelies on it just like a Super Bike racer!
Rocket |
Xb12burner
| | Posted on Monday, July 18, 2005 - 07:28 pm: |
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Being a fellow Kentucky native, I may be a little partial to #69, but nobody can take that win away from him. Of the American hopefuls in MotoGP, no one is staying as close to the front of the pack as he has. Saying that the race was contrived sounds like MotoGP has become "professional" wrestling. I know that Rossi is a magnificent rider, but Laguna Seca is not a track for the faint of heart. Yes there are some tracks on the gp docket thatare probably just as scary, but for the most part Rossi has 10 times the experience on them than Hayden does. Gotta love them Ky boys!! |
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