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Edited Date/Time
3/19/2015 7:28pm
With the success and hoopla of KTMs factory editions and the current success and potential of Honda and its riders will Honda jump on the bandwagon and release an early premium edition like KTM?
Yamaha offered two models many moons ago and the potential Honda has going this year has to have at.least somewhat rekindled their interest in getting back to the top of the motocross game.
Will Kawasaki and Suzuki take the bait as well to keep up?
Will KTM even take it a step further and come out with a factory edition two stroke to appease their large following those who prefer two strokes?
The prices are getting nutsy but the renewed interest and designs are cool to see.
Yamaha offered two models many moons ago and the potential Honda has going this year has to have at.least somewhat rekindled their interest in getting back to the top of the motocross game.
Will Kawasaki and Suzuki take the bait as well to keep up?
Will KTM even take it a step further and come out with a factory edition two stroke to appease their large following those who prefer two strokes?
The prices are getting nutsy but the renewed interest and designs are cool to see.
I'm not a brand loyalist but what KTM has done by marketing to the niches (for decades) is create a customer base they can cultivate and keep on KTMs in the future. Sort of Like Kawi with their Team Green program - supporting them when they are on mins and hoping they'll stay green when they move up. It also gave them sales when they needed them to stay afloat. Sort of liking working odd jobs until you finish school and can focus on a career.
Combine that with a more flexible/aggressive manufacturing approach and they look like Curly Neal running rings around the heavy-footed, lumbering Japanese brands.
Then go hire RD, who has repeatedly proven he knows what it takes to build the best teams and bikes, give him a blank check and what do you get?
Well, the results speak for themselves.
We can only hope the competition benefits the consumer and doesn't cause some of the manufacturers to fold their tents.
They have some serious talent right now and are getting some good results but in the past wouldn't
have settled for that. It's good to see them get the results again, just hoped it would spark the hyper competitive spirit that they had in the past to totally blow away the competition.
Sure they had several of the best riders on their squad back then, but they also had an overwhelming financial backing and research and development operations, both in house and contracted.
The Shop
It's like they said, "Been there, done that... what else can we do?"
Nowadays they seem be content to produce masterpieces like the DN-01 (Do Not Own 1).
Sad.
Yeah the Team Green deal was a cool program and worked well right up until Honda started throwing their big budget at rider salaries and picking up the best riders.
I do not really see the Japanese manufacturers getting involved in factory edition bikes. It is not like the KTM FE's have that many parts setting them far apart from the 2015 KTM's. I mainly see the KTM FE's as a spring order snowmobile package. You are basically getting a special edition next year model early with some extra bling. I really think the factory edition bikes should come with a better suspension and a better looking exhaust. I realize this years FE is a huge difference compared to other years since it is a new model.
One thing that is interesting is the new sport bikes from Kawasaki and Yamaha. I'm actually surprised they even made them.
The bold new graphics cheaper version and a full on best we got premium model for the more serious enthusiast. Don't know if that would work today, but it might help to get more interest back in the sport.
It just seems that the other manufacturers are missing the boat while KTM continues to take advantage of the rules year after year and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.
Out of curiosity, what would you, or anyone else suggest that they trim off the bikes to make them cheaper? The manufacturers aren't going to just give up their margin to make the bikes cheaper, so that means they're going to have to trim something somewhere. Agreed that 2 strokes are cheaper all around, but they're not for everyone. I'd say they're more dangerous to learn on and require a more dedicated riding style. And for the increased reliability, I understand the price increase over the years.
I'm not trying to argue for arguments sake, but I don't know where a price reduction could be feasible.
Pit Row
It's probably confusing to the manufacturers that we (collectively) say that new bikes are getting too expensive and then we seem to jump all over this Factory Edition idea KTM has come up with. I've ridden a new Factory Edition 250 and it is an awesome bike but isn't the hype right now just because it is a totally new bike? Will the 2016 Factory Edition get the same amount of buzz when the regular production bike is already out? Probably not.
Be careful what you wish for guys, too many options can be a bad thing.
i still would like to see a basic model bike get released that could be somewhat competitive but without all the bells and whistles (EFI, Air-forks, etc) that a beginning rider isn't going to need. i agree with a poster above, i think a $4500 model would be pretty rad and popular.
I guess what I can't get my head around is what part of the bike would I want any less performance from. I certainly wouldn't jeopardize the suspension or power. Each of the components are about the minimum that I expect to hold up in race or even casual riding conditions.
I'd be alright with a fuel Injection model and a carb model and an air fork/shock and spring fork/shock option. Another option I'd like to see is to buy the bike without any tires, handle bars, or chain and sprockets. And selling a bike with only one spring option is not logical. Most guys that buy new bikes aren't 150 pounds or whatever they're sprung for. All of those things are already cheap on the bikes and most riders change them to their own preference anyways.
Having said that, I don't know that shaving all of that stuff would drop the price by more than maybe $500 and you'd have to spend that $500 just to put those components on. And getting the bike from the dealer to the house without springs and wheels would be interesting. But at least I'd feel better about buying a new bike and not feeling obligated to spend another arm and leg to get it the way I want it.
And those that laugh at that need to see what is already coming out of those countries and the pricing on them. Anyone old enough to remember when "Made in Taiwan" was synonymous with "junk"? How things change...
High quality and good performance at a price that cuts the legs off the competition; that's a recipe for big sales numbers.
Bear in mind, I'm not talking high-end race models but entry and mid-level performance machines.
They already sell simple trail bikes for $2-3K less. There is no market to sell downscale MX bikes.
Realize that the cost to manufacturer, the cost to ship, OEM profit, the dealer profit is all essentially the same. The actual manufacturing cost for a modern dirt bike is less than $2.5K for sure not counting development and promotion. How much do you really suspect that they could trim out of that $2.5K manufacturing cost without giving you a complete pile of crap?
But we're talking entry level. A quality, affordable new unit that is available to the consumer makes more sense to me when it comes to supplying the market. A lot of people looking at the entry level can't handle a race bike, new or used.
Edit: orrrr, how about everybody just releases their bikes a half yearr earlier and we don't charge another 2 g for fluff parts.
I wish people would stop putting them on a pedestal. They came in and laid their ground work in this market when the yen rate was ultra-low and they were still rebuilding after the war. Since the yen rate achieved parity in the late 80s, they've just been fucking with us and selling us junk.
KTM has caught and passed them, and I can't wait to see how far off into the lead they go with bike development.
Cable clutches, kickstarters, cookie cutter aluminum twinspars, open needle bearings on the lowest part of the bike..now they are selling you junk forks with less parts inside of them to cut down on their bottom line. oh hey, congrats on going EFI in friggin 2010, though.
Wake up, Japan is a joke.
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