Suzuki has let go of the R&D department

280driver
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280driver 4/30/2020 4:31am
4/30/2020 4:31am
Re-launch the ‘81 RM125/250x and they’d sell all day. Jokes aside, sad to hear this as others have pointed out, not a good sign for the overall health of the sport.
Brad460
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Brad460 4/30/2020 4:49am
4/30/2020 4:49am Edited Date/Time 4/30/2020 4:49am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
I consistently see what the consumers are saying.... “Basic, easy to maintain, relatively cheap two strokes please” is what I see the consumers are asking for...
I consistently see what the consumers are saying....

“Basic, easy to maintain, relatively cheap two strokes please” is what I see the consumers are asking for.

I rarely see consumers asking for more electronics, faster development and higher cost.

Maybe I’m just getting confused..
Are consumers really saying that? Or is it just a handful of people on VitalMX and yourself? Not saying your wrong...

The YZ125/250 are basic, easy to maintain and relatively cheap- Do those outsell 4 strokes? Doubt it..

I’d be curious to see the numbers..
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Andy7
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Andy7 4/30/2020 4:52am
4/30/2020 4:52am
Still dreaming about an aluminum framed RM 250. Preferably with the older chasis. How cool does it look? Heck, would even sell my YZ to get one.

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deadlo
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deadlo 4/30/2020 4:56am
4/30/2020 4:56am
TheLsho wrote:
Oh because they aren't putting in the effort that you want to see? Not sure how that equates to not putting any effort in. Go watch...
Oh because they aren't putting in the effort that you want to see? Not sure how that equates to not putting any effort in.

Go watch Ricky, Chad, Dungey, Stew, or Roczen on those crappy old bikes. Tell me how much that bike was holding them back. Or how much it would hold you back.
Are any of those guys currently competing on a suzuki???? No. Has suzuki changed anything about their bike since then, lol, barely.
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deadlo
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deadlo 4/30/2020 5:00am
4/30/2020 5:00am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
I consistently see what the consumers are saying.... “Basic, easy to maintain, relatively cheap two strokes please” is what I see the consumers are asking for...
I consistently see what the consumers are saying....

“Basic, easy to maintain, relatively cheap two strokes please” is what I see the consumers are asking for.

I rarely see consumers asking for more electronics, faster development and higher cost.

Maybe I’m just getting confused..
Brad460 wrote:
Are consumers really saying that? Or is it just a handful of people on VitalMX and yourself? Not saying your wrong... The YZ125/250 are basic, easy...
Are consumers really saying that? Or is it just a handful of people on VitalMX and yourself? Not saying your wrong...

The YZ125/250 are basic, easy to maintain and relatively cheap- Do those outsell 4 strokes? Doubt it..

I’d be curious to see the numbers..
Exactly dude!!!! Thank you! I’m so tired of people on here saying everyone wants a 2 stroke.
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Indy mxer
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Indy mxer 4/30/2020 5:17am
4/30/2020 5:17am Edited Date/Time 4/30/2020 5:22am
It's a shame to see how far they have fallen.
My Dad opened as a Suzuki dealer in 1974. In 1993 he took on Kawasaki and in 1998 took on Polaris. My brother has worked there since 1977 and now owns it.
He dropped Suzuki 2 years ago.

He sells mainly sxs's, dirt bikes and quads. None of which Suzuki has much to offer. Other than some GSXR's and V Stroms, they're just not relevant anymore..
Sadly, he said it was costing him more each year to keep the franchise than he made from staying with them.

I never thought I would see the day when they weren't a Suzuki dealer. Up until then he was one of the oldest Suzuki dealers in the Midwest.
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Markee
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Markee 4/30/2020 5:51am
4/30/2020 5:51am
Indy mxer wrote:
It's a shame to see how far they have fallen. My Dad opened as a Suzuki dealer in 1974. In 1993 he took on Kawasaki and...
It's a shame to see how far they have fallen.
My Dad opened as a Suzuki dealer in 1974. In 1993 he took on Kawasaki and in 1998 took on Polaris. My brother has worked there since 1977 and now owns it.
He dropped Suzuki 2 years ago.

He sells mainly sxs's, dirt bikes and quads. None of which Suzuki has much to offer. Other than some GSXR's and V Stroms, they're just not relevant anymore..
Sadly, he said it was costing him more each year to keep the franchise than he made from staying with them.

I never thought I would see the day when they weren't a Suzuki dealer. Up until then he was one of the oldest Suzuki dealers in the Midwest.
Curious what you paid for your KX Wink
Jardo
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Jardo 4/30/2020 6:02am
4/30/2020 6:02am Edited Date/Time 4/30/2020 6:02am
Maybe its time one of the other Japanese companies to purchase Suzuki and test out the KTM business model
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resetjet
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resetjet 4/30/2020 6:06am
4/30/2020 6:06am
The current line of bikes is too good for 75% of us. Sell the same model cheap for the next 10 years. Bring back the last rm250 2 stroke as well.
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Sheriff245 4/30/2020 6:13am
4/30/2020 6:13am
deadlo wrote:
Yeah they’re just going to keep putting the same crappy bike out each year and you guys will keep supporting that.... hope suzuki doesn’t get another...
Yeah they’re just going to keep putting the same crappy bike out each year and you guys will keep supporting that.... hope suzuki doesn’t get another dollar for their mx bikes until they actually put some effort into the sport.
LewDizzle wrote:
When you say "hope Suzuki doesn't get another dollar for their MX bikes until they actually put some effort into the sport" what does that mean...
When you say "hope Suzuki doesn't get another dollar for their MX bikes until they actually put some effort into the sport" what does that mean? What exactly are you looking for? What more would you like them to do?
Yellow KTM. It’s what the bitching people want. KTMs in all Colors of the rainbow. And no competition.
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danman
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danman 4/30/2020 6:18am
4/30/2020 6:18am
In my opinion, the only thing missing from the 4-strokes is the e-start. Yup, not important to some, but short people with knee problems really like it.
I think they could skinny the line-up down to 4-6 models and just copy the competitors that are successful. I do think they should bring back the rm125 and rm250, and not because I'm a 2-stroke nazi. I just think that there is a good market out there for these bikes. If they put them out there and lowered the price down to where the KTM, YZ, Other are not attractive anymore. Hell, the YZ is 14 years old and people buy news ones every year!
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Indy mxer
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Indy mxer 4/30/2020 6:33am
4/30/2020 6:33am
Indy mxer wrote:
It's a shame to see how far they have fallen. My Dad opened as a Suzuki dealer in 1974. In 1993 he took on Kawasaki and...
It's a shame to see how far they have fallen.
My Dad opened as a Suzuki dealer in 1974. In 1993 he took on Kawasaki and in 1998 took on Polaris. My brother has worked there since 1977 and now owns it.
He dropped Suzuki 2 years ago.

He sells mainly sxs's, dirt bikes and quads. None of which Suzuki has much to offer. Other than some GSXR's and V Stroms, they're just not relevant anymore..
Sadly, he said it was costing him more each year to keep the franchise than he made from staying with them.

I never thought I would see the day when they weren't a Suzuki dealer. Up until then he was one of the oldest Suzuki dealers in the Midwest.
Markee wrote:
Curious what you paid for your KX Wink
Lol.
Actually, I don't get any kind of killer deals from him, nor do I expect any. I get 15% off parts and he sells me bikes for about the same as a normal customer, maybe a bit less but not much. He needs to make money to stay in business.
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mx1313
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mx1313 4/30/2020 6:49am
4/30/2020 6:49am
Wasn't VW affiliated or part owner of Suzuki for a while? Maybe they still are...I'm not certain. It seems everything VW touches or gets involved with turns to shit. Suzuki hasn't been a real player in MX for over a decade, so this comes as no real surprise. But completely losing them from the sport seems very unlikely. It's costing them very little in the grand scheme of things at this point to stay involved. They make a good MX bike for 95% of the planet. Sure, not all the bells and whistles, but most people that own them seem to genuinely like them.
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soggy
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soggy 4/30/2020 7:18am
4/30/2020 7:18am
I wonder when RC leaves Suzuki as a brand ambassador after this news?
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Steve125
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Steve125 4/30/2020 7:20am
4/30/2020 7:20am
This will be my last season on a Suzuki...if we even have a season. Regardless, my 450 has been a good bike, just not great. If only they could lose 7-10 lbs, add e-start,and add some competitive horsepower in the upper rpm range.
News like this puts the nail in the coffin for my Suzuki hopes.

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Jmicmoto13 4/30/2020 7:24am
4/30/2020 7:24am
Herb Eaversmells wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/04/30/424439/s1200_9957A23B_8967_4171_854D_25E7F16F947F.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/04/30/424440/s1200_5CE2D23A_63A5_48B7_8518_3F6A86946F37.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/04/30/424441/s1200_C61848E9_0B9E_4599_BE6E_3894BD14331D.jpg[/img]



Wish Vital would let me give this more than 1 thumbs up.
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navalseabee
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navalseabee 4/30/2020 7:29am
4/30/2020 7:29am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
I consistently see what the consumers are saying.... “Basic, easy to maintain, relatively cheap two strokes please” is what I see the consumers are asking for...
I consistently see what the consumers are saying....

“Basic, easy to maintain, relatively cheap two strokes please” is what I see the consumers are asking for.

I rarely see consumers asking for more electronics, faster development and higher cost.

Maybe I’m just getting confused..
Brad460 wrote:
Are consumers really saying that? Or is it just a handful of people on VitalMX and yourself? Not saying your wrong... The YZ125/250 are basic, easy...
Are consumers really saying that? Or is it just a handful of people on VitalMX and yourself? Not saying your wrong...

The YZ125/250 are basic, easy to maintain and relatively cheap- Do those outsell 4 strokes? Doubt it..

I’d be curious to see the numbers..
deadlo wrote:
Exactly dude!!!! Thank you! I’m so tired of people on here saying everyone wants a 2 stroke.
For real. Shits getting a little long in the tooth. If they were so amazing SX's and YZ's would be everywhere.
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thephoenix 4/30/2020 7:33am
4/30/2020 7:33am
Motofinne wrote:
Why? Suzuki going away would be bad but in the grand scheme of things the sport looks pretty good in my opinion. Suzuki slowly going away...
Why? Suzuki going away would be bad but in the grand scheme of things the sport looks pretty good in my opinion. Suzuki slowly going away isn't that big of a deal if i'm honest, it's not like Honda, KTM Group or Yamaha are pulling out.
Not a good thing, but certainly not the end of the world.

The big issue that needs to be solved is tracks and their survival. There wont be a offroad industry if tracks go away because of various reasons (sound is probably the main issue).
With the power of these 450's sound could easily be solved. They have tons of power already. Enforce a truly reasonable sound level and make them work within that sound envelope.
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Larry450
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Larry450 4/30/2020 7:57am
4/30/2020 7:57am
Are the same people complaining about suzukis also complaining about prices of new bikes? Some of the suzukis the in states are so cheap that you can almost have two of them for a price of honda works edition or what ever edition ktm/husky. Two bikes! That is a race bike and a practice bike!


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deadlo
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deadlo 4/30/2020 8:01am
4/30/2020 8:01am
Larry450 wrote:
Are the same people complaining about suzukis also complaining about prices of new bikes? Some of the suzukis the in states are so cheap that you...
Are the same people complaining about suzukis also complaining about prices of new bikes? Some of the suzukis the in states are so cheap that you can almost have two of them for a price of honda works edition or what ever edition ktm/husky. Two bikes! That is a race bike and a practice bike!


No, we aren’t. But all of you suzuki lovers are making bold assumptions about what everybody wants. Yeah they are half the price because it’s half the bike. You can also probably get a great deal on a 5 year old unridden ktm if you could find one.
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Forty
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Forty 4/30/2020 8:01am
4/30/2020 8:01am
Larry450 wrote:
Are the same people complaining about suzukis also complaining about prices of new bikes? Some of the suzukis the in states are so cheap that you...
Are the same people complaining about suzukis also complaining about prices of new bikes? Some of the suzukis the in states are so cheap that you can almost have two of them for a price of honda works edition or what ever edition ktm/husky. Two bikes! That is a race bike and a practice bike!


The people that are complaining are the people that always complain.
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davistld01
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davistld01 4/30/2020 8:09am
4/30/2020 8:09am
It is interesting that you still see a lot of yellow bikes on the line at local races, even in the intermediate and expert class, and a lot of guys still do very well on them. Are they modded the hilt...mostly, but they're winning on them.
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BobPA
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BobPA 4/30/2020 8:18am
4/30/2020 8:18am Edited Date/Time 4/30/2020 8:18am
davistld01 wrote:
It is interesting that you still see a lot of yellow bikes on the line at local races, even in the intermediate and expert class, and...
It is interesting that you still see a lot of yellow bikes on the line at local races, even in the intermediate and expert class, and a lot of guys still do very well on them. Are they modded the hilt...mostly, but they're winning on them.
Not around here.
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Larry450
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Larry450 4/30/2020 8:24am
4/30/2020 8:24am
I wish they were even cheaper. I bet they could drop the price by selling directly to consumer like Canyon or YT in mtb world. Have the bike delivered to your home in a crate.
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rbspecial138
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rbspecial138 4/30/2020 8:29am
4/30/2020 8:29am
MZ193 wrote:
I dont see sound as a big problem (here in italy), in the US the space are so big and you could build a track in...
I dont see sound as a big problem (here in italy), in the US the space are so big and you could build a track in the middle of no where.
I see money as a major problem, the medium class here in italy is going through some hard years, let s See what the future brings... a lot of my friends are anymore buying new bikes but used ones... 2strokes only to reduce the maintenance costs...
colintrax wrote:
You can build a track in the middle of nowhere but nobody will live close enough to go ride it.
Bingo. No one wants to drive 3+ hours to a track to sit for 8 hours to ride two 5 lap motos. Broken system.
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Falcon
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Falcon 4/30/2020 8:33am
4/30/2020 8:33am
We need a little clarification here.... did Suzuki Motor Corporation drop its R&D department in Japan? I have my doubts about that.

What I think actually happened is that Suzuki Motor of America dropped their R&D department. You guys do know that SMAI does not design and update the motocross models, right? The most they ever did was help Japan with tweaks for the American market. These are the guys who put an RM125 engine in an RM-Z250 frame and tried to get Japan to notice.

Suzuki may be in trouble in the MX market, but I don't think this is a significant change to that situation either way.
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deadlo
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deadlo 4/30/2020 8:36am
4/30/2020 8:36am
Larry450 wrote:
I wish they were even cheaper. I bet they could drop the price by selling directly to consumer like Canyon or YT in mtb world. Have...
I wish they were even cheaper. I bet they could drop the price by selling directly to consumer like Canyon or YT in mtb world. Have the bike delivered to your home in a crate.
That would actually be pretty sick. I think the big point here is that the suzuki is a good bike, but them losing r & d doesn’t really affect them since their r & d went into quarantine for this covid thing years ago.

In my own opinion, them dropping r & d means they gave up on motocross. Which we all knew they have years ago. If you guys are willing to spend a little extra to support local shops, why not spend a little extra supporting companies that put a lot of effort into staying competitive and attempting to put out the best bike they can every year?
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Thisusernameisavailable 4/30/2020 8:39am
4/30/2020 8:39am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
I consistently see what the consumers are saying.... “Basic, easy to maintain, relatively cheap two strokes please” is what I see the consumers are asking for...
I consistently see what the consumers are saying....

“Basic, easy to maintain, relatively cheap two strokes please” is what I see the consumers are asking for.

I rarely see consumers asking for more electronics, faster development and higher cost.

Maybe I’m just getting confused..
Brad460 wrote:
Are consumers really saying that? Or is it just a handful of people on VitalMX and yourself? Not saying your wrong... The YZ125/250 are basic, easy...
Are consumers really saying that? Or is it just a handful of people on VitalMX and yourself? Not saying your wrong...

The YZ125/250 are basic, easy to maintain and relatively cheap- Do those outsell 4 strokes? Doubt it..

I’d be curious to see the numbers..
Here in the UK my best friend wanted a new YZ250 in 2018- he had to wait weeks and was able to get the last one available in the UK- the dealer told him that Yamah sell every single YZ250 they bring in and could sell more.

How this number compares to YZ450Fs sold I cannot comment.

The consumers may not be asking specifically for a two stroke, but you don't need to go far to find people saying "too expensive" or "too complicated" or "too hard to work on"

In translation, that reads to me as people want cheap, simple, easy to maintain.- Everything a modern four-stroke isn't.

If we could have hands in the air across the globe, it'd be interesting to ask a basic moto question:

Who wants:
A) Cheaper to buy, cheaper & easier to maintain, simplistic built dirtbikes?
or
Cool More cutting edge technology, which in turn might mean you can't work on them at home and the cost of buying and maintaining them will continue to rise.

Which do you think will get more votes?
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racinstation 4/30/2020 8:42am
4/30/2020 8:42am
Falcon wrote:
We need a little clarification here.... did Suzuki Motor Corporation drop its R&D department in Japan? I have my doubts about that. What I think actually...
We need a little clarification here.... did Suzuki Motor Corporation drop its R&D department in Japan? I have my doubts about that.

What I think actually happened is that Suzuki Motor of America dropped their R&D department. You guys do know that SMAI does not design and update the motocross models, right? The most they ever did was help Japan with tweaks for the American market. These are the guys who put an RM125 engine in an RM-Z250 frame and tried to get Japan to notice.

Suzuki may be in trouble in the MX market, but I don't think this is a significant change to that situation either way.
My exact thoughts. I don't think R&D has stopped. I just think some fat has been trimmed.
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