Posts
3651
Joined
9/20/2018
Location
Sandy, UT
US
Edited Date/Time
5/31/2020 11:49am
The 350 thread got me thinking about how popular 350's and 300 2-strokes are in the offroad market and how not one of the red, blue, green and yellow even offer them. KTM, Husky, even Beta continue to grow in popularity while the Japanese sleep.
The Japanese brands are run by accountants and advertising execs.
Japanese engineers are only allowed to design what their bosses tell them to design, and only under a certain budget.
DeCoster still goes in every day to the shop in Murrieta and tries to make his motorcycles better, when he could be retired. He loves what he does.
I doubt if any Japanese brand has anyone with that fire inside...
The Shop
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Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
As a company, you either have it or you don’t
There are probably more 350XC models at any given off road race in my are than all honda and suzuki models combined
The Japanese manufacturers do not need to invest money in R&D, tooling lines, manufacturing lines, etc etc for new models when they would struggle to get a decent enough market share to make it worthwhile. They make enough money from other areas of their business.
And IF they did then it would hurt KTM/Husky/Beta/Sherco/Gas Gas sales ....does the non-Japanese rider want the Japanese to produce bikes to compete with them, heck no, that could (I said could!) mean the end of their brand...especially because that is the biggest income for those brands (KTM/Husky do produce some road bikes but no where near the volume of the other brands or biggest sellers).
No need to dirty Greg's name.
Yes, 4 stroke MX bikes just like Japan wants. As good as these bikes are, Japan figures they are the best bet, no matter what you want to do with it. And of course 'Best' can mean best for the manufacturers in increased cost of ownership (maybe?).
I have had so much fun on CR and YZ250s (2T) in my life, I can't help but be a fan of Honda & Yamaha.
But I never cared for Honda's anti 2 stroke philosophy.
And how hard would it be for Yamaha to put out a YZ300 - a direct competitor for the KTM/Husky 300? Yes, it would take some development, but then they sell it for the next 20 years, with no changes - and it still sells, while development costs were paid for in 1st year, most likely.
With no new SX/MX to watch, I've been watching the Hard Enduro series on YouTube.
Very entertaining. Also completely devoid of 4 strokes/any bikes from Japan. So completely dominated by KTM/Husky. But also fun to see the Shercos, Gas Gas & Betas occasionally in the mix.
So how can I not be a big fan of KTM & Husky too - just for the bikes they offer, if nothing else?
Pit Row
Larry the liguidator's buggy whip analogy
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