Which Japanese Mfr. will be 1st to stop mfg. MX bikes

I shudder to think.

I think Honda as well

Honda.

are you guys serious with honda?? honda produces some of he most highly technical products of this century. they make more international products and have the most technical R&D dept (not just mx.. duhh) than anyone out there. IMO, the chopping block list, starting with the strongest would be as follows:

kawasaki
honda
yamaha
suzuki
ktm

kawasaki's KHI is a remarkable industry, and it is a fact that the motorsports section of what is essentially KHI, is like a pepperoni on a pizza, just there for some flavor.

my honda remarks are above.

yamaha is a broad company that makes its mark in producing key automobile products and musical equipment. anybody drive a ford taurus? you are practically driving a yamaha.

suzuki is quite low on the totem pole. while they do produce automobile products, theyre mark on the auto industry is quite obscure, and dwindling faster than most. come on, kia is making them look silly. nicee try with the RC-4 truck too. they however do not have very much heavy industry background, no "frills" really to speak of. they do produce a certain number of arctic cat parts and engines, which will eventually come to an end as well.

ktm, well, they pretty much only build bikes! they depend on whether this whole scenario works out or not! theyre stint in the audi and fast car market is brief if that, and it would probably be a year of sundays before mere mortals are driving around an LC8 powered autmobile.

just my 2 cents.. and watch out, before long we just might see a hyundia powered dirt scooter!

i agree
HONDA

Probably Honda.

Remember how many bikes the Jap OEM used to sell?

Id love to see new item qty sales figures for ,say, 1973 CR125M, 1976 YZ80C etc compared to todays numbers

they wont come even close. our population currently buying motorcycles is nothing compared to the baby boomers that have come home from war with excess money to spend. we just dont have enough proposed buyers to substantiate the amount of bikes that could be produced and sold

Honda is always on the leading edge of things so I would have to say Honda.

You're gonna get skewered for posing the question. But I've wondered myself if the Japanese companies have grown to the point where a market segment that was once vital is now expendable. Not so much a matter of shrinking market as it is expanding interests.

But they would never just stop selling bikes. More likely a sale of the operating company to someone else.

Man, you guys are in a negative frenzy.

C'mon, race season.

Thanks for the laugh Mr. Martin....

man i hope none of them stop.....I don't even want to think of losing one of them!!

yamaha folk are gonna be kicking themselves. im looking forward to stewy being back on kawis soon.

I dont see any of them stopping anytime soon.....KTM would go first, BUT IF one of the big 4 stopped it would be Honda first.

Maybe Braun could Honda out for $1...

Why would you think KTM would go first? They are performing well and that is all they do for the most part. If they stop building MX bikes they would stop building bikes all together which would mean going out of business completely. I see Honda or Kawasaki who have so many other things going on calling it quits first. The motorcycle end of it for both company's is very small compared to their total size. Getting rid of the motorcycle side would just be a mild trimming of fat to them both.

Wink, I'll take Hodaka for $200 please...

That being said I don't think any of them are going anywhere. Over the long haul manufacturing motorcycles for all of them has been profitable. They would have to bleed for quite awhile before any of them threw in the towel.

Honda was the first manufacturer to stop making two strokes.

Don't worry-The end of the world is very soon and most likely before they stop making MX bikes. My dog will probably die today, and I think my car is going to throw a rod, and it looks like a tornado is headed this way too.

You stole my line

BRIDGESTONE oh wait they haven't made motorcycles in 35 years. WOW time flies!!

This isn't negative frenzy, this is another dead thread from people that no longer ride, or haven't ridden.

I do feel for those that are not as lucky as I, tracks and trail right out the front door. I tell ya, the last ride I did... man that was fun. Taking a vacation next week, I have a ride planed for each day.

I know Suzuki has talked about it.

The question should be, when is an American Company gonna start
making dirtbikes?

First Half of Calendar Year 2009
Motorcycle Production Figures by Manufacturer

Motorcycle --- Units --- % of Prev. Year
Honda --- 109,321 --- 70.4
Suzuki --- 92,111 --- 49.7
Yamaha --- 97,035 --- 60.8
Kawasaki --- 62,492 --- 67.0
Others --- 22 --- 59.5
Total --- 360,981 --- 60.8