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You're already seeing a handful of companies producing bikes at or close race-ready (depending on your definition).
Do these china bikes need more revision to the engine manufacturing and other parts? Yes. But its not rocket science and I think you'll see a few bikes from china compete with circa 2015 KTM's within the next 1-2 years
Will these chinese companies ever sponsor a series or put big money into supporting a race team? Never. These guys want to build a product and thats it. They would never consider throwing money away at a team, and why should they--let the KTM's and hondas of the world spend money on race teams and development, and china brand can just come in two years later and steal the technology and sell the product half price
Kove raced and finished the Dakar last year on bikes you can buy.
It’s not popular on this forum but that’s the biggest stage in the world really.
Some folks own them now. Real world reviews are decent from the little I’ve seen. Especially for the price.
Different brands would ultimately mean more people buying bikes, im sure there are a some people out there that never owned a dirtbike would buy a Ducati dirt bike because it's Ducati.
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Who would of thought all they needed to do was add linkage and Dungey to start the wave.
That article is hilarious
CF Moto has had for a couple seasons now. A team of two riders in moto gp in the moto 3 class. Even though technically they are just racing the ktm bike with their name on it currently.
I think Triumph and Ducati see a benefit in developing moto style singles.
Triumph provides engines for moto 2, they may want to break into moto 3 with a 250 single before ultimately moving up to the big show of motogp.
Most roadracers are practicing on 450 dirttrackers, Ducati's riders don't have a Ducati 450 to practice on and be seen in pictures on. Developing a dirt 450 gives them a platform for a hole in their lineup.
I think that they might be able to make more money building the other brands bikes for the other brands. Working as a manufacture and not as a motorcycle company. If they know people expect to pay less for their own Chinese brands. Why not keep making parts for Honda, KTM, etc. and sell those parts at a higher volume with less work ( R&D, advertising,etc.) for a similar price to what they might be able to sell their own branded items for? They may have No compete clauses in their agreements. So the factories that can build good stuff might not want to build it and brand it themselves because they would cut themselves off from the easier money they get from making bikes for others.
I have seen some chinese (clones) of products I am a dealer for. And knowing the price I get, I could see some of those clones they are selling being priced close to what a distributor might pay , or sometimes what the distributor sells them for. Some of those clones are so close to the real thing, I wouldn't be surprised if they were made in the same place. If they made an item just as good as those brand names they are selling out the back door, but put their own branding onto it. They would still have to sell it for less than their knock offs, OR build up a brand that people want to buy. And have to spend money on advertising ,R&D, and all the other things a brand name spends on besides the product itself.
So they would have a lot of extra work and risk in building their own brands . Than they do building legit products for the existing brands and selling at wholesale in large amounts. A brand name is more of a legacy or an ego if You really think about it. If they can make the same profit building for somebody else. I'm sure that somebody could also make a case for why they should. I think that at this point most people know they can do it. But the expectation of it being cheaper might just be the reason why they do not do it.
GPX moto has done some off road racing with their bikes. But I guess they are just another chinese built bike. And Kove is a chinese branded and built bike.
I think that it's a lot more work to go from building quality bikes that are designed, tested and spec'd by somebody else, to doing it all. And the expectations of a chinese brand costing less for similar quality, might just make the margins too thin to be worth it. If They can sell 1000's of bikes at wholesale VS 100's of bikes at retail with the increased costs and liabilities it might not make sense for many to do it.
I do hope that the trend of more brands building bikes and having race programs continues.
This seems like the first question someone in the motocross media would have asked...
Personally I have no idea why so many are jumping into mx bikes...especially when you have one (Suzuki) who has seemed to write off mx as a viable product to invest in..
I look at snowmobiles as somewhat similar recreation as mx and you got Yamaha dropping out..
I am a very patriotic person and wish most of the things we use or need would be made in America but it just will never happen because the masses want good quality for a cheap price. Take work boots for example. A Chippewa boot is say $250 the same exact boot American made is $350. And it’s just as big of a piece of shit as the ones made in china or wherever they make Them overseas. I still buy the American made ones to try and support American workers but it’s only $350 not a $10,000 dirt bike. If a 250/450 machine was made in America it would either be $14-15k or if they priced it to be on par with Jap/ Austrian bikes it would be a piece of shit.
That's where I could see electric changing things up. Build a chassis in the US and use a motor/control/battery from an outside vender like most brands do with forks/shocks, brakes, bars, etc. But with the drivetrain parts.
Or even building the power components too. If a company like Ford or GM got into making dirt bikes they could possible use some of their motors and controllers on cars too. run 2 motors on a car, or maybe 4 .
Or perhaps a company like Segway. I'm not sure where they are based. But if they did an electric MX bike they could share the motors on their ATV's and SXS's to help spread out the costs . Its much easier to use an electric motor in multiple types of vehicles than a gas engine. You can control the power so on some vehicles they would be not using even close to what the motor could handle. And save money by having fewer part numbers to produce.
Its one of the good things I see possible with electric. Yah I know there are downsides to electric too. But there are downsides to everything.
All these new brands and Suzuki is still here with a 10-year-old bike and kickstart.
It's just line extensions to extend into new market segments for the brands and keep factories busy.
Selling high margin street bikes to people who already are inclined to buy a bike.
Motocross is a way for a manufacturer to start a new rider on the road to brand loyalty. Other than MotoGP, no racing titles are more prestigious than MX/SX titles. At some point, quite a few off road riders will purchase a street bike, whether sport, cruiser, or adventure. The hook has been set, and brand loyalty plays a huge part in their decision making. The face of motorcycling may change in the next 10 years, as companies that have more electric motor expertise will choose to throw their hat into the motorbike ring. In the end, IMO, it bodes well for all of us.
Pit Row
Crazy that I was just asking about chinese bikes yesterday. Today MXA posted on ig the newly debuted Kove MX450. 220 lbs, 65hp, electric start, hydraulic clutch, map switch, traction control, and launch control. Pricing and availability soon. The styling isnt the greatest imo, but their sport bike styling has gotten pretty good so maybe the mxer will catch up.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Czbtq2VJCMc/?igshid=MXZqZzhkbDJlaXhtMA==
Kove 450rr sport bike honestly looks pretty good, much better styling than the mx bike.
https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-news/kove-450rr-targets-kawasaki-ninja-zx-4rr/
Apparently now fantic with an mxgp team, with Glen Coldenhoff as their rider. Theres brands coming out the ass now from next year on. I thought fantic was yamaha 2 strokes?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzmdVPoO4x8/?igshid=ZGw2d2Ftc3ZmdTQw
They've had guys racing Enduro GP on the 4 strokes for a few years at least.
I think they also just announced a 310 version of the YZ250F
Just another opinion.
I think the covid bump we all experienced in 20-21 may have had an impact on this as there are numbers which were elevated to a point no one has seen in a long time. Couple that with all this talk about electric bikes (not against it either) many of these brands which are re-inventing themselves may NOT jump on the electric band wagon and see themselves as an option for the the brands saying they will be all electric in a few years.
Since 10-12k is the norm in many of the bikes maybe some of these machines will be more competitive priced who knows.
the sport needs new blood both with machines, maybe this attracts new ridership, it's been stale in that area and all of it hopefully will not only make the sport more viable but maybe safer as well.?
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