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VA
US
Edited Date/Time
10/19/2017 9:29am
It seams pretty obvious that KTM has been able to stay ahead from an equipment standpoint by coming out with thier Factory Edition Bikes each year. This insures thier riders are on the latest technology and keeps them at least a half year ahead of everyone else. Why haven’t Japanese brands done the same??
KTM is a significantly smaller, more motorcycle-racing focused, and more nimble company than any of the Japanese manufacturers.
The Shop
Quality over quantity
KTM makes short runs on bike's. This allows them to make changes if a product is not working and allows for FE. The Japanese manufactures will produce all the 450's for example at one time then on to the next bike and will not produce another 450 that year.
I actually don't think the FE system that KTM has is that big of a deal/advantage.
And the FE bikes sell out every year. I don't know if they make money off the first FE bikes of that gen(2012, 2015 and now 2018) but they all sell out.
The FE allows KTM(and now Husqvarna) to be 1 race season earlier with the next gen platform every 3 years. So this "advantage" only happens every 3 years.
The Japanese brands could tighten their R&D cycle and be in a similar situation. But they are often on a 4 year cycle(except Suzuki).
Roczen Replica
HRC Replica
Dave Thorpe
Buildbase
Believe that they're done by Honda UK as every dealer has them for sale and has done for a few years.
They've done Geico ones in the past too.
Getting new product in the hands of race teams is a benefit, but only a small driver as to why they would do it.
The Japanese companies do it too, they just don't sell the bikes so the public perceives them as not being as "intuitive" as KTM.
For KTM, the FE is among other things, a sneaky way of releasing "next years' bike". But for a company like Suzuki, that is excruciatingly slow in development, a "special edition" model could be a way to distinguish itself from the other Japanese brands.
This is pure speculation from a keyboard jockey but how many factory billet Nissin Calipers get built for factory teams every year (Japanese Nationals, Australia, MXGP and US Nationals) and how much do they change from year to year? If you "economy of scale" that up an additional 500+ units, perhaps you can drop back across the feasibility threshold. Now do the same with a few other bits....maybe some JGR stuff, Yosh pipes, maybe a few anodized bling parts, and you have yourself a special edition bike with zero additional development costs. It can't be that difficult to slip something like that into the production run and crank out 400 special units, can it?
I could see 400 customers opt for a "factory" RMZ over a stock Yamaha or Kawi. But then again...what do I know?
I just feel like if you aren't competitive in the performance game, you need another angle to reach decent sales figures. I also think you can implement economies of scale to make the highly desirable uber-trick hardware more feasible in a production environment.
Maybe the Japanese have all their money tied up in top secret electric bike development. Boom!
Pit Row
Either KTM or Husky everywhere I look in the pits at any track here, both two stroke and four.
I've only seen one new Suzuki, and it was the MXA test bike.
...the tide has turned big time, at least where I live.
good luck getting anything FE
You only live once (as we know it) so I always choose the A Ticket Ride
Not sure how successful sales were, but they were cosmetic upgrades for the most part.
KTM race teams do get a slight advantage in getting next years race bike earlier perhaps, plus the consumer who can afford one of course.
There are rumors that 2018 is the last year for FE's, we shall see, I highly doubt KTM will drop them, as it is a money maker for them.
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