EBR is back....do you care???

Hopefully EBR keeps going. Some of you would be really upset if they weren't there for you to hate.

Funny how everyone is saying that no one would conceivably spend more money for less performance just because it's American-made. I feel like there's a brand in the cruiser market that's pretty successful with that approach.

 

Their customers have much lower standards of performance than the sportbike market.

 

And over 100 years of marketing that platform...

 

After everything that has happened with the brand, why would a potential buyer that does anything close to their due diligence actually buy one?

Especially when there are so many quality alternatives for street bike from OEMs that haven't failed three or 4 times in the last few years.

 

That market isn't about performance. Even so, HD underachieves at every metric you'd use to quantify a cruiser, yet it still sells. Actually I'd argue that an Ultra is much worse at being a touring bike than the EBR is at being a sportbike, and they sell the hell out of them.

99% of sportbikes aren't purchased solely on performance. It may not win in WSBK, but there's no reason to believe that the EBR doesn't perform well enough to sell bikes.

 

So is it marketing, or performance? I'm confused.

 

How many times have well known European brands failed? MV, Triumph, Cagiva, Bimota, Husqvarna, I'm sure there are more.

People still buy them, but we should close the coffin on EBR after six years?

Hell, I'm a loyal KTM rider, and ten years ago you couldn't give me one. The company was bankrupt in the 90s.

 

What's gotta sting a bit is that even postmortem, EBR is still outpacing Suzuki in sportbike development.

 

If you have spent a 100 years conditioning your target audience to happily accept the fact that they are shelling out top dollar for a turd then it's a bit of both.

 

I had the chance to ride an EBR RX at one of our local tracks here in Texas. That thing is an eyeopening experience. In a good way. I want one. Hoping to sell off all of my Suzuki stuff and pick one up to campaign next year in the CMRA. I hate that the EBR caught such a bad rap. You really have to ride one to appreciate it. Yes, they can be finicky. But aren't all racebikes?

 

Good point. So, think of EBR as KTM in the 90s. In 2030, if EBR does what KTM did, I'll take them more seriously.

 

Good. I'll buy one and race ya. Then we'll reminisce about the good old days when bikes burned gas, tires were made of rubber, and men were men.

 

Deal. Just imagine how bold the Suzuki graphics will be by then? The Hondas still won't have TBW, and the Ducati middleweight bike will be a 3.7 liter.

 

What demographic is that? The squids who terrorize Asians in their SUV's?

 

Shutup.

 

Yeah, I mean, I understand they are pulling out all of the marketing tricks they can muster. But when you have to try to play the patriotic card, that is a reach.

 

Nope.

There are many bikes that you can roll right off the showroom floor and immediately be competitive, that aren't very finicky at all.

Granted, the bike I chose to race this year is one of the most finicky bikes in the history of finicky bikes, so there is always that. But the 1299S aside, you can grab a 2016 R1, ZX10, BMW, R6, 675R, ZX6R, etc and get really close to a Podium contending setup in the matter of just a couple/few practice sessions, even without any aftermarket parts in some cases.



...of course, this is assuming you are a 5%'er.

 

I'd like to have a 1190 SX. They are dirt cheap right now and I'm sure they would be a blast on the street. As long as you can keep you license.