The Powersports Industry & M/C Roadracing

ok I see I'll have to post the link about chain stretch here also. wow.

paragraph 2 sentence 3. come on guys, you're talking to a yamaha, suzuki, kawasaki and polaris trained tech. they call it stretched and do you honestly think they come pre-worn? https://www.denniskirk.com/ek-chain

 

Bro... Google up EK ZST chains..some of us remember stone and wooden wheels...

 

damn how old are you

 

Old enough to remember REAL Chain Stretch... before O-rings X-Rings

 

So funny

 

I’ve been a straight up die hard R1 fanboy since 98. I started saving the day I saw my first R1. Yamaha had a great year also having the all new YZ400f.
Then 2009 Then the crossplain came along, I loved the look still but wanted the raw aggressive inline 4 which I still like to this day. Then in 2015 they lost that R1 look I love. Now 2020 this all new BMW is just amazing In every way, looks awesome, the inline 4 must be amazing with 200 plus at the rear wheel. It’s the first bike I’ve ever found myself thinking I’d just love to have over the newest R1. I’m really hoping Yamaha brings an all new 200 plus at the rear wheel R1. Don’t get me wrong the 15 plus R1 is awesome but this beemer, WOW!! Even looks awesome. I hated that old bmw look this one rocks.

 

I don’t understand.....
I’m a chump, I survived solely on flat rate from 1985-2005. Fact is I have never had a job where I was paid salary or hourly, so explain to me again how I don’t understand flat rate....
I get it, you are slow. Takes you a solid week to adjust the valves on a GSXR50.
Just because you are slow doesn’t mean everyone is.
Are the flare rate times always dead on? Nope almost never. But a good tech can normally be pretty close.

As far as chain stretch goes, just because the Jinglish some manufacturers use calls it that doesn’t make it so. Stretch and wear are two very different things....

 

Agreed.

A good warranty clerk can get diagnostic time paid.

Warranty flat rates can be reviewed and adjusted through a few manufacturers as well.

 

This is just a race to the bottom. Doing more work for less money in order to be "competitive". And then there's the whole "stock more tires and slash your margins" advice. Good laughs all 'round.

 

I don't really want to get into a "you're out of your depth" discussion with a few of your grey haireds that made the "millennial" complaint in here... but you're out of your depth and don't understand economics if that's one of your core arguments and you should stop. Motorsports (cars) people try miserably to make the same point and they all fail, because its baseless and stupid. This myth that millennials don't like motorbikes or race cars or racing is a fallacy. What's not a fallacy is that real wage growth has been stagnant for 40 years, and since I got into actually riding motorbikes say 18-20 years ago, the cost of a new sportbike has about doubled, in a general sense.

When the average millennial salary (which a new study just came out last week on) is hovering around $32k a year, I'd bet you'd find people hard pressed to go out and spend $12-18k on a motorbike which is still considered a toy or secondary vehicle. What you gonna blame lack of wanting to go to the track on... avacado toast? Yea... its the $10 brunch that's really holding people back from going to the track a dozen times a year at $1k a pop. People are worried about rent, food, their job, student debt, healthcare... and you're blaming them for not wanting to support your hobby industry because "they can't even drive stick and they're soft?" psshhh...

Not to mention the focus on small cruisers or cafe bikes being "hip" currently and the fact that you can pick up an old Sportster or XS650 to chop up for $2k and with a little cutting/welding/paint, be on your way. You guys are dillusional on this point of contention and have lost your damn mind. I make SUBSTANTIALLY MORE than that amount of money, and have no student debt, and no kids... I don't want to go out and buy a new sportbike, not even in the slightest. Maybe try and figure out why that is, instead of "young people don't like racing." Its tired.

 

https://mashable.com/2017/07/31/things-millennials-have-killed/

4. Motorcycles

 

That’s some mindless shit, right there. Haha.

 

Sounds like you are part of the problem then, millennial.

 

Old dudes whining like babies about millennials and calling anyone they disagree with a snowflake is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

For the record I’m 43, before any members of the super fucking hard cell phone belt clip and jorts crowd gets their feelings hurt.

 

I don't see a problem and equally don't care about the perceived problem haha. I'm playing with engines that are 20-30 years old and make bee noises here haha.

I'd also just as soon go buy some "dumb boomer's" financial mistake for a steal... like the 15' Dragster RR with aftermarket exhaust and 500 miles on it for $10k I just saw today, when a new one is $19k + tax + aftermarket stuffs. This is an industry full of idiots and toys, which is a uniquely dangerous combination.

Ignoring the income problem for a second... this is an industry where for most people, the changes between 2008 and 2019 to sportbikes or naked sports are negligible in all categories besides the toppest of the top tier model. That means there's a decade's worth of bikes out there that will pretty much fit the bill for most people. This is also an industry, where there's a rare combination of "these are things a lot of people buy on a whim and also, these are often one of the first things to go upon a major life event/upheaval." Marriage, kids, sickness, new house, moving, new job, lost your job, divorce, kids in college, etc... a bike is often the first thing to go for people having any of those events. Couple those 2 things together and you get a never ending supply of second hand deals.

Shit man... my last 2 street bikes... I got my 02' R6 in 05' with 13k miles on it and a clean title/exhaust/jet kit/damper for $2500. I was literally sitting outside a Starbucks with a group of friends, about to go buy a CB750 and my buddy says he doesn't want his R6 any more. I say I got $2500 in my pocket right now, and he took it on the spot. Rode it for another 45k miles before a dumb guy in traffic totaled it and all I did was routine maintenance. My 07' Speed Triple had like $5k worth of stuff on it when I bought it in 09' with 4k miles on it. Dude had it on Craigslist for a month or two with no luck, and I kept seeing it repost and him drop like $1500 off his original price. It start sounding like he was desperate. I hit him up and offered him $1200 lower than THAT, and that I would come get it that day. Well below market value at this point. He took it. That happens weekly around this country without fail, especially in winter. Why would anyone care about going into a store and buying a new sportbike if that's readily available to people, unless you just HAD to have the new hot shit and had a dickload of money to where you didn't care?

Can I also just point out the hypocrisy in this thread about complaining that millennials don't want to do any hard work or roll up their sleeves and in the same breath then complaining that nobody needs a local shop for anything any more? Which is it... are people fixing their own shit and when they don't, that's bad and they're lazy/useless? Or should people not be fixing their own shit and giving somebody else money?

 

Can we all at least agree that for the most part, millennials are a bunch of pussies?

 

You forgot:

 

Nah, I was thinking more the all white leather New Balance kicks.

 

Sweaty has a point with the improvement of bikes from say mid-2000s to current. For a race application? Sure, there's worthwhile shit there. But for a street rider it just aint there. I remember when the sportbikes that EVERYONE wanted were huge and had carbs (900rr, FZR1000, etc) the jump from those bikes to a first gen R1,GSXR1k, CBR929, etc was enormous. Night and day shit, even for a street rider. That spurs people to buy. I doubt very much that a street rider is going to feel like he needs to sell his 2007 ZX10r to get a new ZX10 so he can have wheelie control, launch control and 3 rider modes. And another fucking payment, and higher insurance costs. This is where I think Ducati/Triumph/Aprilia/KTM are killing it. they make new, interesting shit that is markedly different than previous offerings and is a unique riding experience. The big four just keep churning out the same shit at higher costs and wonder why 22 year olds aren't buying $12,000 600s. Actually I wouldn't lump Yamaha in there either, the FZ line is cool and the cross plane R1 was a pretty big change.