How to make the 600 Honda Faster?

How many of the clueless squids even know the difference between GP and AMA?

 

A few months ago I was at an independent bike shop and a guy stops by with a brand new R1 and his buddy had a one yr old GSXR1000. I asked him what made him pick the R1 over all the other open bikes. He said, "honestly, they were the ones that could get me financed".

 

My tire guy is a friend with a No-Mar. I bring him beer and help change them. He doesn't seem to mind the grime.

 

A few years ago when we were trying to decide what brand to run the WERA Nationals with, a highly respected AMA/Moto2 tuner told me, "why spend $5K on a Honda when I can get the same results with $500 with a Yamaha??"

We were very happy with the Hondas at the club level, even turning in some very respectable lap times...I think those 2 years on the CBR just made him all the faster when he got on the R6. JMO

 

Yamaha saying superbike champion in there ads is what is selling bikes. These street guys dont know that there talking about ama. They think there just talking about the magazines saying its the best so they go out and but it thinking they have top dog not even knowing.

I would bet you over 50% of street riders couldnt name 5 riders in ama.

 

Same reason my room mates boyfriend has a harley and stares intently at my CBR's in the garage.

 

Ducati sold a ton of 848's a few years ago because of this. There were lots of guys who got turned down by finance companies on Japanese bikes but were able to get loans on the Ducs. To this day, if I see a guy on an 848 the first thing that pops into my mind is "low FICO score"

 

question for the people that know bike sales...are there more hayabusas vs any specific literbike (not all of them, as that would be lopsided) or the opposite?

The reason I ask is because of brand recognition. Almost everyone I know who knows anything about sportbikes know about busas...even though it is not a sportbike.

 

I don't have numbers but I don't think so. It's just that the 'busa is so well known as "the fastest motorcycle on the planet". And while it may not technically be a sportbike, for the unwashed masses, anything with a full fairing is a sportbike, or more often, crotchrocket/ricerocket/ninja/etc.

 

Bullet Bike.

Or my all-time fav via phone with insurance lady for a Virago "Is that one of them lay-down bikes?"

 

Couldn't be the wave of rebates they constantly put on their bikes, could it?

I'm not saying there isn't going to be those people that see the advertising, but they see the Monster girls in those ads before they understand the sales pitch.

There just aren't as many people that are buying that bike that are even watching racing let alone of being capable of lining up the ad campaign and the AMA SB Championship. Love Josh to death. Think he's a common name amongst the people that buy that bike? "I wanna be like Josh".... Yeah, right.

Again, back with the RC deal and the fact that the OEMs had more marketing budgets. They advertised the shit out of that guy. Fox did also. Berrick even... He was the poster child and you couldn't pick up a magazine without seeing him numerous times in print ads. CR/CRF sales didn't take off. And when he moved to Suzuki? Not much more gain...

You can tell yourself that the small number of people your wife's shop handles in comparison to the national numbers and feel it has to do with racing, but it really isn't the main reason...

 

Again, they are validating the brand. They use the one and only championship they are dominant in to promote that Yamaha still matters. They are showing they are still the brand here and why you should consider the R1. They use the R6 a ton also.

The fact is simple. Look at now. 3.99% and $500-$750 cash back is what is selling the bikes. Not Josh Hayes...

 

I can tell you 2013 numbers. The Busa had 4 versions in 2013. Total of all 4 was 500+ units behind the R1 units. That was down from 2012 where they sold much more, but still down 600+ amongst 2 versions vs. the R1.

Yamaha in comparison sold almost 700 LESS 2013 vs 2012s for the R1.

And it is shown through tracking that Yamaha had some serious incentives especially in QTR 3-4. Happens every year.

Now, since we are talking sportbikes, the bike that did win a championship and was dominating the 600 class, but isn't as advertised, the R6 was at 1600 MORE units vs. the R1 for 2013 which was UP over 2012. The next closest was Honda's 600 at just about 500 units behind. So, I don't buy the win on Sunday, sell on Monday...

Incentives sell bikes. Racing validates and helps develop brands.

 

...then that might be the most factual statement ever written on the BBS. Crazy!

 

Eh, I live it everyday. It's easy to sit back and watch from the outside, but when you live inside the world we are talking, you see it a little different. As you well know.:up:

I'd love for the idea of win on Sunday sell on Monday, but it just isn't that way.

 

Is it possible for you to have a conversation, without acting like a huge surface-to-air douchemissle?


Im not "telling myself" shit. Truth be told, I couldn't give less of a fuck why they are selling bikes. And I am sure the rebates and special financing is part of it. However, as others in this thread and other threads on this subject have also stated, Yamaha's marketing scheme and how they push the "Superbike Champion R1" has a lot to do with it.

 

.............which also helps them sell bikes.

 

Uh... You act like you always have the answers, too man. All I was implying was that the incentives sell bikes. Maybe I should have used the smilie emoticon? Dunno...

The wife shop comment was that no matter how large a shop she works at, I can promise you that the amount of people she sees is small vs. the actual number of riders/buyers in the market. There were well over 300k units sold in the US on road over 500cc. How many did her shop retail total? That was my point. That small % means that what she hears in the shop is minimal vs. the total.

And, while others have stated it is their opinion that Superbike Championships sell bikes, I didn't say it by no means does nothing. I was implying that it is very small in why. Racing isn't selling bikes. If it were, Honda would push mass money into racing. So would everyone else.

If racing was the biggest reason for the R1 sales and R6 sales, all the OEM would follow suit. Honda isn't around. Kawasaki is completely gone. Suzuki is barely around. All four brands fight for the same top honors for retails. I can promise you that if racing was the key ingredient, they would be here.

Marketing includes the racing side of things. Marketing budgets have been cut for a reason... But, even with cuts, they focus on the same things and each follow similar patterns of incentives for sales. Think Honda actually believes that racing sells bikes over what they are doing now? Remember, the Honda CBR600RR sold only 500 less units than the R6. They are saving how much by not racing in the AMA?

Look, validating your brand and developing motorcycles helps sell them. I haven't said otherwise. But, it is trivial. Racing is something the OEMs need to be a part of to maintain their awareness within the sport and the viewership of fans. People do tend to support the OEMs that are out and about. But, I can say with confidence that CURRENTLY, a brand gets more out of doing demos events, sales incentives, promos, etc than they get from racing. But, when you have thousands of viewers and attendees at these races, you want to target them also. Losing them is smaller than what you are actually getting in the other areas, but losing anything these days can hurt.

But, Suzuki is still here. They are still a recognized and rooted for brand in racing. In fact, they are still very strongly recognized in MX/SX. But, they are the lowest performing brand of the four and have recorded tons of losses. How are they gaining sales? They buy them. We say "Buy them" because they are the OEM that does the most aggressive sales rebates and incentives. But, they are still losing market share. It isn't because Mladin and Spies and MotoGP are gone. It is a lot deeper than that...

Dunno. I guess I am banging my head against a brick wall. And before you go and say that I cannot ever be wrong, the point I am trying to make here is that while this is a great racing forum, it is a very small spec in the total number of motorcycle owners in this country. We are focused on racing here and I love that. And trust me, I am really bummed the company I work for isn't in racing right now here in the country. But, I also realize that what is going on to sell bikes isn't racing. It's the other things. I am just trying to point out that YOU ARE CORRECT. Racing will help sell motorcycles. But the amount it helps is so very small. So very small...