OtherMakes.net

Every year around this time anticipation of the new crop of motorcycles starts to build. Will Honda bring out the Xaxis concept bike? Will Suzuki update the V-Strom? Will Kawasaki update the KLR? Please tell me we will be blown away by at least one new model!

We know the most likely answer. “No”. Or, “not in this country”. But the next remarkable motorcycle will come. Just not from Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki or Suzuki. To understand why you need to understand the mentality of big companies. They have conducted endless studies and they know what sells. Small, safe, incremental changes to motorcycles (sometimes only graphics) allow the most return on initial investment of designing the motorcycle. This is a very smart way to optimize revenue. To introduce a new model takes a lot of money. Money they would rather spend on conventional advertising or on return to the shareholders.

Considering all this it is unlikely the “Big 4″ will ever gives us a jaw dropping motorcycle in the near future. But I don’t think all is lost. I bet we will see a remarkable motorcycle in the very near future. This motorcycle will not come from Japan, it will come from China, Taiwan or South Korea.

Lets look at Hyosung Motors for example. This year they introduced the GV650 Avitar. Also known as the Aquila in other countries. This bike combines the looks of a Harley VRod and the Yamaha/Star Warrior with the heart of an SV650. The result is a bike that no one else makes. A $6100 (USD) sport cruiser. No doubt necks will be snapping when you ride by on this unique machine. It’s a fun bike to ride too.

Another good example is the 250cc Kymco Venox. It is a cruiser made by Kymco, a Taiwanese company. It looks more like a middle weight cruiser than a beginner bike. Owners can learn on it an continue to ride it longer than a Honda Rebel. How long has the Honda Rebel been unchanged? Don’t get me started.

I have to admit KTM and BMW have some cool models this year too.  Can’t wait to see the Big 4 sweat.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 28th, 2006 at 2:32 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.