Poor bike selection U.S.

A lot of the reason, that we are not getting the bikes the original poster asked about is because of this .....

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/roadbike.htm

If you want to either get sick or fall a sleep that is a good read :huh

It is simply about money, you cannot spend millions trying to satisfy the US government requirements for maybe 1000 bikes sold.

Back in the late 90's I had dinner and drinks with some big shots from a european car manufacturer. I had asked them about why they had put power windows on a special lightweight street legal track day car they were premiering. They told me that if they had put in manual windows it was enough of a change that they would have to re certify the car for the US market. Thats 3 cars for crash testing +all the other certifications required to sell here.

I think these two factors sum it up pretty well. There simply isn't enough market share for every model of adventure bike. As the cruiser group ages, and the price of fuel rises, people may become interested in other types of transportation. That will undoubtedly lead to more awareness of the adventure segment. We are seeing it now with all of the BMW, KTM, and Triumph offerings. There are some other offerings as well, but they seem to be mostly testing the waters.

I used to be (and maybe still am) a Honda nut. I am into reliability, and don't care about refinement. I got tired of waiting for them to produce a middleweight adventure bike, so I went elsewhere.

I'm in the process of adventurizing my Aprilia Dorsoduro 750. It doesn't have very much suspension travel, but it suits me fine. I'm almost done assembling the luggage kit, I've added an aluminum skid plate Ram1000 made, and changed the gearing.

Of coarse, Honda now comes out with the NC700. That's OK, because I don't think it would have suited me as well as the Aprilia anyway, and I still have my old XL600 for the tough trails.

Wow, think of the man (human) hours it took to research, compile data, defend, quality control all the information in the above page on "roadbike" restrictions by the EPA. This may be the most costly government funded agency to human kind. Still have "global warming"

Is that a '68 Camero behind your bike? Awesome!

In Australia many Government departments like sprouting the term "Worlds Best Practice".

Now in regards emissions and so forth someone then decides which major economic block has the "best" emissions standards. We align with that. End result is basically..Any engine sold there can be sold here.

Since we have no local motorbike industry to speak of no one gets their nose out of joint has has a fit to the local member. Therefore we get all kinds of stuff here. We basically can get anything that is sold over there.

Now occasionally someone has a whinge and then it's OK to sell anything that complies there or somewhere "equivalent".

Secondly because we are a bit slow on the uptake we also get some of the older models that are "left over". Good for choice but it can piss a few dealers off. The reason for all this is a top selling ADV bike is selling 300 odd a year so we either align / relax or no-one is interested.

Maybe everyone could just decide on one global standard.....

Oh yeah that global conspiracy thing..Sorry

Continue

A generation ago, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki flooded the U.S. with cheap, reliable, easy to service, practical motorcycles, which performed close enough or better than their higher dollar Euro counterparts.

In 2010, Ducati introduced the $20K Multistrada. Look at it's electronics, hp, suspension travel, and weight. Since then the Japanese have had 3 years to introduce their copy. But nothing from them compares. Anywhere, not just in the U.S.

The U.S. market demanded sport bikes and cruisers from Japan. Japan still has not recovered.

Maybe Im simple minded, but I really like my DR650. Tried the KLR and Ktm and Im luvin my DR.

Not simple minded. Just simple to please. That's a good thing.
I guess there are bikes not available that I would like. Check that. I KNOW there are bikes not available that I would like. How do I know?

I just like riding bikes. And although I always have a "favorite" at the time, (currently the S10 reins supreme for 18 month running) I enjoy them all. I love DR350's that have been tuned well with a pumper carb. I love RC51's. I even rented a big fat Harley for a weekend. It was a unique experience.

Having said all that, I do want to ride a Tenere 660. But I have to fly to GrahamD's island to do so. Might just do it someday too.

Yup. That was the first car my wife and I bought together in 1996, the year we were married. After using it as a daily driver for 8 years, she and I turned it into a pro touring car. She likes drifting, I prefer autocross.

I would be curious to know how many KLRs, DR650s, XRL650s, KTM690s etc are sold each year in the US.

I would imagine, with the exception of the KLR, that the big thumper market is peanuts.

I would agree. The number of KLR's I see is probably equal to all the XL/XR, DR, and XT's put together. All of those thumpers together are about 1/4 of how many BMW GS11XX I see. All of the GS bikes are about 1/4 of the number of HD cruisers I see.

So yes, peanuts in the eyes of the manufacturers. Now I see why Ducati made the Diavel (not that HD fans will give it the time of day).

Very nice. One of my best friends has a 1969 SS with the 396 big block. I built the roller motor he has in it. He fell on hard times and personal struggles years ago. He never sold it but just parked it in his dads field. Its just rusting away but he refuses to sell it to anyone.

The only time a HD guy has seen one is parked. It might be a case they got a good look when it was passing them.

Lack of adv bike? Europeans actually ride bikes for transportation. Not so much the squid factor or cruiser mentality. Very few riders actually really buy the big dollar trail bikes. Riders of Adv bike fall into very different catagories. There is no one bike fits all. Bikes that are road bikes capable of moderate trail riding like the Vstrom, Versys etc are actually how bikes are used and what most people buy. And every one of those has alot of buyers that want to lower them. Others want a true dirt bike that is street legal. another small market. what people think they want and what they buy are two very different things. We dream we will make that big trip but not enough of us do. Let's see how long we will get the Tenere before it fades away.

The best market right now in the US for adv bikes is the middle weights. Lots of BMW owners making the switch now that there are more choices. We will see how long it lasts. But the DR's, KLR's, and Wee will continue to be good sellers.

how many multistradas have sold again? and why, exactly, are bikes like the versys 650 and 1k not enough like a multistrada?

you're talking like the big four are hurting - they aren't.

Crazy to me they don't offer the KRL650 for sale over there??? Maybe there's not enough cheapskates in England?!! LOL

"I purchased a Glee (2012 DL650) because it offered the most of what I was looking for. If one of the three bikes mentioned in the middle class would have been available, that would have been my play. "


:huh




So you bought a bike that offered most everything, and you still whine about no selection.......Hell man ain't that what the aftermarket industry is for?

Nah. That makes too much damn sense for this thread.

I have noticed the lack of not just adv bikes but other more standard type bikes too. Just look at the uk sites for the big.four and you will see what I mean. I like the bikes that arent SS/RR or cruiser oriented and we don't have that many. That bring said I am really enjoying my wee...