[sarnali]

Re: The Might Pinto

That's what it was, even had the searchlight and shotgun rack. Little holes all over the interior where they ripped out the cage across the back of the front seat and the radio and what-not

That sum-***** was fast. it had the po-lice 440 intercepter motor, 4160 Holly carb, posi-trac, factory duel exhaust and skinny little bald tires. We'd hit the parking lots in the rain with a couple of quarts of beer and a little 'lumbo and do do-nuts till we heard si-reens in the distance then haul ass. One time my dog had enough and jumped out the back window, so we had to go catch him before the cops got there. I kept the window up after that!

That was the first car I bought when I got out, I was free, white and 21, man. Paid $300. for it drove it for about a year till the timing chain broke, then sold it to the junk yard for $150. What a kick in the ass.

 

[13630]

Re: But what about the future?

That isn't a particularly new issue- there've been regulations on car stereos now for over five years. They must be now figuring out they can do the same thing to motorcycles.

 

[grover750]

CRF....

"Within the last two years they've done nothing but way overproduce and then discount every single bike they make."

I can only speak from my experience, but there are NO CRF450s or CRF 250s available in the dealerships in the Minneapolis south metro area in Minnesota. I have'nt seen a 450 in a dealership for months. They fly out the door at MSRP, which, I believe, is $6799.

$6799 for a 225 lb. dirt bike that any joe schmoe could disassemble and reassemble in his garage in a day. That's a lot of money!

I would bet they are making money on dirt bikes, cruisers, and the gold wings, and losing on the sport bikes.

"nothing but way overproduce and discount every single bike" - Hardly.

Since this is not a Honda thread, it's a HD thread, let me pass on my congrats to HD. I was one of the many who thought that they would make less money (still a lot, but less) in 2004 than 2003, due to a potential let down after the 100th anniversary stuff. I was wrong, the H-train rolls on. Good for them.

 

[13630]

Re: CRF....

That may be the case in your area, but there's plenty of CRF450Rs to be had here in SoCal. Several of the big stores (Bert's, for example) still has '03's left over, and Honda's already intro'd '05s. And they can't give away their two-strokes, largely because they're junk compared to the other bikes out there by Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha.

Besides, that's two models out of about 80.

Honda may make money on GoldWings, but their dealers sure don't. Most can't sell one for within $1000 of MSRP.

 

[longride]

Re: small potato's

That's all you had to say. I don't know. I'm happy for Triumph. I owned two. Never twisted my knickers. I just asked a question. I thought maybe he knew the answer.

 

[grover750]

Wings in Junk Yards? Huh?

I have a '78 with 85k miles on it. I live near a big junk yard (biggest in MN, anyway), SportWheels in Jordan, MN. They easily have 5000+ junked bikes.

How many wings? Exactly one, a completely picked over GL1000. I wish GL's would end up in the junkyard once in a while, just in case someday I need a part. Thank god for ebay.

Still waiting for my GL to break...maybe I'll take it from MN to Alaska and back (through Arizona) with my wife and camping gear on back again....then if it's broken I'll take it to the junk yard, just like you predicted.

By the way, I saw tons of bikes on the Alaskan Highway (bumblebeemers everywhere), but not a single late '70's Harley. I wonder why. Since they were not being ridden, and obviously are not in the junkyards, where are they?

Of course, since I was on a Honda, there was no "emotional" aspect to my trip. I must have really missed out on that one. If only I had spent $17k on my bike instead of $950, then I really would have enjoyed the trip.

 

[32977]

Info re: Japanese companies IS available

This information generally is available in foreign issuers' Forms 6-K. Here is Honda's filed with the SEC on 7/9/04 showing a 7.1% decrease in total (Japan and export) motorcycle sales. You also can find this information free at the SEC's EDGAR database.

http://www.hoovers.com/free/co/secdoc.xhtml?ipage=2884297&doc=0&attach=on

 

[sarnali]

Re: small potato's

Oh c'mon now they were twisted, we could tell by your tone of voice........

 

[longride]

Re: Wings in Junk Yards? Huh?

I got pictures from a website that has the whole story of a guy riding his Shovelhead to Alaska last year. Maybe you missed him. Dave Barr took his Shovelhead 85,000 miles around the world. Maybe you missed him too. If the bike is so good, why did you pay only 950 bucks for it? You live near the biggest junkyard in Minnesota? Would that be anywhere close in size to the smallest junkyard in Chicago? More people live in Chicago than your whole state. That would hardly qualify you as an expert on junk, other than riding a 950 buck Wing. And yes, your Wing will end up in the junkyard, as I predicted, and my Shovelhead won't, as I predicted. Thanks for proving my points for me. You could have just said "You're right".

 

[kpaul]

There you go again

"Harley far outsells them in streetbikes." Huh? I don't think so . Prove it.

 

[Winger4Life]

Re: Honda bulletproof?

outside of Philly. I do ride in the winter a bit, but they ***** the roads all up with cinders and salt once we get our first snow, so it makes corners kinda scary after that.

 

[Winger4Life]

lol. You just don't get it, do you?

 

[Winger4Life]

Re: Hawgs

shortride, you really need to get laid or something. All's I said is that Harley has to be to most successful marketing company in the world. You take that as an insult? I never said Honda does not market thier products. Where did you come up with that from?

I am not a wrencher, so if i have a problem, sure, I will take it to the dealer. Will I have my current Wing forever? Probably not. I would like to own some other bikes before I die. Right now, I wouldn't mind that Rocket III, a used Valk (or hopefully they will make a new one), i even like that new Softail Deluxe.

LOL. Right...no one likes Wings.

 

[Winger4Life]

Re: Wings in Junk Yards? Huh?

He only went around the world once? A few months ago I remember reading about a guy who had just completed his fourth trip around the world on a Gold Wing.

 

[Winger4Life]

Re: Hawgs

huh?

 

[Winger4Life]

Re: Hawgs

Thought? I looked at the K1200LT, Gold Wing, and Electra Glide. The Wing offered better all-around performance than either of those bikes, and I liked the styling better too. For what you get, the BMW and HD are way over-priced in my opinion....you are paying to have that BMW logo or the HD logo.

See, I don't care what name is on my bike...I care about the bike. To me, the Wing is the better bike. A lot of people have to have that HD name on their bike, no matter what. That is called Branding, which is directly related to Marketing. Kinda like in the 80's when you had those little animals on your shirts. Izod had the alligator, Sears had a Dragon and JC Penny had a Fox.

You wanted to wear the Alligator to show off.

 

[longride]

Re: Wings in Junk Yards? Huh?

What you didn't know is, the first 3 Wings are in the junkyard! LOL

 

[Winger4Life]

Re: Honda bulletproof?

Harley Davidson

 

[oldtim]

Re: Notice Buell is NOT listed...

Yamaha is introducing the MT-01 (the V-twin sport bike-show bike of a year ago) that will probably take a big bite out of Buel sales if they decide to bring it here. (Europe only in 2005)

 

[grover750]

Re: CRF....

Agree on Honda's two strokes. They are a couple of design cycles behind, looks like they are putting the R&D bucks in the CRF's.

Maybe I could Greyhound it out to SoCal, get an '03 CRF450 (to replace my '97 CR250, which I can now race in the vintage class in Wisconsin!) for under $5k, and ride it home in the interstate medians. Anyone tried this?

As for the Dealers vs. the corporation making money, this whole thread is about the corporations, not the dealers. Honda is making money on the wings, they are a great bike, regardless of the minor design flaws.

(Yes, I consider them minor, this argument is a dead horse, let's not start it again)