[blitz]

Whoo hooo! First post. Score!



Funny how my 1978 CX 500 loses its CDI box the

day before this is announced. Funnier still is that

Honda gets $400 for a CDI box. Even funnier than that is that you can build your own

CDI box for $11 worth of parts, an hour's time, and a circuitboard kit.



Boy, how does Honda do it?

I guess 4000% profit is better than none.

 

[Buzglyd]

The old saying

You think Harleys are expensive, try dropping a Honda.

 

[13630]

Interesting. My understanding is that Honda car sales are doing very well. I doubt that their power equipment sales have a big impact on their overall business. I wonder if their motorcycle sales are dropping off?

 

[13630]

Never mind- missed that paragraph in the release.

 

[nokneedragin]

A 25 year old CDI fimally goes pop, and Honda had a CDI available, that was stored in a warehouse for 25 years, a building that needed maintenance for 25 years, have an inventory system that kept track of the CDI, employ people to keep track of the inventory, and people wonder whay a OEM part for a 25 year old bike cost alot?

 

[sarnali]

Notice the drop in R & D costs. That's because they're using air-cooled pushrod twin engines in their biggest sellers.

The R & D costs on those was paid for 70 years ago on knuckleheads.

 

[fizzchem]

Re: Superb

Thank you for explaining the cost of overhead to the dunderhead.

 

[fizzchem]

Which bikes does Honda sell that air-cooled pushrod twins?

 

[sarnali]

Re:that applies up to a point

They also used the warehouse to store other parts.

The cost for the CDI manufacture would have been incured in '78 when the production run for that part started. Storage for those particular parts would have decreased over the 25yr period as inventory was used up and any space freed up would go to store other parts. Also by using that CDI on a number of different models, if possible, they could further maximize profit. The cost of tracking one particular part out of all their inventory would be next to impossible to figure.

While it's great that you can still buy parts for 25 y.o. Japanese bikes, $400. is alot of money for a part that could sell for $50, bucks and still turn a profit. Japanese makers habit of constant design change, exclusive parts for each individual model and sole-source manufacturing add a great deal to their cost/profit structure.

 

[sarnali]

Aren't some of their cruiser models pushrod twins? I admit I pay no attention to cruisers but I was under the impression that some of their models were. I may be wrong.

 

[11158]

Some hondas may be push rod twins, but they are water pumpers. I'm not sure if Honda is currently selling any air cooled street bikes in the US.

 

[cybris]

Honda does not sell any pushrod motorcycles in the u.s.. However they do have two air cooled bikes the nighthawks.

 

[seruzawa]

Re: Superb

Wow! I never knew there were so many consumers who are so willing to help corporations rip them off.

Seriously, I can get parts for my old '67 Ford pick up for about the same that parts for a new trcuk would cost, maybe less. A 4000% markup is still a ripoff no matter how you look at it.

Actually, one of the things that contributes a lot to the cost of import parts in the US is the tariffs charged on those parts. Domestic manufacturers can buy the same parts at a fraction of what we pay for them. That's another reason that the Japanese have opened plants in the U.S.

 

[seruzawa]

It's Yammerhammer that's ripping of the knucklehead tech with the RoadStar series.

 

[3522]

The Shadow series are all SOHC, liquid cooled v-twins. Even the Rebel is a SOHC air cooled twin. Although they may not be as high-tech as their sportbike cousins, a SOHC, three-valve, liquid-cooled motorcycle engine is hardly "low-tech."

 

[BBD_Racing]

It's always way more expensive to buy parts than a whole machine. Building a new CBR from parts would cost >$30K and a cheapo car would probably be worse yet.



Still, one can pay far less than msrp. I find Western Honda and Bike Bandit undercut my local dimwit dealer by half. Of course, you don't get that great customer service and knowledge that your local dealer provides. But then again, local dealers rarely carry parts or knowledge, so forget that last item.

 

[blitz]

Re: Superb

Dunderhead? Do you *really* think Honda built a supply of CDI boxes 25 years ago knowing that just about every CX 500 made with its CDI system would suffer from a CDI failure? Wrong. Honda, just like any competent corporation, keeps track of parts failures, estimates how many are going to fail, and contracts with its suppliers (Hitachi in this case) to make enough over time to meet the demand. Honda knows they have you over a barrel in this situation, and charges accordingly.

Given the fact that problems with the CDI boxes are well documented, Honda has to build a reasonable annual volume. I paid $10 for the parts in the CDI, and that is buying in quantity one. Even if it did cost Honda $20 to purchase these in volume from Hitachi (which it doesn't), a profit margin of 2000% seems a bit steep.

BTW, I built my own replacement and a three spares for $40. My $400 bike lives on.

 

[sarnali]

Re: never mind.

Apparently I was mistaken. I knew Yamaha had an a/c pushrod twin, I thought Honda did as well,

my bad.

 

[43093]

Yep, Those knuckleheads must have cost some real serious R&D. Yamaha is stealing Harley Tech. Now that's funny!

 

[F451]

Well, if they keep laying two-tire-turds (TTT) such as the Rune (otherwise called the Goose-Gutted-Goldwing (GGG)) then maybe there is a reason for their downturn.



Hey MO when are you doing a review of the TTT or GGG?