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Buell Motorcycle Forum » Quick Board Archives » Archive through February 02, 2004 » Your opinion on the sales figures just released. « Previous Next »

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Archive through January 23, 2004Dynarider30 01-23-04  01:11 pm
Archive through January 26, 2004Nevco130 01-26-04  01:29 pm
Archive through January 27, 2004José_quiñones30 01-27-04  09:29 pm
         

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José_quiñones
Posted on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 09:34 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Over at Racingmotorcycles.com, their kit is "only" $1,300

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Sportsman
Posted on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 10:06 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Sorry to hear about Hal's. Never said I was right, but I'm thinkin', or at least trying to.
Dyna, that's my point. Get something out there other than the occasional guy. More is better, I've felt like a celebrety just cause so many people are curious. I'm pushing 50 and know my limitations, to say I'm halffast is an overstatement, but it's fun so I go. But running them is no cheap thrill. Something half way ready to go might help get more out there. The tuber I run now came used from a real race shop. It still, was a whole lot cheaper than building one. I don't know, maybe their whole point is to be Ducati'ish elete. Wrong path IMHO.
Maybe the whole problem stems from 2 marques and should be all HD. Buell could become Sportster and Sportster could become XLFR or something. But I still want a cheap XB1350RR.
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Sportsman
Posted on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - 10:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Gosh Jose', only $3,278 for carbon and the swingarm from Richard, before you get into suspension or the motor and you got a compettitive bike! That is a good price for the swingarm though. But that is my point. Racers are mostly younger. Mostly broke. To spend 10-11K then $1300 for the swingarm + $560 for the front,$155 for the pan,add a race kit which is bare minimum, makes a R6 look pretty good.
What we got here is a sportbike that you can't really race.
PS: Thanks for finding the cheap swingarm!
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José_quiñones
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 10:14 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)


quote:

To spend 10-11K then $1300 for the swingarm + $560 for the front,$155 for the pan,add a race kit which is bare minimum, makes a R6 look pretty good.




Especially after Scott Greenwood wins the FUSA Sportbike championship on a "salvage" title R6 and R6's wins the AMA Supersport title and also finishes second.


edited by josé_quiñones on January 28, 2004
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Cj_xb
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 10:39 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Is there anyone besides Jerry & Tom left???

Uummmm, me do I count ??

CJ : )
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Nevco1
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 10:47 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Sportsman...Hal's is actually doing fine and the only HD/BMC dealer in town that I will allow to work on my X1. There service department and performance shop are top shelf all the way.

In September, the owner made the announcement that he was looking for just the right person to fill the position. With winter coming, it didn't make much sense to incur the overhead of a new person. Plus, it gives time to see if there is someone that can be promoted from within.

With the spring selling season coming soon, I would suspect that a knowledgeable and enthusiastic individual will be appointed to fill the position.
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Blake
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 01:56 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

"But racing a Buell is expensive, especially considering that your first $1600-2500 will be spent converting the bike to a chain drive."
That is nothing, truly a mere pittance in the budget of any serious road racer. A racer dissuaded by that paltry one-time investment in his machine was never serious about racing a motorcycle, especially in AMA professional events. Consider how much a racer will spend on just travel and tires in a season.

At the club level you have a point. But the R6 is a middleweight. The XB's are classed as lightweights. So you might want to compare the cost of racing a Buell versus an SV650.

If the XB9R proves superior to the SV650/700 machines, will we see serious racers in the CCS/FUSA LW classes pick up on Buell in a hurry? Serious racers want the most competitive machine, period. Unless they are tied to a business (own a Suzuki dealership), they are usually willing to spend a few thousand more in initial investment for a better shot at competing successfully in their preferred class. Remind me... What new 2003 model bike won last year's CCS LW Superbike national championship?

As to AMAPR FX... How much do you think Yamaha or Honda teams will be spending to achieve their claimed 140+ RWHP performance? Will that be significantly less than what a Buell racer will spend to achieve comparable performance? I doubt it.

To hold up the AMAPR SS champion Yamaha factory team as an example in a discussion about the low costs of racing an R6 is perplexing. Care to venture what the annual budget of the Yamaha Supersport Team is? How about the FUSA Sportbike champion? How much was his season budget?

A salvage title only means the bike was totalled by an insurance company. Racing a salvage titled machine is certainly not uncommon. The plastic all gets replaced anyway, as do the pegs, and levers (rearsets); at Japanese OEM parts prices, it doesn't take much to total a newish R6 or any Japanese repliracer for that matter. Mere cosmetic damage and a few broken bits here and there will do it.

As far as club racing is concerned, take a used XB9R, slap on a race kit, head to the track, tune your suspension, and commence racing competitively against worked over SV650s.

You don't need a new swing arm. The team at Trojan didn't use an adjustable swingarm in their championship winning effort, did they? You want chain drive?... All you need is an assortment of compatibly sized sprockets (front, rear, and idler/tension). You don't even NEED a chain kit. It doesn't get much cheaper to field a machine that will be instantly competitive in its class. Compare that to the cost required to field an 80 RWHP SV with a decent suspension and you are closer to an honest evaluation of the relative investments required to race a Buell versus its competition on the track. And in the end, which bike is more competitive in the LW classes? Save your money for fresh racing rubber.

Really though, serious motorcycle road racing is not a sport for the financially challenged. Sure there are a few guys, me included, who just scrape by at the club level. They are rarely in contention for a major series championship and rarely make any positive impression upon prospective sport bike customers.

Note: I just called my local Triumph dealer. They have seen nothing related to the week old press release concerning special deals on the Daytona 600 for licensed road racers. They are selling the machines at their $7,699 list price. I'll check back again next week. Strange that the Triumph press release didn't come out and simply say what exactly the offered discount would be. That is a great marketing idea though. Last year we had four Buells racing in the CMRA; we didn't have any Triumphs.
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Henrik
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 02:35 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

How to make a small fortune???
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Start with a big fortune and go racing : )

Henrik
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Sarodude
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 04:01 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

The only inexpensive form of racing I can think of is Bench racing. Even then, some joker will find a way to elevate those costs...

-Saro
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Mikej
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 04:19 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Lubrication is always expensive, bench or track, costs are costs. ; )
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José_quiñones
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 05:37 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

So XB's should be grouped with and compete with SV's? I thought you wanted them to race against the 600's in AMA Supersport?

If if was less expensive to field a competitive Buell team there would be more Buell teams than SV teams at the FUSA/CCS/WERA level. The opposite is true.

Are you forgetting the price of the bike that you are racing? RRW just did the writeup, I'm sure you have read it, on how Steve Atlas got his SV ready for the Suzuki cup. If you add the MSRP cost of the SV + the stuff he put on it it would still be less than the MSRP of a STOCK XB12R!

Add to that the much greater contingency money available from Suzuki, the year end Suzuki Cup event, and MUCH more aftermarket support and the choice is pretty easy for someone that wants to start racing on a popular, well supported and competitive platform.

However, both would be more expensive to field competitively than any current 600cc IL4 if they were all to race in the same class, Formula Extreme for example.
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José_quiñones
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 05:41 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)


quote:

What new 2003 model bike won last year's CCS LW Superbike national championship?




I'm sure a heck of a lot more people know what new 2003 model bike won the Junior TT class at the Isle of Man last year than who won the CCS LW Superbike.



edited by josé_quiñones on January 28, 2004
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Sportsman
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 09:13 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

ROC LWsuperbike at Daytona was won by Jeff Harding on an XB. Believe me it wasn't belt drive. That team races the right way with the right stuff. Jeff's dedicated and been racing like, forever and he deserved it. But it sure as heck didn't come cheap. (Corning NY residents, go buy something at Harding HD.)
Around here, SV's dominate the CCS LW classes. I can run with most of em' but they are not run by Suzuki dealers. It's regular guys with varried jobs. Most Buell riders are HD employees or associates.
WERA runs 1200cc Buells against 600's. Kinda tough for a weekend warrior.
Blake, you race, at the track in the level you run, in practice you pullin away from 600's? Out of the box they go. SV's take a little work, but they'll go. XB's are great and it wouldn't kill em to let the public see it on a local level. Think RRRRRR.
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Sportsman
Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - 09:33 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

And who's Trojan racing?
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José_quiñones
Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 03:33 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Funding Approved: Ciccotto, Barnes Will Race Buell XB1350Rs In AMA Formula Xtreme
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Turnagain
Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 04:39 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

thanks José. funny -- I was just gonna ask, yesterday, if anyone had heard anything about what Mike mentioned at Summit Point. Hopefully they'll do good, as they'll have big time competition.

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Sportsman
Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 07:42 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Woah! that looks like everbody that's serious about it. Wish they had included brands.
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Elvis
Posted on Monday, February 02, 2004 - 03:38 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Buell production didn't meet projections for 2003. Overall the numbers were a bit disappointing . . . BUT consider the following number of V-Twin Buells shipped:

2000 - 5043
2001 - 6436
2002 - 6887
2003 - 8784

Blast shipments were down. One source indicated this was primarily due to a supplier issue. Buell shipped more V-Twins in 2003 than they ever have before.

No, they didn't sell 20,000 bikes, but they had a solid year, and the XB's are clearly showing themselves to be the most popular bikes they've ever made.
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