02-19-2014, 07:37 AM
(02-19-2014, 07:00 AM)calamarichris_imp Wrote:(02-19-2014, 03:55 AM)Red Mist_imp Wrote: It's been queried a few times around these parts as to why any manufacturer would build quality into a motorcycle, seeing as how most owners (me included) never keep them beyond 50,000 miles.
The answer to that is quite simple. The used bike market. Any marque whose bikes fall apart or become unreliable at 50K miles is going to suffer a bad reputation for reliability and durability.
The used bike market is very strong, and in fact, used bike sales have been stronger in recent years ("it's the economy, stoopid" is the usual reason) than have new bike sales.
This thread got me thinking about it:
http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2132
7 grand for the same bike most of us paid over 10 grand for? That is not stoopid. There are a lot of sharp operators who profit from folks like me and Ferret, who off nearly new bikes in perfect condition (yes, I have done this quite a few times).
I must respectfully disagree. Manufacturers have every incentive to build disposabikes:
When a secondhand motorcycle is a lemon, it can easily be attributed to the previous owner's abuse & neglect.
The faster the bikes wear out, the sooner we'll be back in the showroom or on Cycletrader.com buying another one.
Resale value is not high on their list of priorities, in no small part because of our own short attention spans. The vast majority of us treat them like toys and buy a new one every other year, rather than treat them like cars and try to make them last as long as possible.
You make a lot of assumptions that don't equate with reality, IMO. You may treat your automobile well and want it to last a long time, however, there are a _LOT_ of people who do neither.
In the modern era with communications the way they are, any product shoddily designed or manufactured is quickly disseminated and the manufacturer can lose tons of money. Even if the thing lasts into the secondary market, it will still get out that the product is sub-par. No, I think the '80's cemented the fact that making disposable vehicles is a bad idea.