03-02-2021, 09:53 AM
I always enjoy Veals comments and opinions, even though we may see things or percieve things differently. His knowledgable of motorcycling is expansive, and he writes and expresses his opinion intelligently.
It may be a difference of locales. Mid west Ohio where I have spent 70 years, is a lot different than west coast California, in weather, geography. politics, economies and attitudes.
What flies as normal there, doesnt float at all here. What sells there, doesnt necessarily sell here. Harleys rule the roads here, sportbikes are dead meat. On summer weekends you'll see a group of 3 or 4 600's sportbikes riding together. Other than that never see one. Groups of Harleys you see every day above 40 degrees, and several individual Harleys out about any time its above freezing. See quite a few of the big Indians too but no FTRs or Scouts. Retros do pretty well here, ADV's not so much. Euro's dont sell well here. We had a Ducati dealer, and a BMW dealer but they both folded tents and snuck out in the middle of the night. We have no KTM, Husky, Royal Enfield or Aprilia dealers within 100 miles of me. We do have a small Moto Guzzi dealership, and a Triumph dealership.
Most of the bikes I see, outside of Harleys, are Honda or Yamaha cruisers.
I think this experience, what we see, shapes our opinions. We all think our experiences, what we see, hear and think are " the norm".
The Suzuki Bandit did not sell well here at all. I remember seeing one at a dealership in 2005. I have never seen one on the road. I have seen multiple CB 1100s on the road, but very few in dealerships.
It may be a difference of locales. Mid west Ohio where I have spent 70 years, is a lot different than west coast California, in weather, geography. politics, economies and attitudes.
What flies as normal there, doesnt float at all here. What sells there, doesnt necessarily sell here. Harleys rule the roads here, sportbikes are dead meat. On summer weekends you'll see a group of 3 or 4 600's sportbikes riding together. Other than that never see one. Groups of Harleys you see every day above 40 degrees, and several individual Harleys out about any time its above freezing. See quite a few of the big Indians too but no FTRs or Scouts. Retros do pretty well here, ADV's not so much. Euro's dont sell well here. We had a Ducati dealer, and a BMW dealer but they both folded tents and snuck out in the middle of the night. We have no KTM, Husky, Royal Enfield or Aprilia dealers within 100 miles of me. We do have a small Moto Guzzi dealership, and a Triumph dealership.
Most of the bikes I see, outside of Harleys, are Honda or Yamaha cruisers.
I think this experience, what we see, shapes our opinions. We all think our experiences, what we see, hear and think are " the norm".
The Suzuki Bandit did not sell well here at all. I remember seeing one at a dealership in 2005. I have never seen one on the road. I have seen multiple CB 1100s on the road, but very few in dealerships.