[Turbo329]

Maybe it's just me but this bothers me.

600s used to be very affordable, hovering around $7,000 to $8,000. You got good power, good handling, fuel economy, all at a decent price.

Now they cost more than open classers of just 7-8 years ago which still outperform them in most respects.

Granted, the 600cc class is completely changed from a few years ago, but the pricing structure is getting ridiculous.

I'm wondering if we'll see the day that 600s run upwards of $15,000. If you would have told me 10 years ago that a CBR600RR would cost $11,000 I would not have believed you.

I wonder how much greed accounts for these inflated prices. Overstock often sells for $7,500 for 600s and $8,500 for 1000s.

Does anyone else think this is ridiculous?

 

[BisonRacer604]

+1, back in HS a 600 was the bike to have and I loved the look of the rd/wht '01 F4i, so i went to a dealer to check the price, Brand New $7,999 +set-up. Now its hard to find a lightly used 3 y/o 600 for that price.:wtf

 

[TrickLidz]

I see your point. But what is really the difference, now, in equipment, manufactoring costs between the two? Gotta think they would both be about the same to manufactor. Plus, the cost is supply and demand based---600 are very popular.

 

[Ceolwulf]

I wish the manufacturers would create a new class of 500s. Half a 1000 engine, 80hp parallel twin, could be both lighter and cheaper than current 600s.

 

[drthompson65]

Because they have to make up the costs for the POS V4's they built.

 

[K-dogg]

Because people pay, err finance.:wacky

 

[drsus]

are you guys serious about being confused that something costs more today than it did 5 years ago?

 

[dj_wawa]

I wish the manufacturers would create a new class of 500s. Half a 1000 engine, 80hp parallel twin, could be both lighter and cheaper than current 600s.

That would be great; 1000cc inline four, 500cc parallel twin, 250cc thumper :woot:

 

[Turbo329]

are you guys serious about being confused that something costs more today than it did 5 years ago?

Nobody's confused. We just see through the crap to know that NO 600cc motorcycle should cost $11,000

How do you go from $7,299 to $11,299 in roughly 7 years?

If that's the case, why isn't the BUSA $17,000 or an SV650S $10,000?

 

[Red Enough]

It's because of the nuclear reactor made from unobtainium that lives inside the catalytic convertor.

 

[fotomoto]

They cost that much because people will pay that much. If they don't, then prices will come down.

The thing that's always "irked" me is when a bike model line is basically identical except for engine size (motocrossers and the gixxer series come to mind) but have huge differences in MSRP. Hell, if anything, the ones with larger motors should be CHEAPER since they have bigger holes in the block thus less metal was used. :woot:

 

[red2kcbr]

Why do 600s cost $11K now?

Well, in a capitalist system, there is a concept called "Supply and Demand", which stipulates that price fluctuates with the quantity available and the quantity being sought for purchase.

Aw, **** it, I ain't no economist. They cost $11K now because we are willing to give $11K for a 600.

Marketing man, marketing.

 

[Jami6989]

I wonder how much greed accounts for these inflated prices. Overstock often sells for $7,500 for 600s and $8,500 for 1000s.

Does anyone else think this is ridiculous?

GREED has ZERO to do with it. Think about what you're saying.....


7 YEARS AGO:
A 600 bike costs $7k and yielded Mother Honda 840,000 Yen when repatriated back to local currency.

NOW:
A 600 bike costs $10k and yields Mother Honda 844,000 Yen when repatriated back to local currency.

It's not voodoo, it's not greed, it's not "marketing". It's simple math. They need to pay people, suppliers etc etc in Yen. However, they receive USD back from their US sales. Yes, they can and do currency hedge forward sales but I wouldn't imagine they do it farther out than one year as that constitutes a "bet" on the currency rather than a hedge on projected sales. If they can predict the economy farther out than 1 year they shouldn't be in the bike Industry.:woot:

 

[socal]

...Cause you are buying them from the wrong dealer. LA Cycle Sports offered a me a new '09 YZF-R6 for $8,300 OTD last month. I thought about building a race bike from new. Went instead with an already built AMA bike.

 

[Turbo329]

GREED has ZERO to do with it. Think about what you're saying.....


7 YEARS AGO:
A 600 bike costs $7k and yielded Mother Honda 840,000 Yen when repatriated back to local currency.

NOW:
A 600 bike costs $10k and yields Mother Honda 844,000 Yen when repatriated back to local currency.

It's not voodoo, it's not greed, it's not "marketing". It's simple math. They need to pay people, suppliers etc etc in Yen. However, they receive USD back from their US sales. Yes, they can and do currency hedge forward sales but I wouldn't imagine they do it farther out than one year as that constitutes a "bet" on the currency rather than a hedge on projected sales. If they can predict the economy farther out than 1 year they shouldn't be in the bike Industry.:woot:

So what you're saying is that if/when the value of the US dollar goes back up VS the Yen then the prices will drop again?? .....because I kind of doubt that.

 

[Jami6989]

So what you're saying is that if/when the value of the US dollar goes back up VS the Yen then the prices will drop again?? .....because I kind of doubt that.

No, that's part of the gig. MSRP never goes down because it's supposed to be better than the last one. So when the factors call for a price increase to stay flat, you do it. When things go your way, you make more money and keep prices flat. If you keep MSRP flat YOY, you act like you're giving the consumer a gift and doing it for THEM.

You can't lower MSRP. You can't give people more for less. EVER! But they will never take less for the same thing.

The one thing they WILL do is offer dealer incentives and cash back as a concession to move more units in currency-favored markets. Alot of times there are dealer incentives or cashback stuff that the dealer keeps and pockets and you may never know about them.

 

[Turbo329]

No, that's part of the gig. MSRP never goes down because it's supposed to be better than the last one. So when the factors call for a price increase to stay flat, you do it. When things go your way, you make more money and keep prices flat. If you keep MSRP flat YOY, you act like you're giving the consumer a gift and doing it for THEM.

You can't lower MSRP. You can't give people more for less. EVER! But they will never take less for the same thing.

The one thing they WILL do is offer dealer incentives and cash back as a concession to move more units in currency-favored markets. Alot of times there are dealer incentives or cashback stuff that the dealer keeps and pockets and you may never know about them.

So they will remain overpriced.

The only way to fix this is if we stop buying 600s. :woot:

 

[Jami6989]

So they will remain overpriced.

The only way to fix this is if we stop buying 600s. :woot:

That's fine. They just don't make anymore. They haven't made new bikes in a long time. They just redo the graphics.

Some dirt teams couldn't even homologate 2010 bikes cuz they didn't ship 400 units to the US. No reason to when there were 1000's of 08's and 09's rotting in the warehouse.

 

[Old Baldy]

So what you're saying is that if/when the value of the US dollar goes back up VS the Yen then the prices will drop again?? .....because I kind of doubt that.

Of course they will, assuming they want to ramp up volumes again to meet minimum production volumes. They will drop foreign prices (to them) to regain/win market share that they are losing against the Europeans, who are having an export advantage (compared to Japanese Yen).

 

[mikstr]

That would be great; 1000cc inline four, 500cc parallel twin, 250cc thumper :woot:

You forgot the 750cc Triple