The moaning old git thread

[nigel s]

Being Norfolk born, skint mostly and an ex Farmer ( apprentice Yorkshire   ) I have a deep genetic mistrust of sales people and Journalists I think may even SLIGHTLY be trying to sell me summit.
My gripe was not with the bikes ( though I would probably buy secondhand japanese for the money) but the fact the article, at least, inferred a reliability that has not been proven .
I got my Strom on the back of 20 odd years of proof of its reliability, I have had unreliable bikes before and while fun is a huge factor, getting to where I want to be ( and back again , not on a lorry ) is higher for me

Ho Hum

[Brockett]

Not politics - just economics
A housing development I know has stopped building because no one is buying the houses that are finished. Family car sales are down 20% although top end cars are doing well ( the rich are always rich) Motorcycle sales are well down even Enfield sales have slowed. Maybe this is because there just isn't the money about.  Many employers want more staff on minimum wages and that makes for hard if not desperate times with no spare cash.Bike dealers are folding due to poor sales figures. All the old men who wanted a cheap low powered bike have now got their 350 Enfields and the slightly younger ones are waiting for the next batch of Triumph 400s to arrive.  So it's no surprise the bikes with the best performance and lowest costs will be the "next big thing". In walk the Chinese. and this years world  moto 3  winning bike is a CF Moto. The BSA 650 is quite unlike the "real" bikes other than a huge and growing shadow hanging over reliability issues. Yes the weather is set to be wetter and colder for the foreseeable future, fewer people have £8000+ to spend on a new bike, the roads are a maintenance free obstacle course and there's a camera on every road looking for those who speed along roads with new, lower and not well publicised speed limits. Meanwhile the average car,van,truck driver cannot keep their eyes and fingers off their mobile phones so that when they run you over they won't suffer PTSD because they won't have seen anything.

yes I think that is coming along nicely since I cut out the last 1000 words. I'll save them for later.

[nigel s]

 

 

Ho Hum

[StromGeeza]

Black Friday!! That can feck right off...
OK, if you actually need the product and you can get it at a decent price (and you don't mind helping send yet another local shop out of business, and are cool with the fact that your hard-earned goes to some multinational monster that is conveniently headquartered in offshore tax-free zones, so pays nothing back in the countries that it actually made the obscene billions) then go for it. Rampant consumerism is the answer to all our problems, right?

And don't get me started on how online adverts now shout out '!!!new drop!!!!' when they really mean that you can now purchase the same old pair of trainers only now with a different colour stripe...

Ooo look, it's got a green stripe...

[2112]

Tis the season to pray at the alter of consumerism..

[Joe Rocket]

Good old Black Friday. We also have Black Friday Week, Black November and even Black Christmas ffs! 

[Upt North]

Dr.U North here.
Could I prescribe a glass of alcohol of your choice and a 30 minute rest in a darkened room to placate your fears of consumerism.
Although the alcohol and dark room will not be required if you turn off your electronic devices and pretend it's 1960.
I loved the 60's, leaking motorcycles, mini's that stopped everytime it rained, houses with no central heating, power cuts, working 50 hours a week and not from home.....
Happy memories.
Pffffffftttttt.

[Rusty Nuts]

Don't forget Cyber Monday,  Joe.

[Upt North]

Not...dah, dah, daaaaaaahhhhhhh.....CYBERPUNK MONDAY!
 

[2112]

Also watch out for black eye Friday, still very popular among the drinking classes these days...

[Asmith61]

Also watch out for black eye Friday, still very popular among the drinking classes these days...

 

[nigel s]

Just found out C J Ball , the  Honda/Suzuki dealer that I got my strom and my CBR 600 rr from are dropping Suzuki in the new year.
Warranties/ servicing will be honoured ( the factory techs are still there ), and parts available , but no more new bike sales .
That means no Official Suzuki dealer in Norfolk now............
They had been having problems with Suzuki regarding stocking new bikes and development of the range going forward

A sign of the times ?

[Pete O Tube]

Could be because they just weren't selling many Suzuki's - the MCIA figures for August 2024 saw 254 Suzuki's sold compared to 1168 Honda's, 893 Yamaha's and 726 Triumph's.

The MCIA figures

Code: [Select]

https://mcia.co.uk/press-statistics make for interesting, or grim, reading.

[nigel s]

Quite possibly. I know they were annoyed at having to buy so many demo bikes and then having to sell them cheap due to others discounting new bikes down to the same price as the demos usually go for
Honda seem to have stolen a march on the others with their pricing too.

[Dark-Strom]

I think it's down to the range of bikes, there's nothing from 125cc to 650cc new from Suzuki.
The other big 3 do, Honda having the largest number of offerings at 7 (2 x 300cc and 5 x 500cc..).

[Sir Trev]

I'm hoping the engine from the new DRZ400 will prompt Suzuki to come up with a new range of smaller capacity bikes. The Trumpet 400s, Honda's large range of 500s, RE's 350/450 ranges are all doing well. Even Kwakasaki have revitalised the 500 Eliminator.

The only bike dealer here in High Wycombe used to be a Honda and Yamaha place. They dropped Honda a long time ago and Yamaha a couple of years back. They now sell RE, Benelli, Mondiali, Keeway and others, and always seem to have stock. Shame their clothing and accessories area is always so empty though...

[Pete O Tube]

The problem with those 350/400/500cc tiddlers, is that there's not a lot of profit in them for the dealer and you'd need to belling 3 or 4 of them if you were looking to make the same as on a larger bike (Triumph 400 - less than £500 in it for the dealer).

[Sir Trev]

Don't doubt that Pete, but they get people into (back into) bikes, so they have their place. Plus the dealer will make a reasonable amount over the next few years on servicing,  even on the tiddlers, so more sales the better. I just wish more dealers would keep a sensible amount of kit and accessories to be a one stop shop, like they used to be.

My first bike was a Honda H100, bought from JB Motorcycles, a tiny dealer in Great Yarmouth. They also had the Belstaff jacket, Nolan lid, and Frank Thomas gloves and boots I needed to get me on the road. Lovely little place,  plus Harry, the owner, persuaded me to go to the local Key Rider training school that he also ran. Taught me a lot about bike control, simple maintenance, theory, and at the end of the course an examiner came in and we all passed our Part 1 test. I stayed loyal to that little shop, even after I went off to uni.

[nigel s]

 JBs , that rings a bell
I was the same with Chris Clarks in Wymondham , where I did my test training , they were a  fairly big outfit ( Honda/ Ducatti )  but knew how to look after greasy learners like me with no pressure just good advice, now sadly also gone .

[Pete O Tube]

Sir Trev, I think you're not understanding the demographic that's buying these tiddlers - it's owd 'uns, not young 'uns so the opportunity for the owner of said tiddlers to trade up later for something larger isn't going to be there, owd 'uns are buying tiddlers because they're cheap and easy to handle.
Young 'uns just aren't buying bikes (of any capacity) and that's never likely to change.