In Nationals but all else is pens, cards and beers and a watch at checkpoints Maybe you should have Kelly ride your bike for you too....LOL The kids just want to drink from them....not eat them! FREE MALCOM !!! ET TU Motosportz......urghh...ack...ugghhh...nope....not dead yet No worries....while I had you in sight from the "In and Out Burger" lot...I decided to pass and let you enjoy the 2011 model stuff....to much to miss out on....besideds there was no challenge at 450 meters. LOL! Thanks Norm......as long as Ernesto does not come back....I can Hang Been there, done it, got the old "Husky Products" T shirt! All good stuff and all in good fun....great thread
No problem Silver Fox. I hope you can understand my frustration sometimes when we get called out for something we have no control over. We are working like hell to get the number lowered to 100 so we and other small OEMs can get in the game. When you consider that we make 3 different 250 models because we believe that just one 250 model(i.e: motocross) DOESN'T fit all customers it works to our disdadvantage because we can't reach the minimun required number for any single model like the TC250. I genuinely appreciate everyone's input. We do listen. I hope everyone understands that we aren't idiots(actually I mean most of the time we aren't idiots because sometimes I am) and that there are extenuating circumstances on every decision we make.
The AMA is worse than NASCAR for implementing moronic rule changes from one year to the next. We still race AMA sanctioned events when they are close... but we'll drive hundreds of miles to participate in an "outlaw" event because it is usually better attended, MUCH more relaxed, has infinitely more classes to match what is being sold, and is MUCH more interested in making an event FUN instead of "official". Screw the AMA! It's like the Obama administration equivalent of Motorcycle racing. Who the hell needs them... really?
I agree with most everything you say Slowpoke. I too was drawn to the sleek look of our current line of bikes. I really think they are the best looking bikes on the market. I sat in on a presentaion by Centrostile on why our new 450 has the look it does and here is some additional food for thought. All the other brands if you look at them closely tend to angle down on the ends(spoiler/rear fender) while Husqvarna design flares up. This is captured in the new design as well. This is supposed to give the impression of upper momentum/anti-gravity. The guys in Centrostile(and yes they are all Italians) wanted to creat something that was the next evolution in this main style/theme idea. I was always told that any good design must elicit a response/reaction(either negative or positive) and that it is only successful when it does. I've seen the actual finished pieces in person(with colors and graphics) and I love the look of the bike. Any good design must also be ahead of its time which means it may take time for the public to catch up especially tradionalists loyal to the brand. The way the plastic all fits ogether is so sleek and modern looking. None of the fasteners(bolts/mounting hardware) is visible. For me it creates this feeling of when I was a kid and I used to have those snap together model cars. It has a very futuristic feel. As Bobby from BMW Atlanta pointed out once you really get your hands on it the engine is very easy to work on and access. With just a couple of bolts removed the whole side panel of the bike comes off and you can get anywhere you need to on the complete work on whichever side of the m/c front or back. The linkage on top of the swingarm gives all the benefits of having a linkage with none of the downsides of reduced clearance or vulnerability. There is some real innovative thinking going on here. You have to see it in person to do justice. Frankly I would be dissapointed if this all new bike looked just like any other Husqvarna. Its time to step out and stand out. I remember similar criticisms on design when I was at KTM especially when I along with two others lobbied to go Orange and now look. You can't imagine KTM without seeing orange.
I'm no sales person or bean counter 4 sure ... but racing is advertising and advertising sells a product. People buy winners. Over the long haul, I would think who ever advertises the most, will do well in sales .. RC won on several brands ... KX , HON, SUZ ... so he spread it around ... This is from another posting on this site ... Some hard charger just won or placed well on a 010 TC Husky and because he placed well( A.K.A. advertisement) , he and his 010 TC Husky got some attention after the race and here are his words: Maybe the sales people have forgotten this aspect of selling bikes??? lol... There is only 4 brands to choose from now and i'd guess most JAP bike riders are locked in on a brand like us Husky riders are ... I'd guess that the bikes that have won the most through the years .. are the best sellers because it has the best name brand value .... I found these numbers on the web ... I bet it is close to current total sales data on each brand .... ESP Can-Am ... lol ... AMA Supercross Class Titles by Brand: Honda: 15 (1982, '83, '84, '86, '88, '89, '90, '91, '92, '93, '94, '95, '96, '02, '03), Yamaha: 11 (1974, '77, '78, '79, '80, '98, '99, '00, '04, '08, '09), Kawasaki: 6 (1976, '85, '87, '97, '01, '07), Suzuki: 3 (1981, '05, '06), Can-Am: 1 (1975)
If this bike looks like a KTM, then I'm the Pope. I agree, it's time for standing out. If you're going to pull the stops for a genuinely new Husqvarna, then it should be genuinely new... and bold... as this bike obviously is. I can't understand how anyone could see an ounce of KTM in this design. It's radically different from anything in the mainstream.
Ray Ray, your post proves a point. According to research the number 1 factor influencing customers buying decions is what?????????...............Drum Roll Please......................WORD OF MOUTH. Guys talking to each other over the tailgate of their pick-up truck or around a campfire. Racing factored way down there. In fact research in this past decade shows that everytime a manufacturer won an AMA National Championship its sales went down the following year. Maybe 40 years ago when the market was young and customers were not near as sophisticated or knowledagble as they are today racing was king. And don't get me wrong racing still has a place just not the dominant factor or place in the decision making process it once did. Customers are drawn to product. They want products that best satisfy their needs in terms of performance and how the feel when they ride the bike. Husqvarna will continue to race and someday at the highlest levels of Motocross because that is who we are and that is how we make our products better. Its just that for my money I will take any 10 memebers of CafeHusky bragging up there Huskys to their friends over Ricky Carmichael saying he would ride one if we paid him enough money.
I can remember in the Eighties, when H&H used the tag line in their KTM ads..... "The other white bike."
I'm no rocket scientist but when I realized that each year we were having knock down drag out fights within the sales and marketing dept on what decals to put on our "white" bikes to create our brand identity then I knew something was wrong. That's when myself along with support from Rod Bush and Barbara Kenedi who was the head of marketing at the factory at the time conviced everyone to go "orange". Admittedly the first two years were a disaster as they didn't implement the color correctly(remember the yellow/orange looking bikes in 96/97) but fortunately 98 they got it right and the rest is history.
Racing can be a good marketing tool but it also can be a disaster. Take the David Knight fiasco with BMW...he probably did more to trash the 450x then anybody. Even Juha is perceived to have done good dispite the ''bad bike''. KTM also had pros complaining about the no linkage on the sx, resulting in a bunch of mx riders convinced it's a total bad setup. The 450x would have done better in sales without the wec racing for sure. Winning may not help sales but losing for sure hurts them.
Sweet! AND you can have it back 4 free! Have you seen our debt? And watched our politics? A mummy and some gal who could not hardly answer debate questions get several million votes ... lol ... U guys lost enough credit partnering with the usa at the turn of this century ... Are you sure U want us back? lol ... KTM is growing huge over here ... And they are bombing GH this year at the FIM GP event ... But we know that live performance of your product such as racing (A.K.A. advertisement) does not sell bikes .. lol ... True ... Your product must be shown live to an audience or it has no creditability... (and all this g450x baggage is being carried forward )
Its quite a ways away Kelly. It will take an all new engine platform to build a 200. Its not just a simple case of taking the current 125 and making it bigger. 144 is all she can take captain. This brings up the question of two stroke development all together which Husqvarna is commited to but frankly is at least two -three years from bringing to the market place. Lots of work still to be done on fuel injected two strokes. Looks like you'll have to live with your 144 and the awesome TXC250 you have built. That's the plain and simple truth.
thanks for the honest feedback Now i can save my pennies for a 2011 TE450 instead of a Wr200. So may great bikes, so little money BTW my wr is great but still a 125. ship those kits man. hurry. :>)
The good Lord reminds me constantly to be grateful for what I have and not to despair over things I "want" but don't have. We have so much to be grateful for, a great country, a great way of life, a great sport, our friends, family and health. All this motorcycle stuff is just icing on the cake. Really what's the difference between a 200 and a 630when you get right down to it. Hope to ride with you someday Kelly!
So what your saying is.... there's no chance of a full factory ride for a semi slow guy in Alberta, Canada ?
First let me put on my sun glasses as the sunshine is bright here Next, the words above in bold are most laughable .... So a good launch means a good bike? .. lol ... Most of us here are not concerned with a showroom sales show ... They are good advertisements and all and needed, like racing the product, but we wanna see results in the end product ... Maybe you can expand on your riding? Did you win a race or kick some local a$$ ... On a trail? In the mountains? What can you tell us about the front sprocket deal? Is it really as hard to change as one might think? I change my sprocket almost daily so I'm a concerned customer Everyone here is on Huskies side ... we just were not born yesterday Blowing all this smoke about an untested bike is not what most of us want to hear ... This bmw bike had big issues or maybe the riders just sucked? I doubt the latter is true ... So pumping sunshine here, among some of us local yokels, may not fly too high till a live performance shows some positive results... Plus, in the previous years, the bikes were getting very good ... some customers may not be so interested in reseting a clock whose time is not wrong ...
I'm not qualified to tell a VP how to do his job .... but maybe a follow up on the process could help here? Send out a memo on the subject please ... ask a few question after the paperwork has been submitted ... But then, after failing this for how many years, maybe failing here has become business as usual at the office? Is this another case of a budget constraint or just the hired help? Does someone need to take the CORP jet down to Cali and handle it first hand? Does Arnold know of our issue here? Does bmw know?
