Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE colt Rousseau • TAPES .B yS h ate Mondays . Well , I hate Mondays and Thursdays. But for the purposes of th is colu m n, ju st consi der me a bona fide Monday hater. So im agine the added discontent heaped upon me w he n I tuned in to m y favorite lo cal morning new sca st on - o f all day s, Monday, April 10 - while ind u lging in a bowl of Grape Nuts and a g lass of orange juice . Th e financia l guy ca me on to announce that, yes indeedy, th e U.S. d ollar had taken another plunge against the Japanese yen . This w as a bad on e, th e worst in the Pos tw ar era, he sai d . I d id n' t catch the exact figures of the titanic cr ash , but upon arriv ing a t the office and placing a call to a friend in the ind ustry who is hip to this sort of stuff, I w as told tha t as of Mond ay there's that word aga in - the exchan ge rate was down to 80.1 yen to the d ollar. Put into p erspective, the friend said, if I had hand ed h im $ 1 in 1991 , h e would h ave h and ed me 145 ye n . Do the math, he said, and it represents a 53% devaluation of old George Wa sh ington's mug in ju st four years. It go t me to th inking . I'm involved in th e motorcycle ind us try, a nd th a t indu stry is ve ry resp onsiv e to fou r major ma n u facturers whose primary sou rce of currency is the ye n. I'm sure tha t the fol ks running the U.s. he adqu arters s aw o r h eard the new s a s w ell. I w ond ered what th e y were th inking ? What does th is dollar lyen st uff mean to th em? All so rts of rapid-fire, bra instormlike tho ugh ts and questions rumbled through my head, though they d idn't sta y for long. They never do. Quest ion s like: Are the bi g four going to ra is e their prices aga in ? If so, h ow will it affect sales in the Ll .S, motorcycle market which has been on an appreciable upward trend over th e past two or th re e years? Wors e ye t, will the fa ct that the latest technology costs more and the possible perception that th is dollar Iyen deal points toward a weakening U.S . economy - mean that the U.S. ma rket will not have the opportunity to purchase the latest CBYZX-llRs because the price point at which those I bikes would have to enter the country cou ld be considered too great to be worthwhile? Will people quit buyin g motorcycles? Am I going to be ou t of a job soon? Who was on the gra ssy kn oll that d ay in Da l.c.er, anyw ay , yo u get the idea . Whil e I am quite sure that those last tw o questions will always be a matter o f co nj ec t u re, I de cid ed to pl a ce a phone call to so me o f the Ja p a nese manufacturers to try and find out the answers to the rest. Wh at I found out was that there are no clearcut answers to thi s imp end ing dilemma. Our source at Yamaha was understandably happy to poin t out that, yes, the manufacturer w as exp eriencing an in crease in unit sales across the board. But wh en it ca me right d own to it, the exchange rate situ ati on was going to affect Yamaha 's pricing s tructu re for the remainder of 1995 and 1996. "We are s t ill con fiden t wh en y ou co m pa re o u r motorcycles p roduct for p roduct to o th ers, that Yamaha w ill continue to provide the value added in terms of per formance and dependability at a co m peti tive pri ce," th e source said . "We have always had to look at the price of the unit we buy in Japan as compa red to what we can sell it for in the U.S. (profit margin). Right now, we are buying m ore expensive from Japan, so we have to sell more expens ive in the U.S. market. " In the end, the s ou rce s eemed to affirm that regardless of the dollar Iyen situation driving prices up, when com paring apples to apples, Yamaha will rema in comp etitive in the pri cin g arena . "When yo u look at our cruiser line, for example, we still feel that w e provide a quality product that is sometimes two and three times less exp ensive than some of our competitors." "Yes our prices are going to go up because we are pa ying more for the product as well, " h e said." But the va lue added and quality in the entire Yamaha lineup will remain." Kawasaki called back next. "Kawasaki management is monitoring the situation very closel y ," a Kawasaki spokesma n said. " Ri g h t n ow, we cannot say w he ther o r not there w ill be a price increase in the 1996 model year, we can say that there will be no price increase in 1995. " We a re in somewhat of a luxury situation," he continued . "The bulk of o u r 1995 motorcycles have alread y been purchased from Kawasaki He avy Industries, and th ey have been shi p ped to the U.S. But the rising cost of goods and serv ices has to be passed on to the cons umer. It's the old domino effect all ov er again . We're jus t as n ervous a s the next gu y." Th e Kawasaki sp okesman d id offer a sli gh t ray of hope in th is otherwise gloomy situation. "Banking and financial indu stry ex perts a re predicting th at th e d oll ar will strengthen against the yen during the su m mer," he sa id . "Whether it will be as strong as before, who knows? We d on't really believe that this situation is going to get a ny wo rse, but on ly time will tell. Perhaps this is g ood news for the European and American manufacturers ." But is it? More and m ore European bikes and domestic bikes, in cl u din g Willi e C 's finest, are hitting the show room floors with the latest in carbu retion and suspension components from the land of the rising y e n . While I didn't get the chance to ta lk to them, I have to believe th a t the non-Japanese m anu facturers will be feel ing the crunch in 1996 as well - when the parts bill comes. Suzuki officials, while remaining ve ry tight-lipped about the situation, did forward an official communique to Cycle News , at least on e with an official name on it . Furthermore, Suzuki d id hint that the exchange rate could p ro lifera te more than just higher showrooom prices . "The current dollar I yen situa tion is very serious," Suzuki Marketing Director Mel Ha rri s sa id . "The impact of the appreciating yen will be reflected w ith increases in product p rices and could impair support programs. "The yen was at 100-105 versus the dollar last year," Harris said. "Present- ly the ye n is arou nd 83 per dollar, which relates to a 17-22 p e r ce n t difference . We (Suzuki) are reviewing the op tions avai lable to u s, and a re making the plans to opera te in this serious sit uation." One thing that most of the manufacturers agreed upon was that the dollar I yen fluctuation would not affect the introduction of new models to the U .S. market. The Yam aha guy , for example, told me that while the Diversion 900 probably wouldn't make it to U .S. shores, the project ed price p oint had nothing to d o with it. The verdict on Yamaha's much-anticipated TRX850 sport twin is still out, h e s a id . But again, Yamaha sa ys pricing has nothing to do with it, and I would bet that the TRX will make it into the country. But just what will it cost? Kawasaki officials said much the same th ing. Wha t have I learned? Well, some, and not much - all at the same tim e. I have learned th at the Japan ese giants are as concerned ab out the exchange rate as I am . Mayb e they are ju st as tir ed of the never-endin g bleak outlook that se ems to haunt th e motorcycle in d u s try a s I am, too . It seem s that every tim e we th in k we see a light at the end of the tunnel p ointing u s toward renewed prosperit y, that ligh t turns out to be attached to a train of grim economic news. How many more times will the m otorcycle ind ustry seem poised to take off runn ing on ly to be hamstrung by rival economies? How many more times can it - and we as consumers - afford to be? Ultimat ely, th at d e cisi on will be answered by motorcycle consumers, who will either give up a n d buy a more practical four-wheel ed ve h icle for the same amount of money or - as true enthusiasts - save even more of thei r hard-earned cash and venture in to the showrooms to purcha se the bike of their dreams regardless of the cost. When will we know for s u re ? I guess I'll have to ask again in 1996. Just another black Monday. ('X .LOOKING BACK'i' 25 YEARS AG ••• O April 28, 1970 n dirt tr a ck ac tion, BSAmounted Jim Rice too k a decisive victory at the five ig h th - m ile oval a t Ho liday Downs in Atlanta over second-fin is her Dick M ann ...A notyet-King Ken n y Roberts came down from Me rced to win in the Novice event of th e regu lar Th ursda y night TT a t Ascot. Me rt La w will, on a "specia l" twin-carb XR750, and Ma rk Brels ford made it 1-2 for Harley-Davidson in the ma in, in the p roces s setting the th irdfastes t tim e ever at the Southern California tra ck...O n the asphalt at the Anzac Raceway - now LACR - in Palmdale, California, Don Emde rode the wheels off his Hodaka to take the victory in the 100cc cl ass. The new Kaw asa ki H1R I road racer s e t a lap reco rd at the track ...Su zu ki riders Joel Ro bert and Sylvain Geb oers took first and second p lace, respectively, in the 250cc class at th e Spanish Grand Pr ix of motocross "ending the European domination" of the series. 1 E SAGO... 5Y AR · M April 23, 1980 a king its fi r s t publ ic appeara nce in the pages of Cycle News these m an y years ago was a V-t wi n fl at track mo t o r not from Harley-Davidson , but from Honda. The 500cc powerp lant was wa ter-cooled and aimed squarely at the XR750. It missed ...The notoriously pu n ish in g Teca te 500 enduro left only 31 su rvivors. Two riders who survived better than the others were Bob Pop iel, dropping 43 points, and former winner Malcolm Smith carding 125...A talented teenager from Shreeveport, Louisiana , Freddie Sp encer, took the British roa d racing scene by storm in the Transa tlantic Trophy Match where he handed out a 72-point thrashing to th e host nation. Sha ring in the U.S. domination were now -Kin g Kenny Ro b e rt s an d Ra ndy Ma mol a...At round tw o of the AMA /ISDT qualifier series, Ed Lojak survived the Alabama rain, topping the remaining 31 riders of the 300 who started. Among those he to p p e d , Larry Roeseler carded a silver medal. 5YEARS AGO... April 18, 1990 his was a good issue for Am ericans in th e road racing scen e , wi th Wa yne Ra in ey stompin g hi s selfdestructing (i.e. Kevin Sch wan tz) competition in Grand Prix racing's premier class, while Jo hn Kocinsk i followed Carlos Cardus only until the second lap, then took the lead for good in the 250cc class...This was a bad issue for Ameri- T '. " ,. • . ;::t.. ,. . ..~. •..__ . I l. ' ...: cans in the • 'i..~~~ supercross ~ ,~ scen e , Je a nus Go' ''''' '''' M ichel Bayle ri-.:...._~ le ading th e 1'[<11..... v. ~ . "·,·nocmljf way in his ~~:og fi rs t - eve r sup ercross victory, beating Da mo n Bradsh aw in the Dallas round of the series...Tea m Suz uki kept their perfect 1990 win record with ano ther victory, this one at the Talladega Grand Prix raceway. Piloting the GSXRllOO were M ike Smith, Kurt Hall and Britt Tu rk ington...Riding an XR600 Scott Summers thumped the co mpet ition with a win a t Lore t ta Lynn's Du de Ranch takin g the overall in the combined hare scramb les I cros s count ry event...A comparison between two o ff-ro a d Suz u k i s was m ad e DR350L and RMX250L. The wi nner in the case of competitive use , the RMX, of ('X course. , .~ I-c P-. -c 55

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