Have 600 and 1000 sport-bike designs peaked?

[Sequentialshift]

Originally Posted by oic0

Oh lawd, I need a better job ASAP.

Yeah ,, that .. annnd KTM to make a proper effort with the road range in the US

[uncalcetindelana]

Originally Posted by JustSaying

Make a bike that even a rookie can ride around a track like rossi. The technology that bikes will have in the future will make them as safe as cars in certain situation. Traction control and ABS is a great start. Imagine getting your knee down and knowing that the bike is designed to stay up as long as the road conditions are decent. That, I believe, is the future of sport bikes.

That, I believe, will be the end of times.

Sequentialshift, that looks crazy. The 990 has too much torque as it is. 1200??? I would force my KTM loving father to buy this.

nico

[HiSpeed48]

Originally Posted by boner

I think the economy and slow sales are creating a false plateau in development. When the big news for 2013 is new headlights on a six year old bike, things are going to feel like they are peaking. Now the big four is somewhat stuck in a loop, why buy a new bike that looks and rides exactly like this 4 year old used bike for half the cost, but the lack of new bike sales is slowing new model development.

+1

Here's a good article on recent motorcycle sales:
2012 Q3 Motorcycles Sales Stabilize Market - Motorcycle USA

In 2008, on-highway motorcycle sales were over 600,000 but today it's less than 300,000.

Manufacturers are not making enough revenue to justify large investments into R&D. There's just no point in laying out a lot of coin when your return on investment will only be a small blip in revenue. The demand isn't there, especially for large companies whose sportbike sales are only a small fraction of their total revenue.

But this is good for smaller speciality companies who can focus all their resources into R&D for their flagship motorcycles. Each dollar spent on R&D causes a sizeable jump in total revenue. But without the big players like Honda and Yami, total tech development will be slow.

[Wayne's Striple]

I know 'people have always been saying stuff like this', but back then there was a lot of room for improvement. Sportbikes are now delivering what we always wanted; light weight, huge hp, and fine handling along with reliability and easy starting. IMO the only leaps to be had now are sideways not ahead, because we have arrived.

[Sequentialshift]

Originally Posted by uncalcetindelana

That, I believe, will be the end of times.

Sequentialshift, that looks crazy. The 990 has too much torque as it is. 1200??? I would force my KTM loving father to buy this.

nico

It if they do it correctly could well be a mental monster of a bike . I do hope they dont tame it like they did with the 07 onwards superdukes in the 990 guise . In my opinion the twitchy frentic 05 06 model was the best because it delivers the power like turning on a light switch

[drummer92]

I want to see a v-3 with one cylinder bigger than the other two

[PhilB]

Originally Posted by UltimateOG

Except for Kawasaki, they seem to be on top of the Big 4 in that regard. Honda may have the profit, but Kawi has the right mentality in my books. Hell if they was to even do a "take one for the team" and just cut the prices of their new bikes in half, market sales would increase dramatically. Not sure if it would be any different keeping the prices where they are.

Yeah. "We lose money on every one, but we make it up in volume."

PhilB

[PhilB]

Originally Posted by Wayne's Striple

I know 'people have always been saying stuff like this', but back then there was a lot of room for improvement. Sportbikes are now delivering what we always wanted; light weight, huge hp, and fine handling along with reliability and easy starting. IMO the only leaps to be had now are sideways not ahead, because we have arrived.

There still is. See post #5 above from KeS.

PhilB

[oic0]

Perhaps they could make these things attractive, but I do wonder what the effect on other cars noticing us would be. Seems like it would make us even more invisible.

[JustSaying]

Originally Posted by Wayne's Striple

I know 'people have always been saying stuff like this', but back then there was a lot of room for improvement. Sportbikes are now delivering what we always wanted; light weight, huge hp, and fine handling along with reliability and easy starting. IMO the only leaps to be had now are sideways not ahead, because we have arrived.

I completely disagree. Look at the new technology the car manufacturers develop every year. Why can't those features be implemented into motorcycles? Like I said previously, ABS and Traction Control is a good start.


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[Markk9]

Originally Posted by JustSaying

I completely disagree. Look at the new technology the car manufacturers develop every year. Why can't those features be implemented into motorcycles? Like I said previously, ABS and Traction Control is a good start.


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Some bike already have those...............The purists think that using tech is cheating.

[taekus]

Originally Posted by Markk9

Some bike already have those...............The purists think that using tech is cheating.

I don't care what any purist says, I am no motorcycle racer. If TC and ABS will save my life, I will keep it on at every single time. It doesn't seem like they can go much farther, already quick shifter, slipper clutch, tc, abs, HIDs and LEDs. The only thing I can think of left is a light cycle. Probably just more tire and motor development.

[03sdr6s]

I personally feel that we aren't at the peak of the motorcycling world. Just like everyone else has said, technology is always developing and creating new ideas/products. Maybe someone will develop a new sort of material to make reciprocating engine parts even lighter allowing for more hp and less weight then we have now. I do feel that development has slowed the last few years due to economic reasons, which is why I believe companies are working on bringing "different" ideas to the table rather then just increasing hp and torque numbers.

I'm hoping Yamaha goes through with the rumor of making an inline 3 and fitting it into the r6 or r1 with the crossplane configuration. Would also be nice to see how Honda's new v-configuration setup.

[F4sSprintST]

Ceramics, smart materials, nano tech, more CPU power, dynamic suspensions.... Nah lots to be done


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[Sequentialshift]

And we are still burning distilled fossils . Gotta be some room for improvement there . Dilithium crystals ???