Re: Motus Pricing - starting at $31k

[X1Glider]

I work on my own so I consider the "total cost of ownership" when I make a purchase.  Lots of bikes are easy to bring home.  Keeping them running is when you realize you may get screwed.  Beemer parts are ridiculous.  So are parts for Triumph.  I've even dealt with some pretty pricey Honda parts.

Cheapest bike to own IMO is a HD.  Huge aftermarket and parts are cheap if you want to simply keep it going, not necessarily upgrade to something nicer.

[atadaskew]

I can get Guzzi filters at any auto store (they cross reference with a Bosch part).
I can get my Ducati filters from my local where they stock them.
Other bits too.

I can get anything else from the internet and have it in my hands within a few days thanks to the miracle of package delivery companies.

Seeing that there are only a handful of Motus dealers, and it is a new product, I'm pretty sure outside GM cross-referenced engine parts you'd be waiting a loooong time to get anything else.  Unless stuff like the mirrors are also used by other bikes.

[Orson]

If small chopper companies can stay in business, I don't see why Motus can't stay in business.

With the economy on an upswing, they may have got their timing just right.

I remember reading something about companies that got their start during economically depressing times and flourished.

[evilted]

+1

Motus' target market is no longer the vast majority of people reading this thread.  I'm sure they're as aware as anyone that they've priced themselves into a very small market.  They're interested in the 1500 people who bought Desmosedici RRs for $65-70k, maybe and the people who help Harley sell thousands of CVO bikes at $30k and up every year, and those chopper buyers you mentioned.  Plus choppers are so over, why not a sport tourer?

Motus will likely do just fine as a niche player until the motorcycle market improves offering an opening to go downmarket and start competing with brands like BMW & Ducati based on value -- at least I'm assuming that's their long term plan since that's where the real money is.

And I kinda' doubt the MST & MST-R are going to get any less expensive to buy unless Motus finds itself in dire straits and has a fire sale to pay off creditors.  Cutting the price significantly would dilute the brand's perceived exclusivity, and majorly piss off the very people whose money and social status Motus needed to make a go of things.  It would be much smarter for them to introduce new models at a lower price point in a year or two or three with significant styling and/or component material changes such that even if the newer machines are technically better than their predecessors (i.e., equipped with ABS, traction control, electronic suspension, GDI, etc.) and more suitable for direct competition with the likes of BMW or Ducati, and finding a clever and non-obvious way to canonize to the original models as classics (maybe brand iconography or merchandizing?).

If small chopper companies can stay in business, I don't see why Motus can't stay in business.

With the economy on an upswing, they may have got their timing just right.

I remember reading something about companies that got their start during economically depressing times and flourished.

[ConPilot1]

I work on my own so I consider the "total cost of ownership" when I make a purchase.  Lots of bikes are easy to bring home.  Keeping them running is when you realize you may get screwed.  Beemer parts are ridiculous.  So are parts for Triumph.  I've even dealt with some pretty pricey Honda parts.

Cheapest bike to own IMO is a HD.  Huge aftermarket and parts are cheap if you want to simply keep it going, not necessarily upgrade to something nicer.

BS. Cheapest bike to own is a Kaw. They don't break down. Oil, filters, brake pads, coolant, routine shit. That's it.

[Justin]

BS. Cheapest bike to own is a Kaw. They don't break down. Oil, filters, brake pads, coolant, routine shit. That's it.

Same with my current Suzuki. Same with my previous Honda(s).

[falcofred]

If small chopper companies can stay in business, I don't see why Motus can't stay in business.

Um, they aren't staying in business
http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2011/04/05/big-dog-motorcycles-halts-production/

Big Dog Motorcycles is halting production and owner Sheldon Coleman will start a new business making parts for Big Dog owners and dealers. This story began circulating yesterday, but kept changing every time it appeared. The Wichita Business Journal, talked to Rick Fairless of Stokers Dallas who confirmed he had a conversation with Coleman who indicated the bank had shut down production for good.

[atadaskew]

If small chopper companies can stay in business, I don't see why Motus can't stay in business.

Most of them are long gone.
And the only way they were selling them was by offering 120 month financing.
I kid you not.

[JReazor]

Most of them are long gone.
And the only way they were selling them was by offering 120 month financing.
I kid you not.

Not only that but most of them were maybe bending a cradle frame, hammering out a tank and fenders and then bolting in an off-the-shelf S&S. I'm gonna guess that they don't have the same kind of investment in engineering and development that Motus does.

[evilted]

Yeah, no argument there.  I don't see $30k as being affordable myself, so I have to believe they ditched Plan A and went to Plan B as a result of whatever factors prompted them to revise their sales plans -- cost of components, small # of interested dealerships, or just revised projections regarding what the market would do in 2012.

As we discussed in Episode 106 of The Pace, the bigger issue is that Motus did a questionable job of managing expectations.

By saying "... affordable to a wide range of riders..." immediately prior to the Daytona public release of the information, then pricing the bike above $30,000 at the entry level... well, "mixed messages" is an understatement.  

I'm sure the bike needs to cost that (in early adoption) for investment recovery. But no matter how you slice it, 4 years after a MAJOR economic crash and seemingly permanent downward adjustment, and mired in a sea of far, far more accessibly priced competition, $31k is NOT "... affordable to a wide range of riders...". Not by any reasonable measure.

Sadly.

[atadaskew]

By saying "... affordable to a wide range of riders..."  

Investment bankers, doctors, athletes, rock stars, a-list actors..

That there IS a wide range of riders.

[Orson]

How many years wuz Big Dog in business?

I thought it wuz around 20 years.

They couldn't make it past the 2008 depression.

Maybe Motus can surf on the economic upswing and make it more than 20 years?

[R Doug]

I very much hope they make it.  I really want to see (hear) one in person.

I have to ask...

What makes this bike cost $10,000 more than say a Multistrada 1200 S Touring?  Here's a sport-touring bike that has a wonderful motor, electronically controllable Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes, hard luggage, and more dealers.  

Based on the price the Multi, which is priced ~ $5,000 more than most ST bikes, I would be willing to pay a similar price for the Motus.  If I'm going to spend $30 big, I would rather have this Duc and a second bike (naked sport bike, high end 250-300 enduro bike, etc...).

In summary, my questions is, what warrants the $10,000 premium on the Motus?  I refuse the accept an answer of, "because it's different."  Or some attempt to compare this bike to the equivalent of a custom cruiser bike from Big Dog.  It's not that.  It's a sport-touring bike that has nothing more to offer than a the Duc Multi or a BMW K1300s (two higher end / priced ST bikes).  I want to know what makes up the dollar difference.

[veefer800canuck]

Um, they aren't staying in business
http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2011/04/05/big-dog-motorcycles-halts-production/

Big Dog Motorcycles is halting production and owner Sheldon Coleman will start a new business making parts for Big Dog owners and dealers. This story began circulating yesterday, but kept changing every time it appeared. The Wichita Business Journal, talked to Rick Fairless of Stokers Dallas who confirmed he had a conversation with Coleman who indicated the bank had shut down production for good.

Funny, their website is up and running a year later like nothing had happened.  

[Orson]

I want to know what makes up the dollar difference.

I'm thinkin' start up costs would be a large chunk for Motus as compared to Ducati, who already has their R&D Department in place.

[R Doug]

I can certainly appreciate the economies of scale which larger, more established companies have in terms of R&D.  IMHO, a rational person isn't going to buy this bike by paying a premium for Motus' R&D.  Therefore, their only market at this point is the "more money than brains" client (not meaning to be blunt).  

I hope they reach those people and sell the hell out of them.  I would like to see a second hand bike which I could afford or the next gen version which the R&D to recoup per bike is less.

  

[Playinthestreet]

For me it simply comes down to I'm not spending $30k on a motorcycle regardless of nameplate/torque/horsepower/bags........whatever.

[shil]

It's just marketing.

Wait 'til it costs what you're willing to pay.

[R Doug]

It's just marketing.

Wait 'til it costs what you're willing to pay.

I don't doubt that may be the strategy.  The key issue with the strategy of price skimming is it only works when the product has an inelastic demand curve.  I highly believe ST bikes have a very elastic demand curve.  This isn't a necessity like gasoline or a perceived necessity like the next greatest home gaming system (e.g. Next Gen Sony Playstation).  

People buy high-end  or in-demand electronics all the time knowing the price is going to decrease over time.  People don't like buying motorcycles knowing the price (MSRP not resell) is going to decrease over time.  

[shil]

I imagine that Motus is looking for the guys who "need it now" right now.