Nick Hayden interview

[superjohn]

Ouch. Wonder why there were 749 standard, dark, S and R models then. Besides the f'ed up economy I wonder what changed with their middleweight sbk? Still would like to see a factory 848S. But the mighty dollar dictates everything.

I'd heard somewhere that the 749 was a loss leader and management felt offering all the model options was a mistake.

I'm surprised they don't offer an 848 with a dealer installed "S" option though. Something like Fiat does with their Abarth 500 SS in Europe.

[Drunken Monkey]

I'm surprised they don't offer an 848 with a dealer installed "S" option though.

Good idea.

Ducati seems to do well with the termi & ECU packages, why not a Termi & Ohlins & ECU (with traction control) kit, all branded under an "S" badge.

I think the only sticking point would be the cost of the kit 

[Speeddog]

I can see the price point on an 848 being a problem.

Not sure if there's any big differences between an 848 and 1198 motor, if it's just the displacement, the 848 mill might be a dollar cheaper. 

[Drunken Monkey]

Dry vs. Wet Clutch for sure. After that couldn't the smaller mill be made with looser tolerances since the power output is lower?

[superjohn]

They probably aren't making a lot of money on the Superbikes. Actually, I have always thought the Big 4 were losing money on all their Superbikes and Supersports and making up for it by selling cruisers for $15K. I can't believe that you can completely revamp a state of the art competition motorcycle every two years and sell enough of of them to cover the costs.

Ducati doesn't have that luxury, ergo the longer product life and higher costs, exchange rates not withstanding.

[desmoquattro]

In Ducati's case it's the opposite. The Superbikes have far more margin than the other models. That's why the 999's dismal failure was so much of a problem for the company.

[Drunken Monkey]

I can't believe that you can completely revamp a state of the art competition motorcycle every two years and sell enough of of them to cover the costs.

Ducati doesn't have that luxury, ergo the longer product life and higher costs, exchange rates not withstanding.

Yamaha probably sells more R1s than Ducati sells in total. Hell, Honda's budget for office supplies is probably bigger than Ducati's total operating expenses.

In short: the economies of scale for the Big Four are staggering when compared to Ducati. If they have any loss leaders, it's in the entry bike category.

[superjohn]

Yamaha probably sells more R1s than Ducati sells in total. Hell, Honda's budget for office supplies is probably bigger than Ducati's total operating expenses.

In short: the economies of scale for the Big Four are staggering when compared to Ducati. If they have any loss leaders, it's in the entry bike category.

Yeah, that's a valid point, but as many R1's as they sell they sell even more cruisers at even higher prices. Those bikes have nothing high tech about them, no real development and still selling for more than $10K each. Definitely a lot of profit in that segment.

[Drunken Monkey]

Probably much higher margins on cruisers to be sure, but I've noticed the level of "fit and finish" on the cruisers is pretty high.

i.e. it's easy (and cheaper) to build a "sloppy looking" bike when you can hide the uglyness under some bodywork.

Man, this thread is turning into the TOSAT or the racing board 

[ducpainter]

Probably much higher margins on cruisers to be sure, but I've noticed the level of "fit and finish" on the cruisers is pretty high.

i.e. it's easy (and cheaper) to build a "sloppy looking" bike when you can hide the uglyness under some bodywork.

Man, this thread is turning into the TOSAT or the racing board 

Glad to see you're doing your part.

[superjohn]

  My apologies for fueling the tangent