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Originally Posted by TIGGER
Nope you're right except the Aura is also an Opel (Vectra,I think) but they also share the platform with the G6,Saab and Malibu. Is the Saturn a re-badged Opel which is a re-badged Malibu? Are we gonna end up with MVs that are really re-badged Buells, Buells that are really re-badged MVs,both,neither? Who knows? Oh and I'm on five sportbike forums and at least one person per forum is convinced that this buyout will make MVs more affordable....exactly when did HD start making motorcycling affordable? Now if that Chinese company that bought Benelli had bought MV then you might have something there... Even if HD decided to make MVs more affordable,they couldn't do it with "buying power". If they go to MV's existing vendors and say,we need the normal number of widgits,the vendor is gonna sell them at the normal price no matter who shows up to buy.
For example,let's say that MVs come with Blackstone rims (my fav!) and MV still only produces 5000 bikes for a total sale of 10,000 rims. Just because it's HD at the door doesn't mean that BST is gonna cut them a better deal does it? Now,if HD knocks on the door and says give us 50,000 rims because we are gonna start using them on Buells then sure they can get a better price. Unfortunately,we all know that most likely HD will stop buying expensive and beautiful BST and start putting Chinese made Enkeis on the MV. MV uses expensive Brembo premium brake components on their bikes now and Buell uses Nissin (I believe),which do you think will happen,Buell gets Brembo or MV gets Nissin? Ohlins vs whatever is on the Buells,etc. I'm saying that IF HD wants to bring the price down on MVs,serious component downgrades will be necessary. You will never be able to buy a 312 for $11,399....  |
What HD is good at doing is reducing costs through volume. When negotiation with shipping companies, you can get them to give you a better volume price when they are shipping 500,000 units, so you get a better price for the 10,000 or so MV's you ship. When looking at fasteners, there is a homogenization of fasteners that can reduce the number of specialized fasteners and the use of common fasteners. You can then reduce the cost per common fastener. There are reductions in frame manufacturing by common sourcing frames. Once the frame design has been completed by the engineers, is there anything unique about how MV welds their frames vs. Buell vs. Harley? Plastic and carbon fiber body panels can be common sourced providing discounts. Tires can be common sourced for discounts. 10,000 tires doesn't provide the same discount that 500,000 tires would. Electrical components can be common sourced providing discounts. HD would also be able to supply engineering and technical support that can help reduce the costs of R&D for MV. CAD and CAM resources could be shared between the companies rather than keeping them separate. Raw materials sourcing can also be shared. How much could be saved for MV by getting a discount on aluminum, titanium, and magnesium for engine casting and component machining. When you purchase aluminum for 500,000 bikes, you can get a discount for that material that you couldn't get for 10,000. Machining tools can also be bought with volume discounts.
I don't know that any of this will make that much of a difference, but it could. The question is whether HD will chose to pass any of these discounts down to us domestically. They could chose to keep the price high in order to keep it a high end marque and simply pocket the cost savings as profit. Conversely, how many more bikes could MV sell with equal per bike profit were the savings passed on to the buying public? What if they could reduce the price by 15-20% due to cost savings and this resulted in 50% more bikes sold?
None of these savings would necessarily cause a cheapening of MV bikes from a quality stand point. They would only need to gain enough of a discount to make a difference. This is what HD is very good at doing.
We'll see what happens. They may simply treat MV as a separate entity and provide it with absolutely no savings in common sourcing. I kinda doubt it, but it could happen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TIGGER
Which means they're straight from Rotax? Btw don't get me wrong,I applaud HD for realizing that they'll never produce a viable sportbike engine in-house and going to someone who could. I just think that the heart and soul of a motorcycle is the engine and if that isn't yours then the bike really isn't either. Basically,you're a "bike assembler",like OCC, at that point in my narrow-minded book.
To be honest,it really doesn't matter to me what happens with this buyout. I'll probably never own a MV,HD or Buell. I'll never be able to justify the price tags of either the MV or HD and Buell's stying has never been to my taste. I keep dreaming that Polaris/Victory will come out with a "American" sportbike or that Moto-Czysz and/or Fischer can somehow produce a viable sportbike for around the same money as the Japanese.
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There is less than a 2% part similarity between any Buell model and and HD model. Mostly fasteners. The cams would only transition between pushrod air/oil-cooled engines.
The similarity between the 1125R and the XB line is probably like 10-15% parts similarity with most of those being fasteners, wheels, brake, and body components.
My understanding is that after 2010, the air/oil-cooled XB line will be no more. At that point Buell will have as much to with HD as MV will. MV and Buell will become much more similar. Perimeter brake MV? Dual rotor Brembo Buell? Trellis frame Buell? Fuel in frame MV?
What a cool parts bin it will be between MV and Buell. I can't wait to see what beast comes out of that marriage.
