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4 Mar 2008
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Is Yamaha being left behind?
What is going on with Yamaha, they were once considered to be a market leader.
They seem to have lost their edge, the XT 660 R, X and Tenere all weight in at over 175 kg.
BMW make damm fine motorcycle but don't have a reputation for lightweight exciting bikes, but things are changing. The 650 X series weighs in at around 148 kg. Even the F800 GS is only 178 kg and has around 30 HP more than the XT.
Have Yamaha lost the plot???
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4 Mar 2008
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No more than Honda did a few years ago and continue to do with their latest version of the Transalp.
Lets see what Yam produce in 2009 to challenge the BMW 1200GS.
I think that Euro legislation has an influence here: the requirements for exhaust emissions.
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4 Mar 2008
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They don't build 'em like they used to!
It seems in every class apart from sports bikes there is always an older/discontinued bike that everyone wants to have back. The same thing happened in cars - the MK Golf Gti is still the quickest Golf Gti
Legislation is definitely part of the problem - one of my bikes is a '68 so exempt from all that and although it's only a 250 it sounds like the world is ending everytime I fire it up.... doesn't have a front stop switch either, doesn't need it apparently!
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4 Mar 2008
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Hmm, interesting comments, I am not sure that legistration has anything to do with it, BMW, KTM and Husky etc bikes are all euro 3 compliant
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4 Mar 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KiwiBruce
Hmm, interesting comments, I am not sure that legistration has anything to do with it, BMW, KTM and Husky etc bikes are all euro 3 compliant
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I'm not a geek on this topic but the politicking that goes on about bikes can be slightly interesting (at times!).
Bikes that are sold in small quantities are exempt from the Euro 3 regulations - I think "small" is less than 5000 sales per year. I also recall that this well change in the future - can't be sure about that bit; as ever, the basic idea is to continue to tighten up the regs for bike manufacturers.
Therefore, the less popular (and/or smaller bikes?) don't need to have cat converters and all the other gubbins such as lambda probes, yet.
So, my point was that all of these bits and pieces add to the all up weight, just as for cars which are an even worse case study - air bags x 6 etc etc.
(Yes, every generation of Golf gets to be bigger and heavier than the Mk 1).
Sports bikes: there are classics in there as well! For example, how about a Suzi TL1000 S or R?
Bikes, as delivered in the showroom, may never be as light as models from the recent past?
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4 Mar 2008
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I am sure you are right, however from the BMW web site:
Emission controlClosed-loop 3-way catalytic converter, emission standard EU-3
and nothing is mentioned on the Yamaha web site regarding Euro 3 emissions. It just looks odd to me that Yamaha seems so far behind in reducing the weight of their bikes. Is this going to mean less market share for them?
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