General SBK Discussion Thread

[rockrider]

Originally Posted by ken cool

Totally agree with you Rossiter!

Europeans are purer in their love for HDs. I have known a few people who have made the transition from Yam to HD and they have not looked back. One of them rides a Road King. I rode that bike. Believe me, if I had the moolah, I would have one parked in my garage right now even if the Vmax took me to Mars for half that price. But till I have the cash for it, (the recession is bearing down on my neck), I might want to look at the Vmax since everybody is going on and on about it.

Now that you have mentioned recession, I am curious to know if it has any impact on SBK biking lifestyle. Touring or maintenace? On the periphery I dont expect to hear an outright yes. I believe that expenses on SBK would probably be just the same as one would have on a mid size Sedan (that is a wild guess. correct me if I am wrong). The super rich may not see it, but for others , who out of passion stretched their budgets to own an SBK, does this show any signs? Especially in these days where every other sector (from travel to IT to Markets to Real estate.. ) is showing signs of job insecurities and hence demanding enough liquidity for a good time to come.

Also if some one has a rough idea about the changes in SBK sales figures in grey/white market, please throw some light on it.

[rossiter]

I think the issue is largely profession-centric. Some people may feel the pinch more than others, and some may choose to continue going on rides, buying bikes despite the pinch. It is hard to quantify.

I doubt if you'd get SBK sales figures from the grey market posted here for obvious reasons. As for official sales, Yamaha and Ducati's sales figures should be out soon

[MavericK46]

Originally Posted by rossiter

I think the issue is largely profession-centric. Some people may feel the pinch more than others, and some may choose to continue going on rides, buying bikes despite the pinch. It is hard to quantify.

I'd have to disagree there Akhil.
In the face of the recession seen in the global economy, profession would not have as much of an impact on a vehicle purchase as would the person's investments.

A person sitting on a pile of cash in the bank most definitely will be a person who's looking to invest in the stock market once Dalal street hits rockbottom i.e stops sliding down. That very person might be a clerk or a CEO.

So Im guessing that people at all levels will certainly have more reasons to put off their bike (Any displacement whatsoever) plans than to go ahead and make the buy right now.
With you being in the business sector, it would be nice if you could spell out the effects of the recession to us. With my limited knowledge, all i can do is make an educated guess...

EDIT : Eagerly awaiting the PM replie(s)

[rossiter]

Originally Posted by MavericK46

I'd have to disagree there Akhil.
In the face of the recession seen in the global economy, profession would not have as much of an impact on a vehicle purchase as would the person's investments.

A person sitting on a pile of cash in the bank most definitely will be a person who's looking to invest in the stock market once Dalal street hits rockbottom i.e stops sliding down. That very person might be a clerk or a CEO.

So Im guessing that people at all levels will certainly have more reasons to put off their bike (Any displacement whatsoever) plans than to go ahead and make the buy right now.
With you being in the business sector, it would be nice if you could spell out the effects of the recession to us. With my limited knowledge, all i can do is make an educated guess...

Hey man.. OT: Will reply to your PMs soon.

Back on topic..

You're talking about white money now. People with "alternate" sources of income will always have spare cash to spend. It could range from a real estate magnate to a politico's kid. Who knows? That's why I said it's hard to quantify this.

Going by the same analogy.. car sales are on the rise, despite the recession and what not. In fact, input prices like steel is going down, which the auto cos could pass on to the consumers, thereby possibly driving up sales even more.

We'll just have to wait and see.

[MACH50]

he he he............arey this a superbike thread................not a Economic times column.

Daily so much gyan do I get from elders about current economy,that sometimes I think I wud buy a Bugatti Veyron the next month after improving my economic conditions immensely.

Lets enjoy biking as a way of life and not burden ourselves wid matters of paramount imporatnce.............Cool.

[simba_smiles]

Originally Posted by rossiter

2) Eliminates the cat which will make the underseat sperm killing heat go away

And yeah the new R1 surprised me with the underseat exhausts, and which are heavier this year because of the tighter emission controls in place.

@rossiter...

didnt know about this...that by going in for slip-ons/ Y-pipes, and thereby eliminating the cat (didnt even know that slip on's dont have cats) reduce the heat considerably. could you please elaborate?

....simba

[simba_smiles]

@rossiter...

am all ears

...simba

[rossiter]

Originally Posted by simba_smiles

@rossiter...

didnt know about this...that by going in for slip-ons/ Y-pipes, and thereby eliminating the cat (didnt even know that slip on's dont have cats) reduce the heat considerably. could you please elaborate?

....simba

Hi Simba, let me rephrase what I said in the other post. The heat will not entirely go away, but it will be reduced.

The manufacturers fit catalytic converters to meet the required emission standards, and is part of the bike's emission control system. What the catalytic converter also does is to act like a giant heat trap. Changing the Y-pipe, and/or the slip on will eliminate the catalytic converter, since the aftermarket exhausts and Y-pipes do not come with a catalytic converter installed.

ALternately, you could just remove the catalytic converter from the stock pipes, and that's a nice 2 hour DIY job

[simba_smiles]

Originally Posted by rossiter

Hi Simba, let me rephrase what I said in the other post. The heat will not entirely go away, but it will be reduced.

The manufacturers fit catalytic converters to meet the required emission standards, and is part of the bike's emission control system. What the catalytic converter also does is to act like a giant heat trap. Changing the Y-pipe, and/or the slip on will eliminate the catalytic converter, since the aftermarket exhausts and Y-pipes do not come with a catalytic converter installed.

ALternately, you could just remove the catalytic converter from the stock pipes, and that's a nice 2 hour DIY job

thanks a lot for the elaboration. but would the bike then pass the "pollution-under-control" test at one of our many petrol pumps?

...simba

[Aparajith]

Just a doubt rossiter. In that case are u not harming the environment? Also how much of a change will the cat-con elimination make(in degrees of temperature) or will it also affect acceleration and other parameters as well, cos AFAIK a cat-con slows down the gas flow. So the engine should have been designed with that back-pressure in mind, right?