Suzuki woes

[BusaBret]

I guess we can not expect to many updates in the near future!!:down:

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/s...v1411-suzuki-poised-confirm-motogp-withdrawal

 

[Rainbow7]

Meh, I wouldn't be too concerned. Racing is incredibly expensive, so maybe Suzuki have decided to just tighten their belts for a while.

 

[dadofthree]

It happens in all forms of racing. Either way Suzuki will have to keep up or depend solely on the loyalty of consumers.

 

[skydivr]

Dissappointed.

 

[brumanchu]

Sport bike owners are performance oriented, and that technology and design characteristics comes from racing. No way Suzuki can abandon that path unless they plan on giving up ling term market share, IMHO...

 

[GsxrBots]

Oh that sux, and they were SO competitive. :rolleyes2:

At least I won't have to watch them finish last every year... :down:

 

[cheferman65]

With Batista moving on to Honda there were talks of bringing John Hopkins(???) back to GP with Suzuki.
Guess the thought of running in the back another year was enough to pull the plug.
The cost is huge to support a team at that level and with the new 1000cc engine development costs I can understand their concern and decision.
Suzuki still has a major presence in other racing venues, WSBK, AMA

 

[brpo]

There is only maybe a half dozen competive riders and teams in MotoGP. Honda and - come to think of it - I can't name another competitive team...

 

[BusaBret]

Suzuki still has a major presence in other racing venues, WSBK, AMA

I thought Suzuki had stopped full factory teams in AMA. Only offering support to satellite teams but not full factory backing?? Lord knows I been wrong before

 

[stretchabusa]

That's a real shame, long as they are still racing and developing, then who knows what could be around the corner

 

[cheferman65]

I thought Suzuki had stopped full factory teams in AMA. Only offering support to satellite teams but not full factory backing?? Lord knows I been wrong before

Suzuki Racing

Granted it's not like when Matt and Ben were the kings of the ring...

 

[HillbillyTom]

Paul Denning also runs the Cresent Suzuki WSBK team. Looking like Hopkins may go there, teamed with Leon Camier.. Suzuki pulls out of MotoGP? | MotoGP News | Nov 2011 | Crash.Net

 

[BusaBret]

The bad part is WSBK seems to be the bastid step child. Its where racers go that can't compete on the MotoGP level. Look at Spies, one year in WSBK and takes rider and factory championship. Comes to MotoGp and is in the top 10 riders??

 

[fallenarch]

I wonder if Suzuki is having trouble with the general direction bikes are taking with electronics. Their lineup is way behind almost everyone in terms of sophistication. Gixers are all awesome bikes but they are old world, really sorted mechanical motorcycles - no bells and whistles. They are sort of like BMW used to be with making everything like it was a tank while the rest of the industry was going for more performance.

I really thought we would see a street liter GSV based V4 as the new top of the sportbike line by now. But it's like they just see the whole MotoGP thing as a side effort, half-hearted at best.

 

[HillbillyTom]

I wonder if Suzuki is having trouble with the general direction bikes are taking with electronics. Their lineup is way behind almost everyone in terms of sophistication. Gixers are all awesome bikes but they are old world, really sorted mechanical motorcycles - no bells and whistles. They are sort of like BMW used to be with making everything like it was a tank while the rest of the industry was going for more performance.

I really thought we would see a street liter GSV based V4 as the new top of the sportbike line by now. But it's like they just see the whole MotoGP thing as a side effort, half-hearted at best.

I think Suzuki is having trouble with $$ more than anything. They seem to be just limping along, making small changes to one model every year or 2, but nothing that requires any big $$ R&D. Then they tack major price increases on these minor changes. Gixxer 6 is still the highest priced 600, and still lagging toward the back of the review sheets. The last year, most of the magazine reviews haven't even included the Gixxer 1K because it "remains unchanged". These things can have a major (negative) impact on sales on an already dog eat dog market. They've dropped the SV650, and even their dirt bike line up doesn't stir much interest anymore (now Dungey has jumped ship to KTM, that section of the 'Zuk race effort is in dire straits too).
Even if they wanted to, I don't think 'Zuk can afford the millions needed to run a competitive MotoGP team. Stick with the cheaper AMA and WSBK teams, and hopefully promote bikes that look a lot like the ones on the showroom floors.
Hopefully they do something soon. Get too far behind the game, and it can become impossible to catch back up.

 

[bjewell]

Friends in Tokyo who work for banks there predict Suzuki will radically change their business plan to focus on emerging markets for their bikes and cars, i.e., low-powered chicken and produce haulers. The top-of-the-line motorcycle market is a shadow of what it has been and the profit margins are very thin. The Hayabusa may very well be a collectable bike in future years like a vintage Ducati 750 or Kawasaki Z1. I'm keeping mine bone stcok, clean and original...