Japanese v European motorbikes - did Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki & Suzuki lose their mojo?

http://www.crosstrainingenduro.com http://tractionerag.com Have Japanese motorbikes lost their mojo? They say our motorbikes are old fashioned. We can t design anything new. Our 20 year old bikes never change. Here is our take on Japanese v European motorbikes. Have the Japanese brands lost the plot? Have the lost their mojo? Why do they seem to put so little effort into innovation and updates? During the 1970s Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki dominated the market with great bikes that were actually reliable and well priced too. But nowadays they largely seem content to rest on their laurels and let the Europeans eat into their market share. Why? I suspect there are many answers with this lack of innovation in Japanese motorbikes. First, these are huge companies. Yamaha makes musical instruments, outboard motors, hi fis, and sporting equipment. Suzuki makes cars, outboard engines, wheelchairs and ATVs. Honda makes cars, power equipment, robots and aircraft. But can the Japanese brands become the innovative powerhouse again as they were in the past? So it s easier to just not change anything. Many argue that Japan s strength was in research and development, not creativity, a possible problem with Japanese motorbikes. They rarely pioneered anything new, but took another brand s idea and made it really work well. But of course the European brands have become very good at not only innovating, but creating new models that are often just as reliable as the Japanese models. Japan would have an uphill battle if it wanted to regain mastery of the market as it did in the 1970s... common in the Japanese versus European dirt bike debate. Motorcycles have an uncertain future too. And Kawasaki makes airplanes, ships, missiles, helicopters, monorails, trains, and gas turbines. You don t see the EU doing this when looking at Japanese versus European enduro bikes. When you get that big, motorbikes are just a small part of your business, a potential problem with Japanese motorbikes. And of course the original passion for creating motorbikes is now completely dominated by profit. The shareholders become more important than the consumers. They ask why we still use cable clutches. Why we don t we install six gears. But we have a solution for next year. Our design team has announced... Bold new graphics! And innovating can be an expensive risk, and important when looking at Japanese v European motorbikes. Millenials are less inclined to buy vehicle, or even learn to drive or ride. Emission laws may well kill off large capacity motorbikes. Environmental restrictions make the future of off road riding very uncertain, and is one of the Japanese motorbike problems. In 2017, Honda s CEO, Takahiro Hachigo, said "There’s no doubt we lost our mojo – our way as an engineering company that made Honda Honda". It will be very interesting to see how Japan s big four go over the next few decades. Are Japanese motorbikes better? Also when it comes to profit, the Japanese know which bikes are making the most money, important when looking at Japanese motorbike problems. We like to think it s the sports bikes, the adventure bikes, or the offroad bikes. Are Japanese motorbikes better? But the biggest markets are for small models selling in China, southeast Asia and India. For example Honda s biggest market is India selling models you have probably never heard: the Honda Unicorn, Shine, Activa, Livo and Grazia. If pumping out endless small bikes is bringing home the bacon, why risk money on innovating expensive bikes in small markets? Especially for Japanese versus European dirt bikes. There are other possible factors here too when asking have Japanese motorbikes lost their mojo? Since the 1990s, Japan s economy took a turn for the worse so business strategies have become very conservative. So if it ain t broke, don t fix it. Just keep selling those old models if they keep selling... explaining that lack of innovation in Japanese motorbikes. And sometimes it doesn t pay to make changes. Famous bikes like the DR650 and XR650L are still sold in some countries under the grandfather clause. As long as you don t change the design significantly, you don t need to meet tighter emission laws. There s no doubt Japan is still making some awesome bikes. And they are as reliable as a brick toilet. And often those old models are still great, I have just bought a brand new DR650 that has barely changed since 1996. Cross Training Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJAvmhgP0h1AEKY8vTEJPJg Cross Training Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cross.training.enduro.skills/?ref=ts Our enduro vlog series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlur54ugvzNJlUO0y6D10jVOGMLI4Raci Cross Training website: http://www.crosstrainingenduro.com Like to support our vids? http://www.crosstrainingenduro.com/cross-training-support-donations.htm Traction eRag: http://tractionerag.com #crosstrainingenduro #jananesemotorbikes