Why so few color schemes offered by manufacturers? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Why so few color schemes offered by manufacturers?

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EvilBeaver

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Yellow? Orange? Forget it!

Red? Maybe (if you like Honda). On top of that, some colors are not even offered every year.

Why is that? I can't believe offering more colors would mess up their profit margins, i mean does it really cost that much more to churn out a rainbow of bikes from the factory?
 
EvilBeaver said:
i mean does it really cost that much more to churn out a rainbow of bikes from the factory?
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yes, they don't sell as many units as you think
 
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If you think the situation is bad with bikes having few colour schemes, try cars!

In a lot of cases, you have your choice between white, grey, silver, charcoal, and black, and the only readily available "colour" is something meh and neutral, like beige. There might be a couple of actual colours available but if you want them you have to special order them.

The dealers don't want something on their lot that is going to sit there for a long time, and something neutral that doesn't offend anyone sells faster than something "polarizing" - like a non-greyscale actual colour!

I'm the other way; I refuse to buy a vehicle that is a non-colour. It almost doesn't matter what the colour is ... as long as it isn't grey-scale.
 
Related question: why different sets of color schemes in different countries? I was surprised to see a blue XSR900 in London a couple weeks ago. How hard can it be to offer it worldwide?
 
I went in to buy a car.

They said what colour would you like. Orange. No. Green. No. Red. No. Purple. No.

Well, what colours do you have. We have Black (Very dark grey), Dark Grey, Silver (Shiny Grey), Light Grey, White (Very Light grey), and Blue.

So I have a blue car now.

Most of my neighbors have one of the five shades of grey.

For a bike I got the orange one. :D
 
Baggsy said:
I went in to buy a car.

They said what colour would you like. Orange. No. Green. No. Red. No. Purple. No.

Well, what colours do you have. We have Black (Very dark grey), Dark Grey, Silver (Shiny Grey), Light Grey, White (Very Light grey), and Blue.

So I have a blue car now.

Most of my neighbors have one of the five shades of grey.

For a bike I got the orange one. :D
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Purple, eh? Okaay, aunty Sally :) j/k

Well if you went to buy a Buick ;) or even an Altima, I can see why they'd be offered only in a "9-5 balding man with a mortgage" colors.

PS. How about this "purple" ? :) hehehe there's a guy in the GTA with a Merc roadster in that paint scheme, but he said its a wrap...i think he said cost 4-5k.


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For the record, I actually love that TVR purple.

EvilBeaver said:
Yellow? Orange? Forget it!

Red? Maybe (if you like Honda). On top of that, some colors are not even offered every year.

Why is that? I can't believe offering more colors would mess up their profit margins, i mean does it really cost that much more to churn out a rainbow of bikes from the factory?
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I feel like manufacturers use it as an easy way to differentiate different model years in a bike's run. They may offer the same colour at different times in different markets, so they don't even have to spend any time setting up production for "new" colours.

For me the real question is why do they seem to offer the Ninja 1000 in only black and/or green every other year.
 
Matt Rain said:
Related question: why different sets of color schemes in different countries?
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TwistedKestrel said:
I feel like manufacturers use it as an easy way to differentiate different model years in a bike's run. They may offer the same colour at different times in different markets, so they don't even have to spend any time setting up production for "new" colours.

For me the real question is why do they seem to offer the Ninja 1000 in only black and/or green every other year.
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Usually the main manufacturer makes several choices available worldwide and then local marketing departments in each individual market make the decisions about which ones they want to take.
 
I'm sure it has something to do with production costs and keeping them down.
Of course the price goes up or stays the same.
Just for the heck of it I checked out some of the BMW touring bikes a few weeks ago.
K1600, R1200.
Only 3 colours each and the were all terrible IMO.
 
Harley Davidson offers a nice palette of colour. Don't like the black tho, that's only my favourite on people.
 
And so it is (just googled) On a best guess multiple choice question I'd have gone "stripper".
 
EvilBeaver said:
Purple, eh? Okaay, aunty Sally :) j/k
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Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad. #RespectThePurple

Didn't even think about colours when iy comes to cars, as I buy used so I take whatever the deal is. But my cars have been: yellow, diarrhea brown, red, gunmetal, black, purple, champagne and now silver/grey. Just realized that we have 2 grey vehicles. Never really thought about it. Colour people. We need more colour!
As far as bikes go, I'm so used to associating certain colours with brands, that I actually find it strange when say Honda makes a yellow bike.
@baggsy, not all men can handle purple. We are the chosen few.

Sent from my custom Purple Joe Bass mobile on Tapatalk
 
statsman said:
I'm sure it has something to do with production costs and keeping them down.
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Yes, + inventory control. Most motorcycles sales per model per distributor are very low compared to other vehicles and keeping colour choices limited saves money on having to have more units on hand or getting stuck with a non seller.
 
I hear you on the same old colors its a brand and money saver thing. I think the body decals and seat skin could have many options with color and design offered to buyers. There's huge profits made on new bike sales for the manufacturer and room for multi body decal design and seat color selection when buying a bike. Make it more interactive and personalized with the bike buyer shelling out big money.
 
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They can keep the colour selection, doesn't bother me. But why the hell can't dealers make an actual seat? Like say, Corbin or Sargeant. Every bike ever made needs a new seat immediately. It's almost as though they all get kickbacks from the aftermarket companies.

Sent from my Le Pan TC802A using Tapatalk
 
"seat" is a bit of a misnomer. It implies sitting down but no where in the fine print does it mention that specifically. Was the sales guy/gal wearing an nice suit?
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