Oh look - bold new graphics ! | GTAMotorcycle.com

Oh look - bold new graphics !

Yup, definitely get the feeling that Suzuki is giving up on the motorcycle segment of it's business.
At least the ICE models. It would be interesting to know if they still had a functional engineering team. Maybe they are developing electric or maybe they are planning to outsource drivetrain from a supplier.
 
They gave up on ATVs and side-by-sides decades ago. No shock I guess.
And cars. Their outboards were never amazing. They've pulled out of china. Headed for a complete closure or deciding to focus on india/indonesia exclusively? Seem to be slowly circling the drain with no lifeline in sight.
 
I'm curious to see what, if anything, will come of that parallel twin. Suzuki announced that they're pulling out of MotoGP next year, and yet they're still participating in the MotoGP test sessions this year, apparently because of a culture where you just follow through with the plan regardless of whether it makes sense or not. So are the parallel twin and new SV650/VStrom real things, or just the dying spasms of a zombie roadbike department?
 
I was still holding my breath for the GSX-R/4. Guess I can breath now. :(

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Get this one instead.

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Saw an interview with the rep for North America re the rumour that Suzuki is getting out of motorcycles. You can tell he is lying when he says "no, they're not." Of all the brands, Suzuki has been consistently the top dog for not listening to and learning from its customers.

The GSX-R is dead. I wouldn't buy the new one as there aren't enough new generation out there for parts should the doors close suddenly. If you're still a fan, buy old.
 
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Yamaha seems asleep at the switch as well, at least in certain segments - they literally do not have a cruiser right now. Nothing. The Star Venture (my next bike, still drooling) was unceremoniously removed from the Yamaha website this past spring - the link for "Cruiser" remained but went to a blank page. Now I see it's completely gone. I'm not sure if they ever officially announced that it was discontinued.

Starting to wonder what the heck Kawasaki is doing as well with the cruiser segment. They're still selling the Vulcan Voyager, but they literally have not changed since 2008 except for the addition of ABS being made standard in 2013 (I think it was), and changing the paint schemes every year. Aside from different paint, a brand new 2022 is physically identical to my 2013, for example. It's getting quite long in the tooth but Kawi seems happy to just sit on it I guess as they still sell, and probably make them good coin. But c'mon, the entire Vulcan lineup is getting stale.

Anyhow, none of this probably matters to those outside the cruiser segment, but it does seem to be a segment in distress right now.
 
I do like the Vulcan S a lot - it's a clean design - but that's been around for... seven? years now so it's not exactly a great counterpoint
 
Yamaha seems asleep at the switch as well, at least in certain segments - they literally do not have a cruiser right now. Nothing. The Star Venture (my next bike, still drooling) was unceremoniously removed from the Yamaha website this past spring - the link for "Cruiser" remained but went to a blank page. Now I see it's completely gone. I'm not sure if they ever officially announced that it was discontinued.

Starting to wonder what the heck Kawasaki is doing as well with the cruiser segment. They're still selling the Vulcan Voyager, but they literally have not changed since 2008 except for the addition of ABS being made standard in 2013 (I think it was), and changing the paint schemes every year. Aside from different paint, a brand new 2022 is physically identical to my 2013, for example. It's getting quite long in the tooth but Kawi seems happy to just sit on it I guess as they still sell, and probably make them good coin. But c'mon, the entire Vulcan lineup is getting stale.

Anyhow, none of this probably matters to those outside the cruiser segment, but it does seem to be a segment in distress right now.
Venture is gone already?! Darn shame as that was a great design imo. Liked it since it came out in the latest design but I’ve only seen 2-3 of them on the roads so they must not have sold well.
 
WHole podcast about it.



Excellent information here.

While we here in NA are predicting dire end-times for Suzuki based on no new motorcycle models coming out, pulling out of MotoGP, etc., the financials paint a different picture for Suzuki Global:

>50% year-over-year growth from 2020
>30% growth over pre-pandemic 2019 (to normalize figures)
1.5% of global revenue comes from motorcycle/scooter/ATV sales in North America

FFS, they sell more marine outboard motors than motorcycles in NA...

It's a healthy company. Given these figures, it just makes financial sense to scale back R&D for large-displacement motorcycles destined for the western market and to forego the millions-of-dollars-per-annum marketing exercise that is MotoGP.

So a relative handful get their noses out of joint about Suzuki's participation in the North American market.

I doubt the top brass and shareholders of the company give a rat's *** about it.
 
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Excellent information here.

While we here in NA are predicting dire end-times for Suzuki based on no new motorcycle models coming out, pulling out of MotoGP, etc., the financials paint a different picture for Suzuki Global:

>50% year-over-year growth from 2020
>30% growth over pre-pandemic 2019 (to normalize figures)
1.5% of global revenue comes from motorcycle/scooter/ATV sales in North America

FFS, they sell more marine outboard motors than motorcycles in NA...

It's a healthy company. Given these figures, it just makes financial sense to scale back R&D for large-displacement motorcycles destined for the western market and to forego the millions-of-dollars-per-annum marketing exercise that is MotoGP.

So a relative handful get their noses out of joint about Suzuki's participation in the North American market.

I doubt the top brass and shareholders of the company give a rat's *** about it.
I wouldn’t say it’s just the NA market though as there’s plenty of other country’s still fondly remembering the K5 GSXR and other fun exciting bikes Suzuki had brought out not to mention the off-road crew that wishes their MX line was still battling at the head of the pack instead of warmed over models BNG.
I never thought they were in financial trouble, I/we just miss Suzuki of old.
 

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