Commitment

Well, I'm starting to look around for a replacement for the trusty WR250F, and
have been doing some serious web surfing looking at whats out there. It has
to be road registerable in Australia, but I'm not stuck on getting a four
stroke, and would consider a two stroke 200/250/300 without to many problems.

What has struck me the most is how impressive a feat KTM have actually done in
the last few years with their marketing and their bike range.

They have 200/250/300 two strokes which are class leaders, and they have
250/450/525 four strokes which are also head of the pack (ok the 250 isn't
quite up to snuff yet).

Lets compare that to oh. say Honda. Wow. we just got the CRF250X here, and the
other choices are... zip! Oh. actually we have the CRE500 here in Australia.

What about Yamaha? Well, they have the WR250/450, but no open class bike. Here
in Australia, they have the YZ250WR which is a road registerable YZ, and have
recently announced they will do a YZ125WR as well, so they've got a bit of
range.

Suzuki? Well, theres the DRZ400, oh, and the Kawasaki KLX400 is the same beast
in a green suit. Kawasaki has the ageing KLX250 and KLX300 as well, which at
least have watercooling and a leccy leg, but they aren't up to the others
performance wise.

Husqvarna? They've got quite a good range. Gas Gas? New on the scene, but
reviews of thier bikes have been positive. Husaberg? no two strokes. TM? Two
and four strokes VOR? four strokes only.

So, what have I come up with?

Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki have been left way behind by the smaller players in
the market. They are slowly starting to come around, but have already dropped
their two stroke machines, when perhaps there is still a demand for them.
Where has the RMX suzuki gone?

If I want a two stroke road registerable bike, say 250cc I can have:

Yamaha YZ250WR
KTM 250EXC
Gas Gas 250
Husky 250
TM 250

If I want a Moden road registerable 450 four stroke, its a similar story:
Yamaha WR450F
KTM 450EXC
Gas Gas 450 - With fuel injection!
Husky 450
TM 450
VOR 450
Husaberg 450

OK. so lets say I decide to get a 450 class four stroke, like a huge amount of
others are. Whats the next factor that comes into play. Price. An often
overlooked part of the price of a bike is its resale value.

Unfortunately, resale value is where some of the more exotic bikes currently
fall down. You are virtually guaranteed that the KTM will have the best
resale value simply because they are doing so much to promote them across all
motorsports.

So despite the fact that the Husky (just to pick one), is perhaps a better
bike, and has been rated so in reviews, its a harder choice to make because
its almost the same price point, but the resale on the Husky will be less
than the KTM, making the next bike a bigger hurdle to cross.

Whats the point of all these ramblings?

I guess it all boils down to do you go with your head (KTM is a sure bet to be
a decent bike, with good resale value), or do you go with your heart (more
exotic, possibly better bike, potentially less resale).

What do you think? I certainly see a lot of people voting the KTM way and
shelling out there hard earned cash for an orange beast.