Cruisin' For A Bruisin'
Cruisin’ for a bruisin’
UP FRONT
David Edwards
CRUISERS, TOUTED IN PR FLAKERY AS motorcycling’s most popular market segment, are at a crossroads.
We are now entering the third model year of the so-called Japanese mega-cruiser, boulevard bombers styled in the “classic American tradition,” which really is no more than thinly disguised brochure-babble for “Harley-inspired.” And make no mistake, Harley-Davidson is very much in the driver’s seat when it comes to cruisers. The Motor Company commands more than half of all sales in the segment, and when you factor in the touring segment, which includes the strong-selling H-D Road King as well as touring-cruisers like the Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe, and Honda’s Shadow and Valkyrie Tourers, Milwaukee’s advantage jumps to more than 60 percent.
And here’s a bit of a shocker: In a year when Harley posted record sales (again) and the new-bike market grew by an estimated 7 to 8 percent (recording overall numbers of more than 300,000 for the first time in more than a decade, pause for a round of applause), sales of Japanese cruisers actually were off slightly.
“We saw some softening, some weakness in the category,” confirms industry analyst Don Brown of D.J. Brown & Associates in Irvine, California. “The Japanese are uneasy with some of the numbers,” he says.
Not a cause for undue concern, Kawasaki’s John Hoover, in charge of marketing and product planning, is quick to point out. Noting that the Vulcan 1500 Classic was his company’s top-selling model for 1997, Hoover says, “Yes, we’re seeing some shakeout, which happens in any market segment. But the surge for nostalgia is still there, still alive. We’re confident in cruisers, though we don’t see a need to overbuild. We’re never going to sell 100,000 Vulcans a year, for instance.”
Still, Hoover admits that the class is changing, evolving toward a twowheeled hot-rod style.
“The next level will be performance cruisers,” he predicts. “Our guys have been riding their bikes for a year or two now, and they’re ready for more power, ready to bolt on a carb and an exhaust system. Look at Harleys: An S&S carb and aftermarket pipes are almost mandatory. Look at Polaris: 92 cubic inches, with handling and performance. More Japanese cruisers will go that route, too, upgrading steadily until someone steps up and drops a ZX-11 or ZX-12(! ) motor into one of the things.”
Hoover’s bullishness about future cruisers is evident and on the record. “The market’s not even started yet,” he proclaims.
Over at Yamaha, statements are a little more guarded. The Royal Star, after all, got off to a painfully ponderous start, though the later saddlebag-shod versions have been gaining momentum.
“We don’t see a slowing down (of sales) for our products,” says National Communications Manager Bob Starr. “Overall, we see continued growth, especially as new products like the Polaris, the Excelsior-Henderson and the rumored new Harley-Davidson stimulate the market.”
Okay, what about Hoover’s performance predictions? The Royal Star has taken some hits for being underendowed in the bhp department, but Yamaha has a spectacular, jaw-dropping concept bike in the Speedstar (see Roundup, February, 1997), which lately has been flogged around the worldwide show circuit. Based on the Royal Star, but with street-rod styling and a promised booster shot of horsepower, it certainly makes a strong performance statement. Will we see it in production anytime soon?
“We’re doing research into that area, looking at it very closely,” allows Starr, without going into detail.
So, cruisers evolving into bruisers? It could happen. Honda shook up the ranks with its 100-horse, six-cylinder Valkyrie, and there may be more action from Big Red just around the bendas in this issue’s coverbike, the ballsy FN-1 roadster unveiled at the recent Tokyo Motor Show.
“FN-1 is a new-concept custom motorcycle,” says American Honda’s Ray Blank, vice president in charge of motorcycle operations. “Where are customs going? Probably more toward performance, because part of the fashion of custom motorcycles is a visual expression of speed, a visual expression of performance. That’s what FN-1 is. It’s an effort to garner public reaction to a new and different concept in performance customs.”
After being splashed across the front pages of about half the world’s motorcycle magazines, public reaction to the FN-1 is already rolling in.
“People really seem to like it,” says Blank. “They like the less laid-back, more performance-intensive style. It makes a strong statement, certainly that exhaust system. The (fore-aft) V-Four engine configuration is pretty unique in motorcycling, fundamentally what we have in the ST 1100. It’s something we could do if there’s enough positive reaction to it. That’s where new customs come from, not from the crucible of ‘need’ like sportbikes do. With sportbikes, changes are made for pure function; with FN-1, there’s a form-andfunction combination.”
Blank summed up the swoopy showbike with a statement that jogged my memory: “It’s kind of going our own way,” he said.
Later, I thumbed through a biography of Soichiro Honda, company founder and “supreme advisor” even after his retirement from the front office. I finally found the passage I was looking for. Mr. Honda was talking about the importance of forward-thinking, of not falling into a herd mentality simply for the sake of moving units off showroom floors.
“We do not make something because the demand, the market is there,” the Old Man cautioned. “With our technology, we can create the demand, we can create the market.”
Were he alive, I suspect Mr. Honda might not care for some of today’s cruisers, including some from his own company. But he’d be first in line for a ride on the FN-1, sure as hell.
