‘Overpriced’ motorcycles

How do we assign value to motorcycles? An interesting topic for Black Friday.

I wrote about the cost of gear and that most of it seems quite a bit more expensive than it should be in another article. Bear with me today as I turn my focus to the motorcycles themselves.

Motorcycles are more complex than jackets. I know that is news to a lot of people. The cheapest motorcycle I am aware of (that you can’t just buy off of Amazon) is the CSC TT250 which you can buy for an MSRP of $2,495. The most expensive motorcycles cost 20x more. Some limited-run bikes by manufacturers like Ducati and their Superleggera V4 will set you back 40x the price or more (Honda RC213V-S, anyone?). Does what you get directly scale with what you pay? Not exactly.

Below are three examples of motorcycle brands with diminishing returns on purchase price when you compare them to more mainstream manufacturers.

Janus is an American motorcycle manufacturer in Goshen, Indiana. They produce a small number of motorcycles each year with what is essentially the same Chinese-made engine as the TT250. Unlike CSC, their motorcycles start at $8800 and go up as you add customizations and options. That 3.5x price increase over the CSC and other motorcycles in the $9k price range (Kawasaki Z900, Triumph Tiger Sport 660, Honda Rebel 1100 as a variety of examples) is a major sticking point for many shoppers. They do now sell a higher-powered option (30hp) but that also starts at $14k.

Units from Janus are hand-built which is costly. Folks need to be able to make a living wage. The small volume makes them unable to take advantage of economies of scale driving up costs further. The engine is likely one of the least expensive parts of the bike.

These motorcycles are targeted at people who love the vintage (1920s) style without the price and maintenance of a bike that old. You aren’t likely to find people cross-shopping Janus with many other brands. If this is what you’re looking for, there really aren’t many other options.

For a comparable new price, you can buy a base-level BMW R1250RT or R1250GS if you want a modern boxer engine configuration. Both are arguably better.

What does better really mean, though? It doesn’t have cruise control, is unhappy at interstate speeds and, aside from EFI, nothing particularly modern. Forget CarPlay or Android Auto. They also have a reputation of unreliability. Still, you either get it or you don’t. People either love them or hate them.

Ural is the only factory sidecar option that you can buy right now. Sidecars can be added to motorcycles and there are some really great companies out there. Just be ready to spend another $10k or so on top of the price of the bike.

Like the Janus, these bikes are hand-built, though in Eastern Europe instead of Indiana. Comparable low unit volume creates the same issues as Janus. Additional costs to get it to us Americans is understandable. Suddenly the Ural price isn’t so outrageous.

Also similar to Janus, it is a modern vintage bike but in an even truer sense. Instead of creating a new bike to mimic what used to be, Ural has been making essentially the same bikes since 1942 when the USSR copied a BMW during WWII. It has some modern upgrades but non-enthusiasts would struggle to notice the differences. If you like the idea of vintage but don’t want a project bike or a basket case, Ural isn’t a bad idea.

The first two brands discussed are quite similar in their target markets. While they are arguably expensive for what they are on paper, they are not out of alignment with what people generally pay for motorcycles. Arch Motorcycles has entered the chat.

Arch is a company founded in 2011 by Neo…er…Keanu Reeves and some other guy I’ve never heard of (Gard Hollinger). Their target market is significantly different from the previous two brands in both performance and price. Arch makes sportbikes that look like cruisers. I like to think of them as power cruisers that can do more than go fast in a straight line.

You pay for that performance, though. Each bike is custom to their owner and if you have to ask, you can’t afford one. You know that from the reference to ‘bespoke.’ Anything bespoke is expensive. The only recent pricing I could find was a Rider Magazine article which states you can order your own for the low cost of $128,000.

It is modern and doesn’t pretend not to be. An Arch unit is made of top-shelf parts since there’s no reason to worry about what components cost when price isn’t a factor. Even so, $128k is a tough pill to swallow. Sure, it has an S&S v-twin with a claimed 122lbft of torque but you could buy nearly 3 Harley Davidson CVO Road Glide Limiteds with similar torque for the price of one Arch.

SO WHAT?

Does the fact that you can buy a 100+hp motorcycle for the same price as the 14hp Janus mean you shouldn’t buy the Janus? Should you buy a used Goldwing over a new Ural? Why get a custom Arch when you can have a garage full of other bikes with cash left over to cover maintenance for as long as you own them?

Build and material qualities are factors in pricing and companies exist to make a profit. Smaller builders, without automation and economies of scale, have to charge more to survive. The cost to produce assembly-line motorcycles from the major manufacturers is not significantly different across a particular brand’s model line. We willingly pay more for higher performance/more advanced models because we perceive the additional value. There is still a diminishing return as you climb the model ladder. Regardless of what you buy, double the money doesn’t buy you double the bike.

I own a 2021 Ural. It is one of the main reasons I started this website. You could say I put my money where my mouth was. I bought it new and it wasn’t cheap even though I got a good deal. I paid barely $1500 more for my used 2018 Goldwing. I still have both and don’t regret owning either.

I nearly purchased a used Janus Gryffin but the deal fell through. I’ve got my eye out for another one in the event it becomes available while there is still some space in the garage. Arch isn’t really my style and I’m glad because there’s no sense in lusting after a bike that expensive in my current financial state.

Your financial advisor would not encourage you to buy one of these motorcycles. They would be unlikely to encourage you to buy any motorcycle. It is a purchase you make with your heart rather than your brain. At least the chopper craze of the 2000s is over.