Q: Did watching racing on Sunday sell you a bike on Monday? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Q: Did watching racing on Sunday sell you a bike on Monday?

Lightcycle

Lightcycle

Rounder of bolts, Dropper of tools
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The common mantra being, "Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday".

It's not a secret that my favorite bike of all time is the Xerox Ducati 999R. A large part of it due to cheering on Troy Bayliss throughout his WSBK return in 2006, winning the WC on the 999R and then the Xerox-clad 1098R.

I've recently been perusing the FB marketplace, drooling over the M1000RR (in the lovely M-Motorsport colours), because my new favorite racer is Stoprak54. That last weekend in Aragon was spectacular racing!!!

Question: does watching racers spur interest in the bike or brand (halo effect) you shop around for or buy?

stoprak_phone-XL.jpg

Conflicted fanboy...
 
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Nope. Even today I know less about motorcycle racing than I do auto racing, and that's still not like, a lot. I know who Jordan Szoke and Eddie Lawson are. I literally just had the thought "is Troy Bayliss a racer? Where did I hear that name?" and then scrolled up to confirm that Lightcycle just named him in the original post. It has been years since I've tried to watch a motorcycle race - it always looks much more boring and slow than I know it actually is.

I do enjoy some tech that was developed for racing - floating brake rotors, inverted cartridge forks, aluminum frames.... but that is all ancient history now. I don't know that modern bleeding edge stuff is doing much for streetbikes anymore. Supersports are... I don't wanna say dying out. They're in a lull? The days of 600s getting clean sheet redesigns every two years are gone forever.

I do appreciate a good livery on its own merits. Repsol Hondas or tricolour Hondas still look cool, bumblebee Yamahas, Movistar Suzukis, etc. I hate that Kawasaki has been stuck on Monster Energy colours for like 15 years now.
 
Lightcycle said:
If you're a racing fan, does BMW or Mercedes racing in F1 sell more 3-series and C-Classes?
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For me, no effect. Given the number of people wandering around woodbridge with BMW hats and/or F1 related hats, maybe for them? Or do they just buy the merch? I don't see many BMW or MB with F1 graphics on them, more likely to be tarted up &^%&^%boxes than proper junior race cars.
 
TwistedKestrel said:
I do enjoy some tech that was developed for racing - floating brake rotors, inverted cartridge forks, aluminum frames....
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Yes! And not only for the street world as well. How many KTMs were sold based on their unparalleled success in Dakar and other off-road endeavors?

Their whole marketing platform is, "Ready to Race"...

GreyGhost said:
For me, no effect. Given the number of people wandering around woodbridge with BMW hats and/or F1 related hats, maybe for them? Or do they just buy the merch? I don't see many BMW or MB with F1 graphics on them, more likely to be tarted up &^%&^%boxes than proper junior race cars.
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So the follow-on question is, "Is racing a waste of marketing dollars?"

Have automotive and motorcycle companies done the math and decided what the intangible benefits are to sales, marketing and brand awareness?

Certainly some companies have crunched the numbers and pulled out of racing like Kawasaki and Suzuki in MotoGP, and when MM93 leaves the big show, Repsol is also pulling their Honda sponsorship, so there is some calculating going on behind the scenes.
 
I mean, I just bought some Repsol synthetic for my 919. It was between that and Liqui-Moly. I could definitely feel the Honda association weighing on the scales
 
Not really, although I am digging the Kawi classic colors in wsbk, so if I was shopping for a zx10 would definitely be for that paint scheme.
 
World or national-level race results have had no effect on my purchase decisions for street bikes. There's very little overlap between what I want from a street bike and what makes a good platform for winning races.

Local race results are influencing my current shopping, but only because I have been kicking around plans to go racing in the next couple of years. My current track bike was a dirt cheap way to get into trackdays, but it's pretty long in the tooth and the model hasn't been competitive in the appropriate race classes for quite a while. I really should just try a couple of races next year with the old bike instead of dropping a lot of money into building a current model, but nothing about racing makes sense financially.

As for race-replica liveries, I've found they are a reasonably good indicator of riders to avoid. 😃 That's not universally true, but I do approach with caution if I catch up to a bike with VR46 or MM93 designs on the helmet or fairings.
 
Racing sells race bikes - MXers and Supersports, the rest not so much. There was a time (yes, I'm old) when you could buy a 350/400cc street bike, put some tires on it and take it to the track with hopes of doing well and having some fun. Sadly those days are gone.
 
I have a Subaru because because rally driving looks fun. Go to the Rally of the Tall Pines end of November in Bancroft, it's like an unofficial Subaru meeting 😅

That being said, my budget is what dictates what I buy. If I had all the money to spend, then chances are I would be buying what wins on Sunday.
 
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Nope. I don't watch the big boys race with all their company sponsored money.
I would rather watch joe blow from down the street race his backyard built whatever.
Guess that's why I love me a good VRRA weekend.
 
Yes, but not when I could afford it. When I could afford it, nope, not what I wanted anymore.

Just imagine if that statement was for a motorcycle in Ontario when you are early 20's so you can't get insurance for it either (supersport liter bike).
 
If that was truly the case, everyone would still have a working Honda in their garage.
 
I don't have the money to be influenced by marketing to that level.


However...
BMW did say (I'm paraphrasing ) that providing the bikes for the "Long Way Round" trip was the best marketing decision they ever made....

While, KTM was approached first and rejected the request as they thought it would hurt the brand. They didn't have enough faith in Charlie and Ewan (and the team) that they would be able to complete the trip, and not that their bikes were not the right tool for the job.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
oioioi said:
I don't have the money to be influenced by marketing to that level.


However...
BMW did say (I'm paraphrasing ) that providing the bikes for the "Long Way Round" trip was the best marketing decision they ever made....

While, KTM was approached first and rejected the request as they thought it would hurt the brand. They didn't have enough faith in Charlie and Ewan (and the team) that they would be able to complete the trip, and not that their bikes were not the right tool for the job.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
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Didn't they use live wires on one of the subsequent trips? How did that work out for hd? Public trial by fire can be a big win or a big loss.
 
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