Whats next?

I'm with fmoffroad, a 250 4t.

These things are selling like hot cakes here in the UK, and if Husaberg can compete with the yams, hondas, Huskys and (rare) tm's then a dead cert will be that it is far better than the KTM offering.

If newbies come into the sport on a sorted 250, they are more likely to stick with the brand when it comes to moving up - especially if the other suggestions come to fruition - namely racing and winning on the Sundays!!

Regards

Paul

Know thy market

Josh,

Know and understand thy potential market.

Pay Webmaster Json to create a poll which heads every forum.

Ask the important questions:
Why do or would you own a Husaberg as opposed to that of another brand
Why would you not own a Husaberg
Where do you live
How old are you
What is your marital status
What is your income
What is your occupation
What is your education
What type of riding do you actually take part in (off road, competition, dual sport, etc.)

Ie Are you a pubescent teenager working @ the local diner or an engineer whom enjoys exotic toys?

Yada Yada Yada. You know the demographic drill as you are already in the marketing business.

BMG ~ Barrett Marketing Group.

Kind Regards,
Dale

Frosty said:

I'm with fmoffroad, a 250 4t.

These things are selling like hot cakes here in the UK, and if Husaberg can compete with the yams, hondas, Huskys and (rare) tm's then a dead cert will be that it is far better than the KTM offering.

If newbies come into the sport on a sorted 250, they are more likely to stick with the brand when it comes to moving up - especially if the other suggestions come to fruition - namely racing and winning on the Sundays!!

Regards

Paul

Click to expand...

My feeling is that KTM does not want to see Husaberg become a competitive brand but rather keep it as a test platform. See what works on those big bores, with all the rattling and increased pressure that goes on in these big thumpers, if anything goes wrong, the KTM image does not suffer, the Berg image is already what it is as far as reliability (for those who want a low-maintenance bike that is) and whatever technological advances test well on the Bergs trickle down onto the KTMs.

LeFrog said:

Frosty said:

I'm with fmoffroad, a 250 4t.

These things are selling like hot cakes here in the UK, and if Husaberg can compete with the yams, hondas, Huskys and (rare) tm's then a dead cert will be that it is far better than the KTM offering.

If newbies come into the sport on a sorted 250, they are more likely to stick with the brand when it comes to moving up - especially if the other suggestions come to fruition - namely racing and winning on the Sundays!!

Regards

Paul

Click to expand...

My feeling is that KTM does not want to see Husaberg become a competitive brand but rather keep it as a test platform. See what works on those big bores, with all the rattling and increased pressure that goes on in these big thumpers, if anything goes wrong, the KTM image does not suffer, the Berg image is already what it is as far as reliability (for those who want a low-maintenance bike that is) and whatever technological advances tested well on the Bergs trickle down onto the KTMs.

Click to expand...

My point exactly!
"Know thy market". Whom is the real potential candidate regarding the purchase of a quasi prototype motorcycle?

Does Ducati come to mind? How about Harley Davidson? Every major Japanese motorcycle manufacturer offers an improved version of either for a fraction of the price. Just the same, nothing is quite like the real deal!

Hey Dude Free-Style Teen or Mature Off Road Rider. Who is your audience?

Dale

Optional larger Tanks and fan kits

Jedi said:

Sounds like its time to go racing. :roll: YA hear that Brett ?

Click to expand...

Of course

And since putting together a competitive effort would completely wipe out the profits that we make selling bikes, we'll have to get someone else to pay for it

Questions - in selecting a series to race, what factors do we have to balance ? First, we have to pick one that our bike will be competitive in. That rules out Supercross, Arenacross, and Motocross in the US. Endurocross ? That's a possibility. We'd probably succeed in any offroad series, but that brings up the second question - What sort of exposure do these series get ? And who is watching ? Is it worth competing in a series that's not on television ?

I love going racing. With the exception of more carnal pleasures, it's the most fun I've ever had. And I'd love to run a Husaberg race effort, as brand success and resulting increased market share are very important to me. But if we choose to compete, we have to do it right.

We (BMG) are still climbing the learning curve. We're laying the foundation for steady growth for Husaberg in North America. Our unit sales are continuing to climb, not steeply, but steadily. We're having a good year, and we'll have a better one next year. I'm very optimistic about where we're headed. A race effort would certainly benefit us, but probably not in the short term. Any series that we could dominate in our first year of competition would probably not be worth dominating

So, to sum up

Racing is good.
I want to do it.
We need to be smart about it.
We need to be in it for the long haul.
It will pay off.

In the words of Yoda: "Patience, young Jedi "

Cheers,

Brett

Supermototeam said:

Jedi said:

Sounds like its time to go racing. :roll: YA hear that Brett ?

Click to expand...

Of course

And since putting together a competitive effort would completely wipe out the profits that we make selling bikes, we'll have to get someone else to pay for it

Questions - in selecting a series to race, what factors do we have to balance ? First, we have to pick one that our bike will be competitive in. That rules out Supercross, Arenacross, and Motocross in the US. Endurocross ? That's a possibility. We'd probably succeed in any offroad series, but that brings up the second question - What sort of exposure do these series get ? And who is watching ? Is it worth competing in a series that's not on television ?

I love going racing. With the exception of more carnal pleasures, it's the most fun I've ever had. And I'd love to run a Husaberg race effort, as brand success and resulting increased market share are very important to me. But if we choose to compete, we have to do it right.

We (BMG) are still climbing the learning curve. We're laying the foundation for steady growth for Husaberg in North America. Our unit sales are continuing to climb, not steeply, but steadily. We're having a good year, and we'll have a better one next year. I'm very optimistic about where we're headed. A race effort would certainly benefit us, but probably not in the short term. Any series that we could dominate in our first year of competition would probably not be worth dominating

So, to sum up

Racing is good.
I want to do it.
We need to be smart about it.
We need to be in it for the long haul.
It will pay off.

In the words of Yoda: "Patience, young Jedi "

Cheers,

Brett

Click to expand...

Sound advice and a poetic delivery to boot. I expected nothing less.

Kind Regards,
Dale

Well how about this for starters:

Lend some Berg's for the X-Games and the like. Give one to Mike Metzger or one of those loons (hope he doesn't read this )

Sponser a Freestyle MX event then in a year or two move on

Agreed. We need more bling. I keep saying that.

Possibly the cheapest and most effective thing to do...

Flood the magazines with test bikes and someone to stroke the test riders egos and make sure the bikes are set up properly.

Dirt Rider, Dirt Bike, Trail Rider and Cycle News probably have the widest coverage for the Husaberg off-road target market.

Send these guys stuff, annoy them, make them see nothing but yellow and blue for months at a time. You'll probably have to take out a few ads here and there to get them to actually write about the bikes, but it's money well spent.

It may be more effective than supporting a race series.

Set aside 6 to 8 bikes a year that do nothing but live at the magazines.

Oh, start early enough so that the press coverage actually gives you time to sell that model year too. If the 06 models aren't to the mags by October, forget about it.

Whatever you do, don't just send a crated bike to them and say ride it. They'll bitch about the suspension and jetting all day. Have someone knowledgeable set the bikes up properly and make tweaks as necessary for the test riders. Brown nose the test riders, give them water and wipe their sweat for them. They like that kind of stuff.

As far as knowing your market... The way I understand it is that Husaberg riders are serious regional or national off-road competitors, trail riders who like to be different or supermoto nuts.

A 250 wouldn't be catering to the burger joint kids, it would be giving mature riders another choice in the Husaberg lineup. Porsche offers a line from the 911 to the Carrera GT. None compromise the company image or it's target market. Some Super Seniors and Masters riders might not all appreciate the whack of the 550. :wink:

Get on the aftermarket accessories. People like to customize.

We'll do our part. From what I've seen so far, I'm sure Husaberg will step up with something good.

Business 101
It all boils down to three choices:

LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY

Knowing the market it very important, a poll might be a good idea. The is alot more of the 4 stroke market to take over from the other mfgs. I do believe that if you want to hit the racer market, you must make the 250 2T the benchmark that you measure against, especially as the 2T enduro / xc bikes become harder to come by.
Who knows, the fe400 (recall that alot of KTM racers prefer the 400 as a race bike over the 450) was a dream bike by most peoples standards. Maybe a racer based on the 400 (that would apeal to the displaced 200 / 250 / 300 2T riders might be a hit. Drop the CB and e-start, make it rev like a 2T and aim is as a gncc / enduro race bike, not meant for desert or SM!. Offer it with optional SXS suspension and 3 fuel tank sizes (and with quick fill capabilities). Take it to a GNCC race (preferably a nasty one), and put a magazine editor on it, the raves will pour in. It would be easier to build than a 250 DOHC 4T (all parts are currently available), and would be more reliable. If I had the $$$, I would have Dale build one for me.

Glad to see so many that support Husaberg and sincerely would like to help the company in the right direction. Hope the people in Europe read this site. Looking at the big picture, isn't it innovative thinking out of the traditional box that got Husaberg where they are today? The copycats like VOR and Vertametti don't seem to be doing so well. Throughout history it has always been the small company with a few brilliant designers that survive. C. Guzzi, Taglioni, Carcano, Tonti, Bordi, Tamburini etc ring a bell? The CBR900, R1, and new Gixxers came about because of a step backwards where a few individuals had some real power. I hope KTM doesn't lose the innovation because of corporate consolidation, group thinking, efficiency studies etc. Time will tell.
Dan

Although I understand it's a necessary evil, I wouldn't just throw bikes at verious magazines. I would pick and choose.

Here is a perfect example of what I picture the quintessential non-big 3 magazine editor to be like.

Editor said:

In next month's TBM we've dyno tested four of the top selling enduro 450s and not one of them cracks 40hp at the rear wheel with a knobbly tyre fitted. If you don't believe me you're welcome to join us at the dyno next time we test a Husaberg!

You're right in thinking that Bergs are relatively light, but it's only recently (since KTM bought them) that they're anywhere near as light as they used to claim.

Click to expand...

Yes sir, that's right, that ultra light 96 you've been riding around? It's light because KTM was going to own Husaberg soon.

Please don't give these men your bikes.

thanks,
json

I say forget stupid cross, circus cross, and all of that bling bling baloney. It is all show and no go. Off-road is where the old guys are, with jobs (i.e. money). KTM is successful because of the off-road sales. Just take a look at the average age on KTMtalk and Thumpertalk. There are a bunch of old codgers on KTMtalk, and they fork out ridiculous amounts of money to buy $7500 motorcycles. All of the guys I met from this site are off-roaders.

Brendan said:

I say forget stupid cross, circus cross, and all of that bling bling baloney. It is all show and no go. Off-road is where the old guys are, with jobs (i.e. money). KTM is successful because of the off-road sales. Just take a look at the average age on KTMtalk and Thumpertalk. There are a bunch of old codgers on KTMtalk, and they fork out ridiculous amounts of money to buy $7500 motorcycles. All of the guys I met from this site are off-roaders.

Click to expand...

Well put Brendan!

Brendan said:

I say forget stupid cross, circus cross, and all of that bling bling baloney. It is all show and no go. Off-road is where the old guys are, with jobs (i.e. money). KTM is successful because of the off-road sales. Just take a look at the average age on KTMtalk and Thumpertalk. There are a bunch of old codgers on KTMtalk, and they fork out ridiculous amounts of money to buy $7500 motorcycles. All of the guys I met from this site are off-roaders.

Click to expand...

I tend to disagree. Most money is in the MX market. All the offroaders I know have older bikes, older gear, no bling, very few aftermarket parts.

The MX kids are the one who spend all their grandmother's money in the industry.

We're a hobby, they're an industry.

froggy, I disagree w/your disagreement.

The old guys are the only ones that:

1)are willing to buy something that Ricky's not riding
2)Don't care what's on the cover of a magazine
3)Can actually afford a top end bike.

You could spend a boatload of cash at the circus-cross(thanks Brendan, aptly named), where the consumers are more concerned about the pants they're wearing, or you can spend much less, and get a much larger return at an event where the consumers actually think for themselves and will take a new product at face value.

I think trying to go up against the Japs on SC/MX is a complete waste of cash.

thanks,
json

If I were to ever buy another berg,
(I know,heaven forbid) I would like
a different color/look so it wouldn't look
like the old Hasslebergs.If all the bugs
are ironed out give the girl some new
cloths.Never mention the word "restart"
again.If they ever toy with a new design
how about a light weight twin.Nobody has
done that right yet.First with the most,
right? ( Nothing beats the sound my
brother's Cheney framed Triumph 650
had.)Oh,and us old geezers like chrome
frames.

Jason, when I go to a motocross track I see older riders on old bikes and kids with all the glitz and bling and they will not ride something older than 2 years old.

Each time I am in a group ride, I see very few newer bikes. Half of the guys sometimes have bikes from last century (which ended in '00), heck even last MILLENIUM 8O

At RESTART time (Tim, you'll survive), more than half of these guys kick it, the button pushers are a minority (Ok, Tim?)

If you go to a showroom, about 15 to 20% of the dirt bikes are bona fide enduros or trail. Exception being the shop carrying euro bikes, where about a third of the bikes are enduros or trail. A Yamaha dealer by my house has 3 TTRs, 2 WRF and 20+ YZs, not counting the PWs and of course the QUADs (I'm surprised nobody talked about that yet).

They sell more bikes, hardware, gear, bling to the MX crowd than to the trail crowd because of all the kids, many of whom want to ride MX to be cool, when they actually belong to the trail (example: my son Kenny, who realized he was a trail guy after endoing 20 times on MX tracks).

Bergs are toys for adults and serious riders who don't care about what any of the big guys ride and by the way I have been kidding with the bling thing, these bikes are the most anti-bling of the market.