Are off road bikes getting more expensive?
Part of human nature loves to whinge about how bad everything is.
Even though at this point in history much of the world's population has never had it so good.
So each year it's tempting to complain about how motorbikes are too expensive nowadays.
But in most cases they aren't.
If you account for inflation, the real cost for most types of offroad motorbikes is about
the same over the decades - sometimes cheaper, sometimes a it more expensive.
And of course along the way we have picked up huge amounts of suspension,
incredible performance improvements, more use of alloy to reduce weight, and so on.
You get an incredible amount of bike for your money nowadays.
This is just looking at base models of course. One thing we do have now is an increased choice.
Manufacturers know many of us are blinded by bling, and will pay much more for the fancy model
loaded with stuff that looks cool but won't make us ride any better.
So you can sell your kids off for scientific experiments
to buy KTM's ridiculously priced Erzberg edition.
And of course this choice extends to cheaper brands being available nowadays.
AJP made in Portugal. Royal Enfields made in India. SWM from Italy.
And of course a pile of Wang Chang stuff coming out of China
if you aren't worried about quality or ethics of the country involved.
So in real terms, offroad bikes are not much more expensive at all.
But it's more complicated than just the real costs adjusted for inflation.
In many countries the rising cost of living
means we have less to spend on frivolous things like dirt bikes.
And to make things worse, we don't save money as much as used to.
Why? There are four main reasons.
Instant gratification. We want stuff right now
and won't do the hard yards to actually save the money first.
So we go deeply into debt and let the fat cats siphon off our earnings as interest.
There is very little in the way of financial education about how to save.
Most of us learn this from our parents, but each generation is passing on less
financial management skills, and more about living on credit card debt.
And finally, many of us think we will start saving in the future.
But we keep deferring that and get caught up in the debt cycle. Often for life.
So we often like to blame motorbike brands or the dealers for high prices.
But in reality it's more about disposable income and our increasing inability to save money.
Another common argument about high prices
is saying that some dirt bikes cost as much as a small car.
But it's all about economies of scale.
The cost of making a million cars in a budget four cylinder model probably
won't be much more than a much smaller run with a four stroke enduro bike.
So except for a few cases of price gouging, most of the time the manufacturers aren't rorting us.
And if we want to make motorbikes more affordable
we should just get out of debt and learn how to actually save the money first. Then buy the bike.
What do you guys think?