New guy, No Ninja 1000 Though

ToNY97 said:

If Kawi offered more demo events, it would help riders like you.

You'll never regret learning from research. Smart people do their homework.

N1K should fit your requirements at a modest price point.

Click to expand...

Kawasaki would love to have more demo events for exactly this reason and these types of people. Not too terribly long ago we had 3 semi trucks on the road, one dedicated just for cruisers (Vulcan Nation) that would hit the events such as Sturgis, and the other two with a full complement of demo bikes. One truck started at each end of the country and hit all of the major Bike Week shows and cities along the way on the weekends.

The economy has certainly taken it's toll but almost equally are the "tire kickers". Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking shoppers that just bought a different brand, I'm talking about the people that never had any intention of buying a bike...just joy riding. Depending on some cities we were at we'd get some Stunt MC's show up in droves and try to dominate the availability of rides available and then think they were going to show us what "real" riders look like.

Add to that the Vloggers...not professional moto journalists but the wanna be YouTuber that is there just to do a video "review" and real world test ride. All I can say, is time and place.

I love seeing the actual people that are looking for their 1st or next bike and taking them out in my groups for demo rides. I enjoy even more the person that is a little unsure and not quite comfortable keeping up with the pace of the group and I will break off and ride just with them and let the group go with the other escort riders.

Unfortunately...there were a lot of "butts in seats" but not a lot of actual buyers, imagine what the cost involved with an operation of that scope is.

At the demo events you would usually qualify for a $500 manufacturer rebate and sometimes a dealer matched rebate. They would track that metric of how many rebates were being redeemed, they were only good for 30 days so it was effectively correlated as a result of the demo event. Just not enough buyers.

Jubei said:

Kawasaki would love to have more demo events for exactly this reason and these types of people. Not too terribly long ago we had 3 semi trucks on the road, one dedicated just for cruisers (Vulcan Nation) that would hit the events such as Sturgis, and the other two with a full complement of demo bikes. One truck started at each end of the country and hit all of the major Bike Week shows and cities along the way on the weekends.

The economy has certainly taken it's toll but almost equally are the "tire kickers". Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking shoppers that just bought a different brand, I'm talking about the people that never had any intention of buying a bike...just joy riding. Depending on some cities we were at we'd get some Stunt MC's show up in droves and try to dominate the availability of rides available and then think they were going to show us what "real" riders look like.

Add to that the Vloggers...not professional moto journalists but the wanna be YouTuber that is there just to do a video "review" and real world test ride. All I can say, is time and place.

I love seeing the actual people that are looking for their 1st or next bike and taking them out in my groups for demo rides. I enjoy even more the person that is a little unsure and not quite comfortable keeping up with the pace of the group and I will break off and ride just with them and let the group go with the other escort riders.

Unfortunately...there were a lot of "butts in seats" but not a lot of actual buyers, imagine what the cost involved with an operation of that scope is.

At the demo events you would usually qualify for a $500 manufacturer rebate and sometimes a dealer matched rebate. They would track that metric of how many rebates were being redeemed, they were only good for 30 days so it was effectively correlated as a result of the demo event. Just not enough buyers.

Click to expand...

It was a demo event in Deer Park NY (Long Island) that started my appreciation and semi-loyalty for Kawasaki. I was impressed with the corporate philosophy that would take the time and money to makes stops around the country and let people ride their machines. The Times Square Takeover in September 2012 where the new Ninja 300 and 636 debuted was well done and must of cost a small fortune. At the Moto Shows every winter in NY, Kawi is well represented and the presentation is above professional.

The "show bucks" used to be $250 with 30 days to spend, but now it's "kawi kash" for $500 and 60 days to use. I am amazed how many riders pass this up and leave easy money on the table. Get your lowest price from the dealer and then lay the rebate on the desk. Dealers don't mind cause it's not coming out of their pocket. You can get it from a demo or any other large event that Kawisaki is part of.

I guess they can't keep doing the volume of demo events but either do fewer cities or do it every other year. Maybe it's easier to attach to a dealer for a weekend demo event like Yamaha. Find a large regional dealer and split the cost.

ToNY97 said:

I guess they can't keep doing the volume of demo events but either do fewer cities or do it every other year. Maybe it's easier to attach to a dealer for a weekend demo event like Yamaha. Find a large regional dealer and split the cost.

Click to expand...

You would be surprised at the number of dealerships not interested or not willing to participate. Many of them don't want to pay the overtime or additional hours to have a staff person at a demo event that would otherwise be on the sales floor. The benefit to them seems to be obvious...it baffles the mind why our weekend demo events aren't at a dealership and instead Kawasaki has to pay for an event site ($$$), usually a shopping mall parking lot or similar. Even the "tire kickers" would probably at least go inside the dealership and buy some accessories. It seems like they would be able to convert many more Kawi Kash purchases on the spot vs. a consumer having to leave a demo event and then go to a dealership location. There are a lot of things that don't make sense, I don't pretend to know them/understand them all. I'm sure there are other corporate political / franchisee / dealership issues that I'm not aware of. But it seems like if only people would get out of their own way and do what made sense.

Trust me...when we do major shows, such as a Daytona or Arizona Bike Week, we deal with a lot of people that don't even have an interest in Kawi...but we were/are one of the only manufacturers that had tables and chairs and complimentary water/snacks, all of these "other" people would just hover at our truck. Don't get me wrong, everyone is welcome...but we were victim of "doing it right".

Obviously I have a biased opinion, so take that for what it's worth.

One of the other issues is that street bikes, for the most part, sell themselves. Only something like the Ninja 1000 really benefited from demo rides, and I honestly would not have probably considered it myself had my job not have been to ride it (a bunch).

Kawasaki also started doing a "dirt" demo to promote their side x sides (Teryx) to make an effort to capture market share from Polaris RZR. Again...that is/was a product that, not until people had a demo ride, was it really even on their "radar". Again, they don't demo KX 450's because product like that sells itself...but quads and side x sides are what you will find at the "Dirt Days" demo events.

Went great, couldn't of had a nicer seller. I'm staying with family in Memphis and taking it home tomorrow.

Sounds like a great deal G Steezy.

As for the demo shows, I can't say that I've seen any around my neck of the woods. It's too bad. For all the reasons mentioned earlier by Jubei, I can see the cost being too prohibitive to just do them everywhere.

As in my case, I was looking at two used KRS's both with lots of miles. And for the last 20+ yrs, I always thought I'd like a sportbike .. if nothing but to 'get it out of my system'. ie. the go-fast part Say, for two years. Then, move on to a Gold Wing or something. But, the last couple years, I thought why do I need a sport? I'm almost 50 for crying out loud.

Then, thought, hey, the ST's look/sound neat. FF to the KRS's .. I waited too long on the 02 KRS. Went to the dealership (same one I bought my N1K) and it was sold two days b4. I was so ticked at myself.

But, the dealership said if you're it interested in a ST, how about this 13 N1K? Was a leftover. I said I don't want a sport but they said it isn't. Higher seating, different tuning, lower pegs, bags, etc etc.

Point is I didn't even know they existed. It just fell into my lap. Had done some reading on ST'g and some of the bikes but didn't realize these (N1K's) really existed. Maybe a demo drive would have steered me earlier to it? I don't know. But, it seems like the ultimate bike .. for me. Got some Ninja quickness. Love the looks. Good gas mileage and a decent comfort factor.

Really see me riding this thing for many years and many trips. That's the plan anyways.