Is motorcycling allowed?

[Hairy]

Thought I would shoot from the hip and ask Honda SA if they could by any chance support madam Itchy Boots on her travels through SA

 

Latest vid is out again BTW 

So Honda got back to me with the following reply:

Dear Mr. L. S....,

 

Thank you for taking time to contact Honda Customer Care.

 

Please note that, Honda Motor Southern Africa is unable to invest in any sponsorships for budgetary reasons.

 

In light of this, it is important to share with you out of interest as you might be aware that, the motor industry and business fraternity at large is currently experiencing a very difficult time and expenses are being censored wherever possible.

 

We trust you understand our position and we do wish you all the best.

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Z...... A.....a

Case Manager

 

And I in turn sent them this:

 

Hi Z......

 

Thank you for your response.

 

It may not be a situation of financial assistance in anyway, but I think she would be a very good brand ambassador / representative for Honda if it was a really simple thing such as inviting her to a dealership and if one of your experience adventure riders / staff members could take her on a short ride around whichever local area this person lives and works in and on your bikes that you are trying to sell in SA and abroad.

 

Even if Honda gives her bike a good clean and oil change while she is out on this ride it would show strong support. She has certainly grown her online presence and profile dramatically over the years.

 

What I do think she is doing successfully is showing that one can tour in SA on a smaller displacement motorcycle, and you do not need the biggest and greatest bikes to do so ... especially if you can not afford the big bikes. So doing she has created a huge interest for me in the smaller to medium displacement bike to do exactly what she is currently doing in SA.

 

Think out the box a little with this one and see the potential of getting lots of advertising mileage for very little to any financial investment.

 

@Andyman .... is there any potential brand exposure for your bike brand by showing her around on a demo/press bike for a day?

[Andymann]

So Honda got back to me with the following reply:

Dear Mr. L. S....,

 

Thank you for taking time to contact Honda Customer Care.

 

Please note that, Honda Motor Southern Africa is unable to invest in any sponsorships for budgetary reasons.

 

In light of this, it is important to share with you out of interest as you might be aware that, the motor industry and business fraternity at large is currently experiencing a very difficult time and expenses are being censored wherever possible.

 

We trust you understand our position and we do wish you all the best.

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Z...... A.....a

Case Manager

 

And I in turn sent them this:

 

Hi Z......

 

Thank you for your response.

 

It may not be a situation of financial assistance in anyway, but I think she would be a very good brand ambassador / representative for Honda if it was a really simple thing such as inviting her to a dealership and if one of your experience adventure riders / staff members could take her on a short ride around whichever local area this person lives and works in and on your bikes that you are trying to sell in SA and abroad.

 

Even if Honda gives her bike a good clean and oil change while she is out on this ride it would show strong support. She has certainly grown her online presence and profile dramatically over the years.

 

What I do think she is doing successfully is showing that one can tour in SA on a smaller displacement motorcycle, and you do not need the biggest and greatest bikes to do so ... especially if you can not afford the big bikes. So doing she has created a huge interest for me in the smaller to medium displacement bike to do exactly what she is currently doing in SA.

 

Think out the box a little with this one and see the potential of getting lots of advertising mileage for very little to any financial investment.

 

@Andyman .... is there any potential brand exposure for your bike brand by showing her around on a demo/press bike for a day?

 

If I was still at Yamaha I would have been all over her.  Wait, that sounds dodgy.  

 

I would have been all over her project and got her on an XT250 or a TW and had her at every dealership in the Country.  Todd Lawson and Cristina who I helped with AG200's go across Africa still sing Yamaha South Africa's praises almost 13 years later.  And Todd has just written a book about the Journey and guess what brand features...

 

Honda are missing something here.  But I'm afraid no BEE points to be scored so sadly that is what it is.

[Andymann]

I'll say something else - I'm surprised BMW didn't get her on a 300GS because they would have milked it for all it was worth.  KTM too....

 

But Honda SA has always been like that hey - they are very Corporate

[Grebel]

If I was still at Yamaha I would have been all over her. Wait, that sounds dodgy.

 

I would have been all over her project and got her on an XT250 or a TW and had her at every dealership in the Country. Todd Lawson and Cristina who I helped with AG200's go across Africa still sing Yamaha South Africa's praises almost 13 years later. And Todd has just written a book about the Journey and guess what brand features...

 

Honda are missing something here. But I'm afraid no BEE points to be scored so sadly that is what it is.

I own a Honda (car) and to date it has been the most expensive vehicle that I have owned in terms of maintenance costs when it had to go to the dealer out of service plan but still under warranty. Their customer care is lacking and sales service leaves a lot to be desired. The vehicles are great, it's just the people that work for the brand in KZN need a wakkerklap.

 

As an aside, we had an Audi before the Honda and service costs outside of Freeway Plan were half that of the Honda.

[IceCreamMan]

https://advrider.com/university-research-into-loud-pipes-myth/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=03_25_2021

 

Loud pipes make no difference...

 

but they do sound cool 

Edited March 25, 2021 by IceCreamMan

[Hairy]

So Honda got back to me with the following reply:

Dear Mr. L. S....,

 

Thank you for taking time to contact Honda Customer Care.

 

Please note that, Honda Motor Southern Africa is unable to invest in any sponsorships for budgetary reasons.

 

In light of this, it is important to share with you out of interest as you might be aware that, the motor industry and business fraternity at large is currently experiencing a very difficult time and expenses are being censored wherever possible.

 

We trust you understand our position and we do wish you all the best.

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Z...... A.....a

Case Manager

 

And I in turn sent them this:

 

Hi Z......

 

Thank you for your response.

 

It may not be a situation of financial assistance in anyway, but I think she would be a very good brand ambassador / representative for Honda if it was a really simple thing such as inviting her to a dealership and if one of your experience adventure riders / staff members could take her on a short ride around whichever local area this person lives and works in and on your bikes that you are trying to sell in SA and abroad.

 

Even if Honda gives her bike a good clean and oil change while she is out on this ride it would show strong support. She has certainly grown her online presence and profile dramatically over the years.

 

What I do think she is doing successfully is showing that one can tour in SA on a smaller displacement motorcycle, and you do not need the biggest and greatest bikes to do so ... especially if you can not afford the big bikes. So doing she has created a huge interest for me in the smaller to medium displacement bike to do exactly what she is currently doing in SA.

 

Think out the box a little with this one and see the potential of getting lots of advertising mileage for very little to any financial investment.

 

@Andyman .... is there any potential brand exposure for your bike brand by showing her around on a demo/press bike for a day?

Good day Mr. L--- S-------,

Thank for the below response and all contents are well noted.

Kindly note that, customer care will share your ambassador request with the relevant department and should they be interested they will make further contact.

 

Herewith the above thank you for allowing us to assist.

 

Kind Regards

 

Z--------- A------

 

Case Manager

[Andymann]

I own a Honda (car) and to date it has been the most expensive vehicle that I have owned in terms of maintenance costs when it had to go to the dealer out of service plan but still under warranty. Their customer care is lacking and sales service leaves a lot to be desired. The vehicles are great, it's just the people that work for the brand in KZN need a wakkerklap.

 

As an aside, we had an Audi before the Honda and service costs outside of Freeway Plan were half that of the Honda.

 

Well I had to buy windscreen wipers for my Wife's Jazz once and they are OEM only - was a cool R1300....

 

And the front brakes on the Jazz were over R6000 - just for two disks and two sets of pads.

[Hairy]

Well I had to buy windscreen wipers for my Wife's Jazz once and they are OEM only - was a cool R1300....

 

And the front brakes on the Jazz were over R6000 - just for two disks and two sets of pads.

sounds like an S-Werks Viets

[Andymann]

sounds like an S-Werks Viets

 

Lets be honest, it was a brilliant little car  - 175000kms and it did not even blow a globe.  Apart from regular services and the central locking which became erratic (ironically only after Honda did a factory recall on the block of switches in the door) it absolutely did not miss a beat.  But the service costs were eye-watering.  And a lot of the consumable parts like Filters are OEM only.

 

We always joked at Yamaha about Honda making brilliant boring Motorbikes.  We used the say the Honda Engineers had a motto - Better not to be annoyed than impressed. 

[sawystertrance]

Hairy and Andy. It does sound like Honda are unneccessarily Corporate and unable to adapt to new thinking. Just for example, look what Fire it Up gave her in terms of free equipment and service and what great coverage she gave them. 

 

Hond sure missed a trick even after you throwing a golden marketing opportunity their way. 

Tsk

[Andymann]

I'm not sure if it has changed (I doubt it) but Honda SA is owned by Honda Japan, so Japan effectively runs Honda SA,  whereas Yamaha is owned by Bidvest and is in consultation with Yamaha Japan - so slightly more flexible - Yamaha SA didn't have to (well in my time anyway) be absolutely aligned with what the rest of the Yamaha world was doing.  So when we sponsored the AG's, we didn't have to ask Yamaha Japans permission - we just did it.

[Hairy]

I'm not sure if it has changed (I doubt it) but Honda SA is owned by Honda Japan, so Japan effectively runs Honda SA,  whereas Yamaha is owned by Bidvest and is in consultation with Yamaha Japan - so slightly more flexible - Yamaha SA didn't have to (well in my time anyway) be absolutely aligned with what the rest of the Yamaha world was doing.  So when we sponsored the AG's, we didn't have to ask Yamaha Japans permission - we just did it.

What do you do now Andy ... I am assuming you are out of the motorcycle trade?

[Andymann]

What do you do now Andy ... I am assuming you are out of the motorcycle trade?

Yup - I was with Yamaha when McCarthy owned it and Bidvest owned McCarthy.  Brand Pretorius pretty much understood that selling motorbikes was a passion and that brand loyalty was very important - so developing the relationship between the Dealerships and the Customer was super important.  We were so careful not to alienate the dealerships by selling direct - only staff could buy demos - everything else went through a dealer.  And we were also very Brand conscious - so if we heard of anyone who was doing something unique on a Yamaha we were all over them - be it Marine, Golf or Motorcycle.  I remember before the XT660Z was launched in SA there was a guy who drove one down from Spain - he ended up in SA and we wined and dined him to no end.  And the Roof of Africa was Blue.  Anyone who had a YZ or WR was welcome in our pits.

 

When Bidvest took over, it all changed and Yamaha SA started selling direct out of the World of Yamaha, but still expected the dealer to have a relationship in terms of servicing.  Things turned sour very quickly and together the MD, GM (motorcycles) and Product Managers were made to feel very unwelcome.  We were all eventually replaced with Bidvest Cadres.  Those of us who could leave did.

 

I had discussions at the time with Franziska at KTM, with BMW and actually had a tentative offer from Honda, but it just felt really weird to move to another brand.  

 

In the end, Engineering came calling again so I went back to that.  

Edited March 26, 2021 by Andymann

[IceCreamMan]

You left out the mighty fine musical instruments. Used to gig a yamaha pacifica 

Edited March 26, 2021 by IceCreamMan

[Grebel]

Well I had to buy windscreen wipers for my Wife's Jazz once and they are OEM only - was a cool R1300....

 

And the front brakes on the Jazz were over R6000 - just for two disks and two sets of pads.

I was quoted R1200 for wiper blades (Just the inserts) and R4800 for rear pads fitted....

 

I managed to find aftermarket Bosch blades for around R150 and pads for R380 which I ended up fitting myself.

 

They tried to get me to change plugs at the 105k service (actual mileage was 78k) @ R1250 per plug because it was part of the scheduled maintenance. I declined and they are still firing at 175k...

[BSG]

Luckily it's the new 1250GS