Is motorcycling allowed?

[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

[sawystertrance]

Anybody see the latest Itchy Boots video? Very impressive, both for her tenacity but also scenery and friendly locals

[Shane S]

Looking into a small transport business moving motorcycles for customers between Durban , Johannesburg and Cape Town .

 

Can also look at transporting bicycles and other similar sized items at the same time should there be a demand ?

[Hairy]

[sawystertrance]

She really is showing off SA's assets. I hope she continues to have a trouble-free ride. 

 

Edit: Spelling

Edited April 1, 2021 by sawystertrance

[MOMSEN529]

Traded the 790. Now to get the first 1000km out of the way, so we can properly give it the beans!

[RoddieJ]

Wooooweeee...!!

That’s seriously stunning :thumb left:

Wishing you many memorable and safe miles

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

She really is showing off SA's assets. I hope she continues to have a trouble-free ride. 

 

Edit: Spelling

 

That is my fear too, lady alone in some pretty remote places. In a country that has zero respect for a female, generally speaking. Scary.....

[sawystertrance]

So.. Opinions. Is she going inland next or to Wild Coast? I think inland is safer but Wild Coast will seem more exotic to her. She did say her next destination would be very different.

[IceCreamMan]

Traded the 790. Now to get the first 1000km out of the way, so we can properly give it the beans!

Sweet ride.