Chiro Posted January 17, 2011 #1 Posted January 17, 2011 This I guess I'll never understand. The future of the Venture is in question. I went in to order some chrome for my 2009, and all but one part was discontinued. Now my first reaction was they were changing the Venture next year, and why make bling for a machine that is to be changed. OK, I guess I can live with that, but when I asked the sales staff, they knew of nothing. Same goes for the staff at the Star Tent at Sturgis this year. Now, don't ya think it would be to their advantage to get the word out to generate as much excitement as possible. Other auto manufacturers do. You can't really say it would kill the sales of the current 2011 Ventures, I've been in 8 stores over the last month here in Florida, and there are NO Ventures on the floor to sale. Harley has a big show of all their new an coming models at Sturgis, and you see in the news what is up and on the horizon for them. This is for a reason...it causes interest and excitement. Can Mother Star really be that stupid in the marketing field? It's not just them, it's all the metrics.. Wouldn't you love to know what's up? I sure would! I long for the day a non-Harley motorcycle company gets their sh*t together and starts to make the commitments necessary to become real competition for Harley, they already make a better bike, now act like it!
rumboogy Posted January 17, 2011 #2 Posted January 17, 2011 Hmmmm...Strange. There was a Venture model in 2010 and each new bike comes with a 5 year warranty, so I assume that at the very least that parts will be made available until 2015. I am looking at this wrong? Otherwise, they can just provide me with a new bike.
Freebird Posted January 17, 2011 #3 Posted January 17, 2011 It's not the parts, it's the accessories. I agree that they seem to be discontinuing more and more of them. It much be very disheartening to buy a new bike and find that the factory accessories are already discontinued. I absolutely do not understand how Yamaha cannot see what that would do to customer satisfaction.
Bigfoot Posted January 17, 2011 #4 Posted January 17, 2011 I attended the International Bike Show this past weekend in DC. I walked away after looking at the 2011 RSV more than a little disappointed. I've loved my 04 but the bike needs some changes. The fact the bike still has a cassette player boggles the mind. I hope to upgrade within the next year and the Victory is looking better and better all the time. I sat on the biggest cruiser Victory has but can't recall the model. The bike really felt good and the balance is incredible. The bike felt so light standing up compared to the RSV.
djb47 Posted January 17, 2011 #5 Posted January 17, 2011 Don't know if I have my facts right or not, but my understanding was that because the RSV is not FI, they will not be able to sell after model year 2010 or 2011. Also was told that any changes (like tape deck out and CD palyer in) would result in them (Yamaha) having to apply for a new import license. Not sure how much if any of this is true, just what I was told. I have a 99 RSV and plan to ride till the wheeles fall off!
SilvrT Posted January 17, 2011 #6 Posted January 17, 2011 Just curious if anyone knows ... how long before/after the discontinuation of the 1st gen did they stop making accessories
BOO Posted January 17, 2011 #7 Posted January 17, 2011 Just curious if anyone knows ... how long before/after the discontinuation of the 1st gen did they stop making accessories I don't know about Yamaha but J C Whitney still had some after market stuff in 2003 or so. I can't remember just what pieces were a available but BikeBandit had some stuff up until about 2 or 3 years ago. But I would have to agree I would not be happy to buy a new bike and find out there was no chrome available from the factory. BOO
PBJ Posted January 17, 2011 #8 Posted January 17, 2011 Companies usually discontinue accessories the year they discontinue a model . But dealers get stuck with some inventory that they gambled would be big sellers. The trick is finding the dealers and hoping they haven't marked up the prices.
steamer Posted January 17, 2011 #9 Posted January 17, 2011 In this economy it only makes sense for yamaha to sit tight on coming out with a new venture.you can be sure that if they think they can make money on a big new tour bike that they will build one,but not until this economy improves.It's obvious they are toying around with the stratoliner as a possible replacement.The V twin market is the hot ticket right now.
straycatt Posted January 17, 2011 #10 Posted January 17, 2011 Keep in mind that we are riding, probably the slowest selling bike in the Royal Star/Yamaha line up. Add to that the economic depression that the country is in, and it becomes apparent that it makes little business sense to supply a large number of accessories for motorcycles that very few riders are buying. From a corporate standpoint, if you already have the scoot you likely already have the extra's. If you don't have the bike, you're not buying the farkle. When a local dealer closed their doors and went out of business here not too long ago, on their last days I was there and of the few chrome farkle pieces they still had on the shelf, a couple were for the RSV. (chrome neck covers or something like that)
kevin-vic-b.c. Posted January 18, 2011 #11 Posted January 18, 2011 Maybe they are taking them all back to Santas' workshop to remove the cassette decks!
Freebird Posted January 18, 2011 #12 Posted January 18, 2011 The problem is that the accessories for these bikes have always been difficult to get. I know for a fact that since the bike was introduced in 1999, there have been more times than not that one accessory or another has been on "national back order". I have also never had much luck in finding accessories at dealers, they were always special order. I know that some of the very largest dealers did stock some but most shops never did. I don't feel that Yamaha has ever handled it very well. Don't misunderstand, I love my RSV and have no intentions of getting rid of it anytime soon. I have owned it now since May of 1999 and still haven't seen a bike that I like better. It has always been a somewhat limited model though and due to that, there was never really an aftermarket parts supply developed for it and even factory accessories have not always been readily available.
Sheradan Posted January 18, 2011 #13 Posted January 18, 2011 Not only is the cassette outdated, so is CD. You may not use an ipod, but most phones these days are also mps players. Much cheaper and easier for Yamaha AND the consumer just to put a phone plugin or bluetooth.
phill12 Posted January 18, 2011 #14 Posted January 18, 2011 Yamaha has one thing on their mind "what makes them money"
Condor Posted January 18, 2011 #15 Posted January 18, 2011 I don't think Yamaha has produced an RSV in the last 4-5 years, and have been living off crated RSV's, just changing the color every year. Much the same as they did with the 1stGens. The last of the '93's being marketed in Europe as '94's. We then went into a 3 or 5 year draught, whichever way you want to look at it, with the RSV appearing in '99. I think with the present economy and potential sales being what they are, we're not going to see another cruising V4 appear for several years. Even though the new V-Max motor has been released I don't think it will be any time soon before we see something in a cruiser design if at all. The chances of seeing a sports tourer similar to the LT1600 will probably be more likely. My
ediddy Posted January 18, 2011 #16 Posted January 18, 2011 I agree with what everyone has said but the reality is that sales of the venture is such a small percentage of their sales that it's not a top priority for the corporation.
snow4brains Posted January 18, 2011 #17 Posted January 18, 2011 I ran in to a similar deal with Yamaha snowmobiles. Each year they came out with a new accessory catalog and all the old part numbers were replaced with new ones, even if the model and the part never changed, they would get a new part number every year. Might be worth looking at a newer catalog.
rickardracing Posted January 18, 2011 #18 Posted January 18, 2011 Well, two years ago I went to the International Motorcycle show in Novi Michigan. I sat on every single touring bike there. I settled on the Venture. I bought my '07 from a gentleman in Maryland in '09. I LOVE the bike. I went to the same show again two weeks ago. If I were in the market for a new bike, I think for me, it would be the Kawasaki Vulcan 1700. Beautiful bike, $2000 less than the Venture and no silly cassette. I personally think Yamaha are complete fools for trying to sell a bike with that stupid thing in the dash. Even offering a cd player is a joke. It takes up half the saddle bag. Why bother with either one when you can simply buy a Ram Mount that holds an MP3/Ipod player and you have hundreds if not thousands of songs available. Putting unsupported technology (cassette) in any vehicle and expecting consumers to pay hard earned dollars for it is just ridiculous. Especially in the economy we have had the last two years. But you know what........if they we're to build it (a new tourer) they would sell.
donaldj2242 Posted January 18, 2011 #19 Posted January 18, 2011 Maybe Yamaha is trying to get it right, that is why they are taking so long to introduce a 3rd gen Venture. Wish they would keep the same bike with some obvious engineering changes. New motor 1700cc, FI, ABS, built in GPS, gauges, new sound system with audio inputs. Maybe one of these days.
wizard Posted January 18, 2011 #20 Posted January 18, 2011 What are the sales numbers for the Venture? I have never seen a post with the actual numbers.
Freebird Posted January 18, 2011 #21 Posted January 18, 2011 Many people have tried to find out but nobody ever has. Yamaha does not publish that information.
ragtop69gs Posted January 18, 2011 #22 Posted January 18, 2011 Many people have tried to find out but nobody ever has. Yamaha does not publish that information. I am on another forum for my Honda Ace Tourer and we have a thread there that lists all the known VINS to try and get a feel for how many were produced each year. Honda won't give up those numbers either. From owners and what we gleen from ebay and other places
zooer Posted January 18, 2011 #23 Posted January 18, 2011 The economy is so bad no brands are selling worth crap. The 2010 I bought had been assembled by the dealer 8 months ago and has sat there. No change of course between the 2011 and the 2010 so there is not much reason to pay the higher price of the new one. Anyhow, as most of you are aware the Goldwing plant in Ohio is closing up and moving back to Japan. This is not a rumor but a fact and is in progress. Left over touring bikes will get cheaper here in the US and who knows what new stuff will be offered by 2012. My estimation is "not much". Times are not good and won't get better by next year and nothing indicates that is an incorrect assumption. I really do think that if you are in the market, the leftovers will get cheaper. Just more food for the pot here.
SilvrT Posted January 18, 2011 #24 Posted January 18, 2011 At a local dealer here, there is currently a NEW... 2008 Road Star 2009 RSTD 2009 RSV Try and find a NEW Harley in either of those model years.... not gonna happen. This is 2011 ... pretty obvious what's selling and what isn't.
bj66 Posted January 18, 2011 #25 Posted January 18, 2011 I was at Sturgis this summer, and like an earlier poster, I went to the Yammie tent. They had a Stratoliner, a couple of Vmax's etc. but no venture. I talked to a regional marketing guy and asked him why no venture. He said he didnt know what was going to happen etc. And I believe he didnt know. So we talked for awhile and when we were done he asked if I was interested in anything else. I told him "Yeah another brand". Later this summer I was at a dealer who carries yamaha, and honda. I walked around for a bit then a salesman came over and asked if he could help. I asked where are the ventures at. He said he didnt have one, and was glad that he didnt. With the price increases every year on them, without any upgrades to the bike, people wont buy them. He said he would sell 20 wings before getting somebody to look at a venture. That was the last straw for me. If a regional rep has no idea, and a hi volume dealer doesnt want them, that says volumes. I ride an 08 tour deluxe with just under 10,000 miles on it. As soon as I can get rid of it, it is gone. I love the bike, but have no confidence in the company any more. It is time for a change.
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