Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_Top_Her
I think this next year will be telling for CSC. Over 9 grand after T&T, from a relatively unknown brand selling Chinese bikes from a single dealership..At least there are less mechanical parts that require technical maintenance..
And the RX6 is possibly coming, which will probably be 7kusd +. One dealer model will be competitive near price with benelli, and cf moto and really traditional brand bikes with the prices.
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CSC seems to be doing quite well, given the number of models that they are selling now and how busy they are; they're definitely not hurting for sales. I do agree that this RX1E and the RX6 are going to be a reach, though the increasing MSRP's on mainstream manufacturer's bikes will work in their favor. The real obstacle is going to be CF Moto's new line up - those 650's and 700's are pretty compelling, and the prices are super competitive.
Common Tread has just posted a three way comparison between the CF Moto Adventura 650, Triumph Tiger 660, and the Versys 650, and the worst thing that they could come up with is that the CF Moto is sprung too soft. Everything else that they mentioned was the usual fear about parts and support for a Chinese bike, and that they think the other two are a better value, despite being thousands more in price. Personally, for a $3000 plus savings over the other two, I would be willing to spend a couple hundred on stiffer springs for the forks and the shock on the Adventura 650.
For the RX6, the killer feature in its favor is going to be the engine - Zongshen licensed the new Norton 650cc parallel twin before Norton went tits up and used it as the basis for the RX6's engine. That design features the much desired, by some anyway, 270 degree crank, plus it was designed for up to 175 bhp, depending upon the configuration. It should be quite a step up from the RX3 and RX4's single cylinder engines, though I suspect that Zongshen will once again leave power on the table to maintain durability. The devilish detail is going to be the MSRP - if CSC can bring it in @$7000 or less, I think it will sell. I'd even consider selling my 2015 Versys 650 to pick one up and try it out, if they can manage that price. We'll see - it's definitely a good time for the US Chinese motorcycle market right now.