Quote: It's difficult to imagine how this bike will ever attract new buyers to Triumph. Wrong bike, wrong time, wrong style. Remember I said this and watch the sales figures over the next few years.
i belive triumph will sell very well with this bike and with the rest of the line up also.... when talking with our local dealer's both have said they allready sold over hafe of the new Thunderbird there getting and come feb and march there will be waiting list.. so please don't say they won't sell...
What are the actual sales numbers and demographics of those buyers? Are the numbers of any real significance in the context of national sales of motorcycles? And how many of those buyers are ex-HD/Honda/Kawa riders "moving over," rather than current or ex-Triumph riders "moving up"?
Quote: and i rember all the negtive stuff being said about our bikes when they first came out..even before they hit the show room floor..
Not by me. The styling of the Bonneville line ("original" and America/Speedmaster) is exactly what the market wanted as alternatives. That's the reason Triumph sales have grown so well. This merely points out the apparent disconnect between many long-time Triumph aficionados and market reality.
Quote: but they sold very well.. yes there was even a waiting list ..
Yet, in real numbers, Triumph holds only a razor-thin slice of the market. The Thunderbird won't change that, and in fact, development of this machine in deference to one more broadly marketable will cost Triumph additional share. I'll go a step further by predicting that the process will accelerate due the current economic crisis. Rather than pushing aside its competition, the Thunderbird may very well be destined to a legacy not unlike the Edsel.
