Made in China, where they earn ten bob a week and a bowl of fish. -- Dave GS850x2 XS650 SE6a "It's a moron working with power tools. How much more suspenseful can you get?" - House
It's not worth £200. You may be able to sell it for £200 but it certainly wouldn't cost anything close to that figure to manufacture unless it was a one off.
Indeed, but isn't ease of production also part of it. I suggest many people on here could knock up some angle, turn up a spacer, weld a few brackets but how many could stitch and shape some often fairly complex curves and shapes in faux leather etc? I'm pretty capable re hands_on but I wouldn't even try, for 60 quid, and it's a bike addon rather than a tool in any case. ;-) But £200 for some angle iron (all be it nicely done etc)? Out of interest, I've seen the *same* hydraulic lift I bought from Makro for £39 sold for over £100 in more 'fancy' shops? Added value I guess? As has been said, something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
I know, there or India etc, and very easy to arrange if one was actually going to make something like that and want to earn out of it (I have a mate who's entire business is arranging offshore manufacture). I have a metal cutting, free standing workshop bandsaw that contains many more parts than the lift in question and was cheaper. But as has been mentioned, I also really don't think it would cost that much to make over here. It's all quite predictable though isn't it? Someone comes out with a nifty idea and sells them at a decent profit. Not long after they are everywhere for 3d. Remember the first Razor (was it) kids micro scooters, over £100 when they first came out, now, free with cornflakes. Do they cost that much less to make now or is it just there are fewer 'must have' folk around? ;-)
Sure, but is that going to stop me buying it? -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com) \`\ | /`/ `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10 `\|/` `
Me, I trained as a car trimmer and ran my own trimming business for 6 years - I can weld and fabricate in metal, operate lathes and milling machines too, but my welding is very amateur. Next question?
Yes, as well as you say later, ongoing design etc. Of course. We can't all afford Mercs though so I'm not sure how many would buy the 'nice' one at £200 when they could have the 99% functionally_equivalent_but_not_so_pretty one at under half the price? I think I understand that point and agree it might not be the obvious case with this product (low volume etc). But what if they really have got the market wrong (and I'm not suggesting you or they have) and they sell 3, how well would the Co function then (ignoring other products etc)? Again, understood. However, I bought one of those hydraulic lift because It was cheap' and 'because it might come in handy', not because I had a specific use or need at the time. I wonder how many (more) of those other lifts they might sell to impulse buyers like me if they were £39? At £99 the market may well have been saturated. Agreed, especially the exploited bit (and I mean that commercially / realistically etc). Agreed. However, I bet it goes down in price in the near future. ;-) Unless, they do something to maximize their investment by selling more to those who simply wouldn't buy at that price? I bought a C5 for £199. I certainly wasn't going to pay £399 (or whatever it was) for it because 1) I didn't need one (as with the bike lift or how would we have managed till now) and 2) because I didn't see any more value than £199 versus my spending power at the time. Not the same market type of course but the argument of retail cost v real cost and perceived value still apples I think? Hmm, I thought that was as much of what was being discussed as it ever is here! ;-) Nope, I'm with WC on this one (I can't loose and points here after all can I <g>), even with similar expected sales numbers this product wouldn't fetch that sort of money in other fields. Sell it as a Medical Lift and it'd fly out the doors at £1000!
Does god exist? -- Krusty www.MuddyStuff.co.uk Off-Road Classifieds '02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250
Cool, that's one then! ;-) Likewise, but I still stand by my thoughts that more people in general would play with some bits of metal than sew up some leather / thick material. Yes, as you are asking ... was there a bike that shared the same basic front end as an 86 GPz550 that used traditional top yoke / risers / bars etc please? p.s. Don't get me wrong, if I was into racing or even had a bike that didn't have a main stand (not that I would have bought it if I didn't) I'm pretty sure I'd have one of those trick stands in the back of my van right now, good VFM or otherwise. 200 quid, pah, 'pocket money'. p.p.s I wanted to balance (or at least check to see if it needed balancing) the wheels on Daughters scooter. I had some decent grippy tyres fitted to it when we first got it but they didn't balance them (basically because 1) they couldn't and 2) because they didn't feel they needed to). So, being as I am I made a portable static balancing spindle. A bit of stainless steel bought at an engineering exhibition, a couple of shielding bearings bought off the net and some ally bar I already had, turned into suitable cones (like this idea). http://www.marcparnes.com/Honda_Motorcycle_Wheel_Balancer.htm I made rather than bought because 1) I could, 2) I got exactly what I wanted, 3) I could adapt the design to my needs and 4) I enjoyed doing so. I've balanced the CB Two Fifty wheels so far but not actually done the scooter yet! ;-)
Z550F Unitrak had higher bars than the GPZ550, but they bolted on in the same manner, to the fork rather than to clamps on top of the yoke. Have you looked at GT550 yokes?
Aww, bless and it does, still only one here so far. ;-) I can sew and have repaired tents and all sorts of things by being able to (it's only mechanics after all) but I think there is a big difference for yer average d-i-y / jobber mechanic / fitter / splash welder between cutting / shaping / joining some material like leather and cutting / welding some bits of metal together. (I know that fancy lift wasn't quite that simple but you get my point). e.g. I know I have fixed many a broken metal thing but (generally) still take shoes to the cobblers. I could learn out how to work leather / heavy materials of course but the need rarely comes up so doesn't justify the effort. FWIW I don't know of any such places that would do that sort of thing locally now either (we did have one but they have moved elsewhere), lots of places supplying and fabricating steel though.
Ok, well that might be a solution if it come to it so thanks. No, not yet. I'm about to go out and put the new headset bearings in the GPz and rebuild the forks, now I've got all the parts and it's not raining out there. I just have a feeling I'd probably like to have this as a naked bike because 1) I prefer a more upright riding position 2) the fairing is very tatty and 3) I'd have little to lose, buggering about with something that old. [1] I'll not do it yet though ... I'll get it on the road as Mr Kawasaki intended first ... I just thought I'd take advantage of your kind offer <flutters eyelids> ;-) [1] Would I be able to use GT550 cables / hoses or would we be into 'special' category?
Yebbut that does not stop them flooding the market with 800 watt 2stroke generators at 35 quid a shot. Taking into account shipping and retail margins the damn thigs must be coming off the line at less than 15. The major point to consider is that one factory in China has the entire world market at its feet so long as the price remains right, which is a helluva lot of units. There are a LOAD of bikes in the world which could use a lift, the first production run would be several million units.
