I do agree to some degree but I'm not entirely sure China's economy is as rosy as they like to make out. At the moment it is slowing down with pretty much a collapse of their housing market and more worryingly a 20% jobless rate of the young combined with 20% (& rising) of the population being over 60. Possibly the simplest way of reducing China's manufacturing base is to, of course, not buy products made by Chinese companies. But I fear we have gone too far down the bargain price road for that to be feasible. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crr54x00857o https://www.reuters.com/world/china...ployment-breeds-new-working-class-2024-08-21/ https://www.business-standard.com/w...nomy-boom-profits-elusive-124112900170_1.html
Their economy may well be slowing down which is inevitable with the growth they have had but they own so much of western debt, they are very much in control of us all.
That is true... I understand they (surprisingly) own much of the US debt. So it is in their best interest to not let our economies fail.
Apologies if posted already:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Pf-z_shWyaA&ab_channel=ROBERTURMOSI-DirtBikeandATV
I was told the exact same by Jim Allan in Falkirk when I was looking to buy a new RSV4 a couple of years ago. At that time they were the only Aprilia dealer in Scotland before the Glasgow dealership opened. For this reason and this reason only I bought a used Panigale V4S.
I bought a brand new Gen 3 Superduke 1290R last year just before the Gen 4 was released and I have to admit it one of the best if not the best bike I've owned - is it pretty, is it hell but it never fails to put a smile on my face and keeps me at sensible speeds on the road. It came with a 4 year warranty so who know what that's going to be worth soon. On the other hand, I agree that the cost of premium brands is getting ridiculous. I've owned BMWs for over 20 years apart from 1 Jag included several M3s, X5s and recently an X3M. The X3M was awesome but it was coming up for 3 years old and the missus was moaning about the cost to run it. I eventually gave in and said you sell it and buy what you want, so she did! We (she) now has the top of the range MG HZ I think it's called. I've tried my hardest to bitch and moan about it, find faults with it and I can't. It's got everything that the X3M had except for a head up display and a BMW badge, cost 26k brand new and came with a 5 year warranty. When you look at the costs and actually use it for what we do - the school run, shopping etc it's a no brainer. Do I miss my fancy cars - yip! But sometimes you have to sit back and take stock, especially in these financial times.
An article from 2 days ago, https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/ktm-enters-emergency-debt-restructuring-to-avoid-bankruptcy/. It would seem, one man’s aspirations for an empire could well come crumbling down. Andy
All this KTM shit tells me that God is telling me to get another Ducati. The song remains the same - no, that is music! I'll get my ST3 sorted first and them make a decision. It will either be another Ducati, or stick, and depending upon what happens to KTM, then I might p/x my 390 Duke.
I think part of the problem is how difficult it is for people of any age to get their licence these days relative to years ago, which will put young people off from "having a go" and seeing whether they enjoy biking or not. And of course the roads are much busier and in a dangerous condition now which doesn't exactly help
The think that really attracted me in 1990s was that for a few grand I could buy a superbike that'd make my bosses 911 look like the overblown VW beetle it was. Theses days a half decent modern superbike is the price of a 2nd hand AMG45.
