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Boy, am I stupid.. I havent the foggiest idea what a SOFA is and want one based on that post..
Lee
(Sparks)Leave a comment:
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Here's a great example of why I love my XS and this community:
TC just sent me one of his SOFA's. I will install tomorrow, but for now I'm just admiring what a gorgeous bit of aluminium it is!
The instructions he sent with the SOFA are clear and easy to read and printed on thick, super high-quality ancient-Egyptian standard papyrus. TC's hieroglyphs surpass the clarity and creativity of the ancients while still conveying the point as clearly as could be demanded.
Thanks a lot TC, I really appreciate it. 45 dollars for one of these is a real deal IMO, I'm sure a store-bought made by a small Chinese slave-child would have cost considerably more. It would certainly been of considerably less quality as well. I'm excited to install it!Leave a comment:
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I don't know who coined the term, but it refers to a 'general purpose' bike, not one that has been designed for a specific riding type. In those days, you bought a 'UJM' then you equipped it for your use. All that the manufacturers sold was a 'naked' bike. The '78E was a UJM; one model only from the factory with a 'conventional' layout.
As to my laying the blame on Yamaha for the death of the UJM here, before they introduced the 'Specials' (in the various lines) all the Japanese bike makers pretty much only sold one model in a given size, maybe a number of cylinders choice. But the bike layout was 'conventional' and suspension/handling decisions were based on performance, not styling.
All that changed with the Specials. The introduction of the Yamaha 650 Specials changed everything; mimicking the customs that were being built by owners, a buyer could now buy a bike that looked similar to the customs seen in magazines, without needing the skills or money investment. How many remember all the semi-chopped 650 British twins from those days? Sportster tanks and 16" rear wheels laced on, pull-back bars, modified exhausts, Yamaha basically built and marketed 'that' bike. Sales took off... anybody could own a 'custom'. And if you couldn't see the resemblence to Harleys, well, you weren't looking very hard. It didn't take long for the manufacturers to catch on; while Yamaha beat most of them to market, by the early 80's all were introducing 'cruiser' type bikes, sales of the 'standard' models fell off until they quit even offering them here except in the smaller models.
The blame should properly go to a guy who worked for Yamaha; Ed Burke was a North American Yamaha honcho who came up with the idea. It was a hard-sell at corporate headquarters but once the bikes went into production, sales figures blew away any remaining resistance. The concept was applied to the bigger bikes and the rest is history.
While the 'Specials' by themselves may not have eliminated the UJM, the idea behind them did. The Japanese manufacturers were shown that tailoring the product for a specific market paid. Rather than just selling a UJM and letting the owner equip it to his use, there was money in selling a bike already done. Touring models appeared, etc, and the US market fragmented into 'specialty' bikes. The UJM sold poorly and was discontinued.
The funny part is that Harley knew this all along; while they were struggling at the time, it wasn't because they offered too many models. The Japanese didn't get that, they were forcing the market to accept what they sold and their sales successes told them they were right but it was about cost and reliabilty, not choices. Walk into any US import dealer today and what will you see? Crotch rockets, big touring bikes, Harley clone v-twins, maybe a few 'sport touring' models, with each catagory having a 'flagship' model. If a UJM is there, it will be a 'retro' model and generally lacking the tech offerings
on the the other models.
If anybody can come up with a better/different explanation for why the UJM disappeared from the US market, I'd like to hear it...
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Universal japanese Motorcycle or the Standard style were terms used to describe bikes like ours...inline engines...universal in that they didnt specialize in one area but generally did everything well. These terms have been used here in this country at any rate....As to Yamaha being responsible for the death of the UJM...that statement needs clarification as it is hardly a valid one IMO. Only as it relates to yamaha perhaps...Last edited by madmax-im; 06-28-2012, 11:33 AM.Leave a comment:
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It always amuses me when I see on general forums like these when some lament that the UJM-type bike isn't available any more. Guess what, somebody did try sell this type of bike here.... several times. Harley tried selling a high performance 'conventional' bike (the Sportster Sport) and they never sold well. They're trying again (with the XR1200), we'll see if this one does any better. It seems to be popular enough in Europe that HD may keep building it, but you don't see many here. You don't see all that many of the 'modern' Triumphs either...Leave a comment:
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.......and alot of truth to that since the VentureRoyal didn't become too popular and Yammy finially did it as a Venture harley style............I'll throw this out there.... just my opinion mind you...
One reason for the XS11's enduring 'cult status' is it's one of the last (and the last from Yamaha) sold-in-the-US examples of the liter-class UJM (universal Jap motorcycle) and arguably the best of the breed. While it wasn't really outstanding in any one category, it was very good in all of them, something it's competition couldn't match.
Unfortunately, Yamaha was also responsible for the death of the UJM in North America. The introduction of the 'Specials', starting with the 650 versions, killed the market for the UJM as most buyers stampeded after the Harley/chopper-styled 'Specials' (what does that say about American tastes?
). And every model after the '78 was living off the '78's reputation, as they lost power every year and got increasingly gadget-laden, depending on 'gimmicks' (Midnight Special! Air-assist suspension! LCD readouts!) to spur sales. The UJM was dead after 1980 when Yamaha discontinued the 'naked' standard.
Ok, I sound like a ranting purist, and I'm not; I own multiple Harleys also so you can't accuse me of being a 'brand snob'. But Yamaha discovered that most US buyers really wanted a Harley, but for whatever reasons (cost, disdain/fear of the 'lifestyle', their then-current reliability issues, etc) weren't buying them. The Specials were a huge sales hit, which is why the later standards are somewhat rare. But the legacy of the '78E was still attached so all the models enjoy that to a degree.
The European riders never had the 'Harley envy', so these models weren't sold there (well, you had the somewhat-similar RH and Sport models but they didn't sell well). They demanded an 'all-around' bike, that's why they got beauties like the XJR....
. Too few US riders wanted that type of bike, so here we are...
I'll add that I'm definitely a 'all-around' fan; I think the '78E is one of the best vintage examples out there, and while the styling is 'different', nobody will mistake it for anything else. I also very much like my Sportsters as all-around bikes. These are a bit more nimble (reminds me more of my XS2 650) and with warmed-over 1200 power it's like a 650 twin on steroids.
Remember, this is just my opinion...Leave a comment:
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I'll throw this out there.... just my opinion mind you...
One reason for the XS11's enduring 'cult status' is it's one of the last (and the last from Yamaha) sold-in-the-US examples of the liter-class UJM (universal Jap motorcycle) and arguably the best of the breed. While it wasn't really outstanding in any one category, it was very good in all of them, something it's competition couldn't match.
Unfortunately, Yamaha was also responsible for the death of the UJM in North America. The introduction of the 'Specials', starting with the 650 versions, killed the market for the UJM as most buyers stampeded after the Harley/chopper-styled 'Specials' (what does that say about American tastes?). And every model after the '78 was living off the '78's reputation, as they lost power every year and got increasingly gadget-laden, depending on 'gimmicks' (Midnight Special! Air-assist suspension! LCD readouts!) to spur sales. The UJM was dead after 1980 when Yamaha discontinued the 'naked' standard.
Ok, I sound like a ranting purist, and I'm not; I own multiple Harleys also so you can't accuse me of being a 'brand snob'. But Yamaha discovered that most US buyers really wanted a Harley, but for whatever reasons (cost, disdain/fear of the 'lifestyle', their then-current reliability issues, etc) weren't buying them. The Specials were a huge sales hit, which is why the later standards are somewhat rare. But the legacy of the '78E was still attached so all the models enjoy that to a degree.
The European riders never had the 'Harley envy', so these models weren't sold there (well, you had the somewhat-similar RH and Sport models but they didn't sell well). They demanded an 'all-around' bike, that's why they got beauties like the XJR..... Too few US riders wanted that type of bike, so here we are...
I'll add that I'm definitely a 'all-around' fan; I think the '78E is one of the best vintage examples out there, and while the styling is 'different', nobody will mistake it for anything else. I also very much like my Sportsters as all-around bikes. These are a bit more nimble (reminds me more of my XS2 650) and with warmed-over 1200 power it's like a 650 twin on steroids.
Remember, this is just my opinion...
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