Quote Originally Posted by moilami View Post
*shrug* Why to ask for KTMs and stuff? It is not cool. If I would ask for a bike I would ask it from China, getting a sponsored China bike to do some touring would be cool Now I already have a bike so I don't have to ask, but when Skyteam updates their light enduro I will for sure ask for one. It doesn't cost anything.
Moilami, it's a good question you've raised, but the answer is complicated and unsatisfying. China surely makes more motorcycles than any other country, with several brands cranking out a million or more a year. But can you name one Chinese brand that is known beyond core riders like those of us in this forum? In other words, while almost anyone in the world knows you are talking about a motorcycle when you mention Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki or Yamaha, do you know anyone who would not draw a total blank when you said Sacin (maker of your Skyteam), Qinqi, Lifan, Xingyue, Jialing, Zongshen, Loncin, Xinyuan (aka Shineray), Chunfeng, etc. Some of those can't really even be pronounced with all the Q's and X's. The reason? Marketing, of course -- or rather a total lack of intelligent marketing, especially beyond China's shores. Some of these bikes end up being private labeled or OEM'd. But apart from those annual shows where you find hardcore advocates like CrazyCarl, these brands have no international resonance at all. Take Jialing, for example. They make 3 million bikes a year, but don't even know how to answer their phones.

JL: Wei? (Chinese for hello or, more accurately, yeah?)
You: Uh, is this Jialing Motorcycles?
JL: Who are you?
You: I am a customer.
JL: Who are you looking for?
You: Someone in sales.
JL: Don't know. (click)

The idea of Jialing offering free or discounted bikes to some riders who wanted to use them for a ride around China, with the aim of building their brand and creating some excitement, is so preposterous as to be absurd. Some other brands may be a bit farther ahead, but not by much. The day eventually will come, as it has at Haier and Tsingtao and some other Chinese brands, but a lot of things will have to change before then.

So it's the BMWs and KTMs of the world that you turn to. And they say yes because they understand how an MKRide can stir the imagination of would-be riders all over the world.

And of course it's one reason why their bikes are so much more expensive than Chinese bikes....