I'm guessing this price only offered to those who walk in at the PJ store?

Last I heard their Shah Alam place closed already.

Nothing wrong with paying for style, IMHO. One thing I will never understand about many Malaysian riders is the scene of judging when products offered are not solely based on price-to-performance and trying to push other people toward that mindset. Overseas, this is not such a big deal and the 'tambah sikit dapat...' and 'baik beli...' crowds are almost non-existent - you can just buy whatever you like and are encouraged to do so. I really do wonder why this is the case.

I myself am not a performance-based rider, so I applaud RE for bringing in these bikes at a lower price compared to before. If we want a wider variety of bikes in Malaysia, then we have to start accepting that riding is not all about paying the least amount of money for the biggest HP and torque figures that amount of money can buy.

In the end, if the person who bought the bike is happy with it, then just be glad for them. It's their money to spend. But on the other hand, do criticise them if they complain about pickup and topspeed AFTER buying one of these 'gaya' machines lah, since that is proof of uninformed purchase.

Even with the example you presented: if a person wants to buy RE at the original 50k price, as long as they know what they are getting into, it isn't my problem, nor should it be anyone else's. Just honestly how I feel about that subject.

If you mean manufacturer reputation instead of specs then I agree, because Japanese brands are known for reliability and have a proven track record. But I think to compare Z900RS, which is more or less a sportsbike wearing old style clothing, to something that is actually retro is comparing two different riding styles. HP, torque and other figures are sometimes an emotional thing as well since Malaysians generally just love speed and big numbers.

Anyway, someone who will not use most of that power and prefers the RE/Triumph/etc., aesthetic will be better served buying one of those machines instead of a Z900RS. I do see your point, but perhaps a Triumph machine like the Street Twin or a Kawi W800 would have been a better comparison.

Hmm, this is true of developed countries with bigger purchasing power compared to ours, but what of other developing nations like Thailand, Vietnam and India? Do you think their bikers' general mindset, and variety of bikes they get is just because of the size of their bike market compared to ours, or is it also because they can accept more than just specs-based purchases? Honest question.

I'm also not sure how the financing in our neighboring countries works compared to ours. Maybe they get better deals in general.

True, but compared to before this is more acceptable. As someone else said above, the used prices will be even more attractive. We even get the 3 year unlimited warranty if purchased new. Only real concern is their dealer network and replacement parts.

I don't think that is true of all other countries, even if we only count among our neighbors. IIRC, we do get some models for cheaper here.

I'd prefer an RE Interceptor over those two since I don't enjoy the Continental GT's riding position (have sat on one years ago) and already experienced Kawi's 650 engine in a family member's ER6N and Versys. Love the Interceptor's looks and exhaust note.

This post has been edited by blackbox14: May 24 2022, 07:22 PM

Price sensitive yes, but even within SEA, I feel like Malaysia is one of the most obsessed with having the most power for the money. You can see what I mean if you read comments on Indian/Philippines/Thai/Indo motorcycle review videos on Youtube where they talk about different subjects like fuel economy and compare to the comments on similar Malaysian videos where the main complaint is not enough power.

Perhaps that's due to our law enforcement being lax and riding groups in general favoring speed and sportsbike style riding. I don't believe this is just because of the value of hard-earned money and specs being logical, but also because of the value that our society tells people to put on their money. Still a very interesting subject and something that I always thought about since I started riding years ago.

In the west, it is understandable. Their purchasing power is much higher as you mentioned previously. I've even seen videos of people buying cheaper 300+cc bikes to use for a mere 2k kms over half a year and then selling it off.

This I agree with fully. My real concern with RE at the moment is spare parts availability and after sales service.

Of course everyone wants cheaper price, but unless they CKD the bikes locally, that's unlikely.

I guess we will see if this becomes the case here as well with the impending blanket fuel subsidy removal. And I admit that I do not ride in groups, which is probably another reason I can't really understand local riders' mindset. For me, this has always been a mode of transport and a solo hobby where I observe other road users instead.

Didn't know PT comment section was like this. They should really fix that and kick downvoted comments down instead of pushing them up. Adds absolutely nothing of value to the discussion and only enables trolls.

20k expectation is quite unreasonable unless they have good cable with government and/or CKD facilities on our soil.

Also IINM you can't buy Versys 250 brand new anymore and the ones that were brought in by old Kawi distributors lack ABS that the Scram has, which may be a dealbreaker for some. Maybe if the rumors of the Suzuki V-Strom 250 SX are true, that will be the safer, Japanese-brand choice since it is fully equipped at the cost of reduced off-road capability.

This post has been edited by blackbox14: Sep 9 2022, 11:08 AM

Thanks for taking time to post this here, too. I have a couple of questions.

Does RE provide a top rack option or do buyers still have to go third party for that? Also, did you try out the center stand and see if the problem mentioned by some reviewers of it being difficult to use due to the 'pedal' part not being long enough exists? Those are my only two issues with the bike since I can no longer live without top box to store helmet and my illness makes it difficult for me to get heavier bikes on center stand without enough leverage.

I'm a very santai rider as I currently use ADV150 on highway, albeit only twice a week. The lack of power won't bother me. Feels like this bike is worth getting maybe in a year or two when there are used examples/demo units, etc. being sold.

Our RE bikes now come from Thailand instead of straight from India which already lowered the cost compared to before - remember when RE bikes started out at nearly 40k? They have to CKD and team up with Modenas here to lower the price closer to Indian pricing, otherwise the import duties and various taxes will apply.

Hmmm, quite strange if true because the Thai factory is supposed to be the hub for RE in Southeast Asia according to the articles I read when said facility was opened. If I'm not mistaken, ASEAN countries also have a trade deal going on that would contribute to the reduction in price for units assembled in Thailand vs importing directly from India. Maybe Malaysia has a special thing going on with India that makes the price lower to import directly from them? Who knows.

I guess for now the top box options are all third party and mostly only available in India which is unfortunate. From my observation, SEA Givi only produces racking systems for popular bikes in the region. So if Hunter 350 doesn't catch on, it's going to be tough to get a hold of a proper, tubular steel rack and not one of those cast metal ones that are easier to break. Maybe Thailand will make some in the near future.

I'm not against clutch bikes, just that having no clutch is more convenient as you can focus more on avoiding obstacles and traffic ahead especially when filtering. I previously owned a Ninja 400 and after that I rode my relative's Versys 650 on occasion.

And no problem on the center stand thing. I will likely go check out the bike myself and maybe test ride it when I'm closer to purchasing it, just to see if that is a real problem or exaggerated.