Apple Computer brings out a new iPhone or Power Book and that’s what it is, it’s not the all new 2012 Apple, it’s simply the new iPhone. Instead of forcing some pseudo change and calling it all new, why not just wait until there’s a real change?
Some motorcycle companies, Royal Enfield or Ural for instance, are proud to be building practically the same thing for decades before making significant changes. What’s wrong with that? It seems to be moving a bit in that direction with some of the new models or specials, like the Desmosedici, for instance, it’s known by name not year. Go back to some short lived, though still multi year models, like the Honda GB500 or Kawasaki W650, does the year matter? How about the V-Max that was hardly changed for decades, yet every year you had a “new” model. Why?
Let the engineers and design teams work on real change and forget the model year nonsense. Harleys hardly change, why not embrace it? When a Honda Gold Wing breaks new ground then call it a new Gold Wing or even something different. Certain brand experts will smugly cite minor changes between, say, the 1992 and 1993 model years for some particular model, but does it really matter?
If motor vehicle laws require a model year, make it the calendar year of manufacture, look at the date on the tag with the VIN number and be done with it. Manufactured on December 31, 2011? Then it’s a 2011 for registration purposes. On January 2nd? It’s a 2012. If incremental but meaningful changes are made during a model run, note that and make it clear with a model identifier, like the B model or C model, you don’t have to hold off until the next model year and say it’s all new when it isn’t.
Especially now, when sales are slow and manufacturers are trying to become financially stable, the demand to introduce new models is a needless strain. Focus on selling what’s already available, except of course, the psychology of new models is so firmly entrenched, it’s hard to break.
It will take some mental readjustment and it will certainly require some advertising changeovers, but the model year introductions, which have long ago detached themselves from calendar years anyway, should just go away.
cycledave says
Other than appeasing model year emissions and safety inspections, not to mention bragging rights that you have a brand new motorcycle, why worry about it. So if it matters, this would mean I’m a 1977 model year and enjoy riding my 1984 model year BMW R65LS. Still dreaming of a new bike though.
Mike says
Short answer: Americans.
Long answer: Many entities rely on model year to define the value of an item, usually only items large enough to require a title or deed. Insurance companies, finance companies, even the juducial system often require monetary values based on depreciation and that value is based on MSRP as new and the year of manufacture. Sure, the year of manufacture doesn’t necessarily change based on the model year (MY2013 cars are already on the road in some places) but it will eventually affect the value of an item when the owner gets into a nasty wreck/divorce. The system could use date of manufacture instead of model year, but would most likely extrapolate DOM to MY anyway.
BigHank53 says
Not just Americans. Japan inherited (maybe) the American fascination with new gadgets when they reindustrialized after WWII. Look up the history of Sony Walkmen or point-and-shoot cameras sometime–products could be superseded in months. Recently there’s been the Canon S90/S95/S100 cameras…
john says
Its all about the yearly car shows. There was a time when cars really did change every year. There was also a time when model years really did coincide with the year it was assembled. Then car shows got competitive and they started trying to beat everyone else with their new model release dates.
Pete says
The specific model ID of your bike is hopefully available through cryptic serial numbers (and a little help from a technical manual).
The bad thing is that information should not be buried there, since it makes looking for parts or informations very difficult – or just comparing bikes.
But it is good for sales, since the average consumer is not aware of this, that’s the point…
JP says
while it is mainly a marketing thing, the date of manufacture is now involved with emissions and safety regulations so if you are importing a car or bike, the govt wants you to meet new standards on all your “next model year” lines,and to make sure you are not fudging in the govt eyes (and we know how random that can be) you need to start early. So what started as a ploy to have “NEW, Better” before your competition has now got the momentum of govt regulation….
mARK says
Even if manufacturers stop trying to pretend like something’s new every year there will still be a legitimate need to identify a bike’s year, and there’s really no reason to bury it in the vin, although the fact that it’s currently BURRIED in the vin is still stupid.
GuitarSlinger says
Slightly longer answer – Marketing and Americans . Take away the model year myth and 90% of all marketing / advertising folks would be out of work in a heartbeat . Try pulling off eliminating model year designations and the American – brand conscious – status seeking buying public would go ballistic .
I can just hear the discussion now ;
” Hey … Joe … nice bike … what year is it ? It doesn’t matter ? Oh I get it . you had to buy it used . Never mind “
Carolynne says
Its crazy to drive for the latest and greatest whether or not they can afford it. We get more of everything than we need and are killing ourselves in the process. It shocks me, but apparently there are people out there who won’t drive a car that is more than two years old. Thats insane. We have no sense of value or of what things really cost. It seems the drive towardsconsumption is going to spell the end of our way of life, its just not sustainable. I am hoping that at some point we will get back to what matters.
Tin Man 2 says
Why take away information?? The model year is a usefull tool in buying/selling and insuring vehicles. The Marine Outboard manufactures have gone to a no year system and all it has done is allow the sellers to hide the lack of features from the casual customer. Yes the informed customer can tell the difference but very few buyers are as involved as those of us who keep up with this stuff. I will take all the info I can get!!
Tom says
Look at video games here for a moment. Back when Microsoft entered the console fray, they opted for the Xbox versus the Playstation 2. (I realize only one of those is numbered) But look at it’s next offering. The Xbox 360 versus the playstation three. Why not xbox2? Marketing. No one wants to look behind the times. The next iteration is rumored to be called Xbox 720. Same reason the first iterations of so many devices are called the XYZ 5000. If you didn’t keep them on a short enough leash, car manufacturers would be making 2034 model years cars in 2012.
Do I like it. No, I agree with Paul here. But will it change? No. Same reason states moving the primaries up too. Give them enough leeway and we’ll be doing primaries 6 years in advance of the next election.
john says
I can’t believe they aren’t doing half year models every 6 months by now.
pushr0d says
Sometimes they are!
Honda and Triumph (to name two) have bikes in the past that changed inside a ‘Model Year.’ To get the proper part(s), you must have the VIN.
Derek Larsen says
How would you feel if a dealer tried to sell you something that had been sitting on his floor for 5 years?
Leo Speedwagon says
I didn’t realize that consumers are so stupid they have to know the model year to make a purchase. Reminds of the idiots who, when looking at my badgeless car asked what is it?
Rich says
It’s pretty well mandated by federal emission, safety and other regulations. I don’t see the big deal with keeping the current system. While the basic rudiments of a model may stay the same manufacturers introduce small but significant changes in brake systems, suspension or other items. The manufacturing date change is as much a way for engineering departments to keep track of changes as they are a marketing tool.
OMMAG says
You didn’t take any marketing courses did you? 🙂
Tin Man 2 says
No, He probably took engineering courses so he could actaully DO something, as opposed to just talking BS.
spectator says
Anti-capitalist much? Or are you just not fond of those things which you haven’t studied? (don’t understand)
Tin Man 2 says
Marketing creates nothing, It lives as an overvalued Parasite on those who Do create things. Yes, Try Common Sense.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
Actually, marketing is essential and very valuable. The idea of “build it and they will come” may work in the movies, but in the real world, if no one knows you built it, you’ll go broke waiting for customers.
SomeGuy says
This may be true but the extent it’s been taken to is absolutely ludicrous. I don’t need to be sold something I already own 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I don’t need to be sold anything. If I want something, I’ll do the research and go get it myself. Usually, marketing ends up turning me off to certain brands or products.
john says
Agreed
OMMAG says
Actually … I am an engineering technologist … I’ve worked in manufacturing and telecom and IT … I currently work as a technical writer and produce operator and repair manuals for a major equipment manufacturer. I have certifications in education and professional training, project management, management, marketing, mathematics and applied sciences.
I have built and raced motorcycles and customized cars, off road vehicles and machinery.
I actually DO things as someone likes to say.
In the course of my education (which did NOT stop when I first graduated) I did take marketing courses and economics courses.
So for any of those thin skinned and comprehension challenged critics about what I said … just take a deep breath and … take your time to read … very … slowly and NOTE the little smiley face too!
I am sure that Paul understands this.
WestOfBen says
Ford and Holden over here appear to do better with their Falcon and Commodore, respectively. We’ve always had designations like Falcon BA Mk II/II and Commodore VU Series II/III. Works well.
Same goes for Generations. Honda VFR750F Gen4, 1994-1997. Model year designations should be less important. Same goes for software, we all look for software versions. We know that instantly dating software or OSes spells doom. Windows 2000? Hah, it was old news in 2001!
erick says
Surely it’s because 90% of their consumers demand it. if not, why bother?
Boys demand for “fashions” while gentlemen demand for an “icon”
who win in the eye of manufacturers?
“quantity”
GenWaylaid says
Well if model years are so arbitrary, I’m going to start producing motorcycles that are all labeled MY 1967. Sadly, I doubt the DOT and EPA are going to hold me to the standards of forty-five years ago.
Wave says
As WestOfBen says, Australian car manufacturers have never advertised their products by model years. Because our market is too small to keep up the pace of changing cars on a yearly basis, cars have always been known by a two-letter model designation, such as the VT, VX, VY, VZ Holden Commodore. For intermediate model upgrages without major styling changes, they use ‘mark’ or ‘series’ increments, such as VT Series II, VT Series III. A current-shape car always remains in production for several years. The current VE Commodore has remained in production since 2006. However, sometimes there are important changes which are not advertised. For example, for MY2010, the VE Commodore had new SIDI engines and transmissions. For some reason, despite the new engine, the car was not called Series 2, so you have to know what model year the car is (or look at the engine) to know which engine you have. This shows that sometimes, the model-year is important. The VE Series 2 has now been released with new dashboards and a touch-screen radio.
I worked at Holden in engineering for a little while, and I found that the engineers do make a huge number of small running changes for each new model year. Often they are changes that the customer would not notice, but they are important for quality control and engineering. It might be a new door latch, or a different plastic clip to hold a part on. The engineers, mechanics and spare parts interpreters do care what model year the car is, in order to keep track of these changes. I can only imagine that it’s the same with motorcycles.
Clawbrant says
I actually think that model years are quite useful. There are often little things changed between years and, while it might not make a difference when you are buying a new bike, it sure does when your looking for parts. It also helps when you are buying something used. With motorcycles it doesn’t matter as much, but here in the rust belt a few years can have quite an impact on a car.
zipidachimp says
just an aside: I think all race horses are dated from jan1 each year, so that in a field of 3 year olds lined up at the kentucky derby, some are physically 3 years old and some are actually stronger 4 year olds.
so I’m told. pardon my off-topic post.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
Didn’t know that about race horses, interesting.
In a somewhat related, but also very off topic bit of info, a study of the cutoff dates for age grouped sports like children’s hockey or soccer, shows the dates can have a huge effect on who becomes the star. Since children grow quickly when young, birthdays mean a lot. A child who just turned 8, for instance, will be smaller, on average, than one who is almost 9, and the advantage will always hold as they get older. The physically taller and stronger player when young gets more coaching attention and playing time and outdistances the younger ones, even though the other child may have had the potential to be just as good, probably a good argument for weight classes as used in boxing or wrestling, model years don’t work for kids either, I guess … now back to our regular topic
JSH says
I worked as a product manager for a small (now defunct) manufacturer of utility vehicles. We originally tried to do without model years and only update the model name when significant changes were made. It wasnt’ a problem for regulators as regulations are based on when a product is made.
Insurance companies hated it and demanded a model year so that they could depreciate the value of the vehicle. They simply used the year of manufacturer.
However the real driver for us to start using model years were dealers and customers. Dealers demanded model years so they could continue their typical marketing campaigns of advertising “new” models and discounting old models.
Customers were confused by the entire concept and couldn’t wrap their minds around not having a model year. They continually asked what model year a vehicle was and defaulted to using the year of manufacture. A customers shopping in December would demand a huge discount on a vehicle straight from the factory because it was about to be last year’s model or they would wait for one manufactured in January.
All in all it just didn’t work and everyone was happier when we stopped trying to buck the system and started using model years. BTW, a manufacturer is allowed a difference of up to two years between the manufacturing date and model year. A vehicle that came off the line January 1st, 2012 could be sold as a 2013 model year.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
Pretty much as I expected, the psychology of model years is the real issue, and after all of this time, changing could be more trouble than it’s worth. Thanks for the insight from the manufacturers perspective.
Mule says
How would be if the concept/design stayed the same but over the life of say 10 years for a Sportster or V-Max, there was a radical change in metalurgy and/or weld quality or wiring or some other significant factor. But you walk into the showroom and there sits an unchanged 1996 Sportster that’s being sold in 2012 as a ” Generic-Current” product that is actually inferior. But without a model year, you would have no idea. Unless you reverted to serial numbers which would corrospnd to a year of manufacture and then you’re right back to the “Model year” theory again.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
I mentioned in the article, if there was some significant change, of whatever type, some kind of model designation would be appropriate and necessary and it wouldn’t be any more or less helpful to someone, whether it was a “B” model rather than the next model year, if the person wasn’t interested in those things in the first place, how you could separate the two wouldn’t matter.
I used the example of 1992 and 1993 model years, because it happens to be when the V-Max got larger diameter fork tubes, which, as a previous V-Max owner, I happen to know, but to the average buyer, wouldn’t make any difference if they were looking at two used V-Maxes side by side.
Sometimes the newer model changes in a way that an enthusiast wouldn’t like and he would prefer the older one. He would know, the average buyer would not and model years might mislead the less knowledgeable buyer to get what the expert would not want.
John S says
We could ask the people who started it but they’ve been dead for nearly a century.
Year dates are more convenient than VIN numbers. If, for instance, I was looking for a used Sportster, I prefer the range of 1992 to 2002. 1992 gets you beyond the chain drive and magic exploding alternator. In 2004, they went to rubber-mounted engines and infinite more complexity. 2003s have those stupid 100th anniversary tank logos. A 1995 with last year of the 2.2 gallon tank is my sweet spot.
B50 Jim says
There was a time when consumers anticipated the new model year cars — the cars came to town on railroad boxcars and driven in the dead of night to the dealership, where they were arranged in the showroom under a cloak of secrecy. Paper covered the windows and only the staff could see the cars. My dad knew a mechanic at the Chrysler garage, and got to sneak in and see the new cars before the paper came down. Of course they were pretty much the same old cars with slightly different chrome and new colors, but By God they were the New Cars. It’s all marketing, and makes as much sense as anything else marketers do.
Carolynne says
Jim, I think you should be writing a book
B50 JIm says
Carolynne–
Thank you for the vote of confidence! I’ve thought about it, and others have said I should do it — I work in trade publications and I’m familiar with the nuts & bolts — and it would be fun. I’d have to figure some way to pay the bills while writing and assembling — there’s a lot of research, organizing pictures, design work, etc…. and no guarantee it will sell. But I’d love to have a go at it — maybe a retirement project, which, amazingly, isn’t too far off. Self-publishing being what it is, the project is feasible. But most self-published works go to the web, and I like actual paper and binding that you can hold and read by the fireplace (if I had a fireplace). But it’s a good thought. Tell you what; I’ll send you a free copy.
Carolynne says
You can drop it off as you come on your motorcycle tour through the Ottawa Valley on your Thunderbolt
B50 Jim says
Hmmm… After I stop to make repairs, retrieve parts that fell off the bike, fix flats, pour in oil, track down electrical gremlins, etc…. and that’s before I get out of Illinois… you’ll be waiting a long time. But maybe the old Thunderbolt would feel better about itself after it crosses the Northern border; the atmosphere is more English. I hope the unfortunate events of 200 years ago won’t spoil the mood.
Nicolas says
lol … sounds like a your T-bolt was the ancestor of my KTM supermotard … 🙂
B50 Jim says
And my Thunderbolt was one of the best, most reliable bikes BSA ever made. No wonder they closed the doors!
todd says
VW had no problem selling the same car for around 7 decades. there was the addition of a new model in ’71 (the “Super” Beetle) but they never really marketed the MY. In fact, I recall a number of ad campaigns where they suggested you shouldn’t feel bad about owning a ’58 when it looks just like the ’68. Enthusiasts now know better and the year of a Bug is very important since there actually were thousands of changes through the years and getting the correct part (though anything would work) is important for authenticity. I imagine this is very much the same approach that H-D takes with their bikes; you can buy a Hog and not feel like a loser when it turns a year old. Of course they still are keen to point out all their improvements to let you know they are working on it but want to make sure that the people you are trying to impress are none the wiser.
If a bike is popular either approach will still move the merchandise.
-todd
Mule says
That was my point. Subtle changes/improvements without the hype. If you buy a part for a new Bonneville, the first thing the parts people ask for is your VIN, not the model year. I don’t think with those though that the basic bike has changed through the years. That is what makes them so popular and will become even more so with builder/customizers.
I was at a dealer seminar once and it was explained that with Honda, frequent changes in designs make it impossible financially for the aftermarket to tool up to make parts, hence everyone returns to the dealer/factory for their parts needs. Conversely, few people ever go to a Chevy dealer for their small block Chevy parts.
Brett says
As an employee at a motorcycle dealership I am thankful for the model year designations as it makes looking up parts much easier. I worked for a short time with a brand of lawn and power equiptment that always needed the serial number to look up parts and it was a nightmare to locate the right items. Even simple things like the right style decal or color tank are much easier when you start by narrowing it down to the right year.
Fibbs says
the picture sums it up nicely, practically zero real changes in 20 something years of production.
Tom says
Honda sold the Elite 80 in the USA from 1984 through 2007 without any change other than color. So if you were looking at two of these scooters in a used line up, either of which might be anywhere from five to twenty-nine years old, both with similar mileage and aesthetic condition, would you pay the same price for either? Would you pick the color you liked best? In lieu of model year information, would you perform a complete body- and cover-off inspection of the belts, hoses and electrical connections?
Mule says
I don’t think I’d pick or buy either. Ever.