[zx7rr_2_zx10r]

I GTS but I'm having trouble finding a seat cowl for the Gen 5. You guys know where to get one?

 

[SkyDork]

Any Kawi dealership.

 

[zx7rr_2_zx10r]

Any Kawi dealership.

Ok... I was just looking to order one online, but I'll go to the dealership.:smile2:

 

[SkyDork]

Honda East Toledo | Proud Dealer of New & Used Honda, Suzuki, Can-am, Artic Cat, Yamaha, Victory, Ski-Doo, Aprilia, Brutus, Kawazaki, Polaris, Seadoo products in Maumee, Ohio

ronayers.com: Online Shopping Motorsports Parts

Any Kawi dealership whether it's online or local. Doesn't matter as any Kawi dealership can get it for you.

 

[zx7rr_2_zx10r]

For 220.00 I think that I'll just keep the passenger seat on it...:|

 

[zx7rr_2_zx10r]

At least until the Chinese ones show up on ebay

 

[SkyDork]

At least until the Chinese ones show up on ebay

:crackup::2bitchslap:

 

[68gts]

Any pics of the gen 5 cowl yet? No I am not thinking about buying a gen 5, just curious.

 

[SkyDork]

Any pics of the gen 5 cowl yet? No I am not thinking about buying a gen 5, just curious.

Kawi has pics on their site.

 

[Vonstallin]

At least until the Chinese ones show up on ebay

Kinda what I was thinking....no way in hell that seat cowl is that high to produce.

The wait will be long tho. I had to wait a year for the 2011 knock off to come out. It was still high at roughly $89 compared to dealers $175.

Now its $29.

The best price I got on a Gen 5 cowl was my dealer...basic discount after you buy a bike from them. so it was $195.

I hate the price but might pay that.

But everywhere it is listed as out of stock. The dealership check for me about every 6 weeks since December.

 

[zx7rr_2_zx10r]

Kinda what I was thinking....no way in hell that seat cowl is that high to produce.

The wait will be long tho. I had to wait a year for the 2011 knock off to come out. It was still high at roughly $89 compared to dealers $175.

Now its $29.

The best price I got on a Gen 5 cowl was my dealer...basic discount after you buy a bike from them. so it was $195.

I hate the price but might pay that.

But everywhere it is listed as out of stock. The dealership check for me about every 6 weeks since December.

They are still making money on it at that price...

 

[SkyDork]

They are still making money on it at that price...

Yup, and you get what you pay for. Which is vacuum formed plastic, non-matching paint, loose fitment, no directions, etc, etc.

The OEM is produced for a LOT less than what we're paying for them. But it certainly isn't cheap. You have to factor in a LOT of things with these. The materials (ABS plastic, metal brackets, mounting hardware, paint, rubber padding, packaging, etc) and then the labor (form the plastic, paint the plastic, stamp the metal bracket, paint the metal bracket, assemble all the needed hardware, put in in baggies, put the baggies in a box, label the box, someone to create the instruction sheet, print the instructions, track the unit in your inventory system, ship it to the dealers for delivery, etc).

I'd bet the actual material costs to Kawi are in the $50 range by the time they apply a burdened labor rate to everything. Now, they should make a profit on it. Typically 50-60% margin makes it worthwhile. So the dealer cost is probably about $110-$120. Now the dealers apply a markup of 50% profit and you're getting close to the $180 mark. MSRP is $216.95 which means you get some dealers making lots on it and some dealers discounting it back to the $180 threshold. That's the way it works.

The $29 Chinese crap is just that. Spending $15,000 on a new Gen 5 bike and complaining about a $200 perfect matching seat cowl kills me. I'd rather buy a color-matched rear vinyl seat cover than put that cheap aftermarket plastic on my bike. But that's just me.

 

[zx7rr_2_zx10r]

Yup, and you get what you pay for. Which is vacuum formed plastic, non-matching paint, loose fitment, no directions, etc, etc.

The OEM is produced for a LOT less than what we're paying for them. But it certainly isn't cheap. You have to factor in a LOT of things with these. The materials (ABS plastic, metal brackets, mounting hardware, paint, rubber padding, packaging, etc) and then the labor (form the plastic, paint the plastic, stamp the metal bracket, paint the metal bracket, assemble all the needed hardware, put in in baggies, put the baggies in a box, label the box, someone to create the instruction sheet, print the instructions, track the unit in your inventory system, ship it to the dealers for delivery, etc).

I'd bet the actual material costs to Kawi are in the $50 range by the time they apply a burdened labor rate to everything. Now, they should make a profit on it. Typically 50-60% margin makes it worthwhile. So the dealer cost is probably about $110-$120. Now the dealers apply a markup of 50% profit and you're getting close to the $180 mark. MSRP is $216.95 which means you get some dealers making lots on it and some dealers discounting it back to the $180 threshold. That's the way it works.

The $29 Chinese crap is just that. Spending $15,000 on a new Gen 5 bike and complaining about a $200 perfect matching seat cowl kills me. I'd rather buy a color-matched rear vinyl seat cover than put that cheap aftermarket plastic on my bike. But that's just me.

I can't afford 220.00 on a seat cowl because I spent 15000 on a new bike.:wink2:

 

[SkyDork]

I can't afford 220.00 on a seat cowl because I spent 15000 on a new bike.:wink2:

:lol: Well, there is that. What's the going rate for a kidney these days? :idea:

 

[sinewave]

OEM one from my Performance Edition here.


(well it would've been if this shyte site would let me post pix ffs!)

 

[Darkraven]

OEM one from my Performance Edition here.


(well it would've been if this shyte site would let me post pix ffs!)

Seriously.... The old app was much better functionally. Drives me mad!

 

[Vonstallin]

Yup, and you get what you pay for. Which is vacuum formed plastic, non-matching paint, loose fitment, no directions, etc, etc.

The OEM is produced for a LOT less than what we're paying for them. But it certainly isn't cheap. You have to factor in a LOT of things with these. The materials (ABS plastic, metal brackets, mounting hardware, paint, rubber padding, packaging, etc) and then the labor (form the plastic, paint the plastic, stamp the metal bracket, paint the metal bracket, assemble all the needed hardware, put in in baggies, put the baggies in a box, label the box, someone to create the instruction sheet, print the instructions, track the unit in your inventory system, ship it to the dealers for delivery, etc).

I'd bet the actual material costs to Kawi are in the $50 range by the time they apply a burdened labor rate to everything. Now, they should make a profit on it. Typically 50-60% margin makes it worthwhile. So the dealer cost is probably about $110-$120. Now the dealers apply a markup of 50% profit and you're getting close to the $180 mark. MSRP is $216.95 which means you get some dealers making lots on it and some dealers discounting it back to the $180 threshold. That's the way it works.

The $29 Chinese crap is just that. Spending $15,000 on a new Gen 5 bike and complaining about a $200 perfect matching seat cowl kills me. I'd rather buy a color-matched rear vinyl seat cover than put that cheap aftermarket plastic on my bike. But that's just me.

I had a Chinese knock off...it had metal bracket, and designed differently than the factory...probably how they were able to sell it legally.

Paint (black) matched fine on all, the color ones like red were off slightly in high sunlight...but nothing anyone would notice at all....
The seats did not have the rubber grommet at the bottom but i had some so used that on all, or you can order the OEM...had no issues with mines for the duration...I owned that bikes..


With the logic of why complain over the price if you own a 15k priced bike......
Then why not raise the price on all the items for the bike...for no reason other than profit.

If you were to buy every single item to build a gen 5 the bike price would go from $15000 to easily $90,000. No labor...just parts.
Only addition is the dealer parts dept selling and mark up.

I look at ROn Ayers to order a part for the gen 5...
They had it marked down to $3.82 while the dealer was selling same part for over $6. Mark up is extremely high on these bikes. Even the selling price to USA and UK. AUS being the highest.

Accessories are Waaaaay over priced and mark up is different vs. other items.


I've had so many knock off seats...cant really call them that because they all are engineered to latch on differently and I guess avoid patent and copyright issues. some design the covers and rubber butt stop differently also.


I have never been in the market of "Giving Away" money.
if OEM is 200$ and after market is $29.....its a no brainer.

The Cowl is a styling item and serves no kind of performance or maintenance role.
So who cares about paying the lower after market price vs. the disproportionate OEM mark up...These items are not even an American company lol...


My after market seat cowls....


2011 ZX10R

My 2008 Honad CBR 1000 after market seat cowl...

Brought one for my GF 2011 R1

My 2011 R6 after market seat cowl...ended up getting 3 since its doing double duty track and street.

My boys bike next to my R6 also have a chinese after market solo seat cowl...just not in the picture.

On my 2008 ZX10R i put the 2009 ZX6R OEM cowl on it...

on the 2004 and 2006 I used OEM cowls and the prices were close to $100. and the bikes were about $11,000

now the bikes have gone up close to 50% and the seat cowls went up about 105% in prices....

allot of the parts like side pannels front bodywork are still close in price...
from roughly $90 to now $110.

The seat cowl price hike is disproportionate to everything.

 

[Kevlar382]

I ordered a factory one over a month ago, the day I bought my bike. Was told that it was on back order. Still is. If you want to see one for a Gen 5 some of the magazine test bikes have had them on them. They look really nice. Hopefully they will be available soon, hate the look with the seat on unless my wife is sitting on it.

 

[g-man]

the OEM looks good with some vinyl work :grin2:

 

[08zx10rny]

yes these are currently on back order with kawasaki

I ordered a factory one over a month ago, the day I bought my bike. Was told that it was on back order. Still is. If you want to see one for a Gen 5 some of the magazine test bikes have had them on them. They look really nice. Hopefully they will be available soon, hate the look with the seat on unless my wife is sitting on it.