What is the real manufacturing cost of a motorcycle?

Question

What is the real manufacturing cost of a motorcycle?

Answer 1

I never manufactured one.

Answer 2

Proprietary Information.

Answer 3

For one thing, it ain't cheap. Why do they cost a lot ? Because they cost a lot. Government regulations keep many expenses on the assembly line and passed on to the customer. No longer can the waste for the chrome shop be dumped in the river for instance. The customer pays the bill to transport the metal waste to an appropriate place.  Wages for quality help. R and D, esp for HD. Actually Harleys R & D is most of the R & D for the half the industry. Advertizing costs a fortune. Honda advertized for the whole MC world in 1964.....remember, "you meet the nicest people on a Honda"? Those full page ads in Life mag weren't free. It was one of historys most successful advertizing campaigns. It costs a lot of money to make money. Now, costs of materials are going through the roof. For the first time USA competes for common materials with China and India. Things made from metal will skyrocket the next 5 years.  The city bus may stat looking better and better in the future.

Answer 4

I suspect you will NEVER find out the true manufacturing cost of any motorcycle in production.

That secret is very heavily guarded.  Much like the gold at Fort Knox.