Another Useless Survey By J.D. Power

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

Once upon a time, way back on ’06, J.D. Power and Associates released the results of its annual Motorcycle Competitive Information study, declaring Victory to be the best brand on the road in terms of product, build quality, cost of ownership, quality, sales and service. Also doing well back then were BMW, Honda, Suzuki and Triumph. Buell (now defunct), Kawasaki and Yamaha were at the bottom with Harley-Davidson and Ducati dangling in-between.

What happened next was predictable. Some sore losers threatened to withhold financial underwriting in the future if the brand-by-brand results ever got released again. So, in 2007, no brand information was released. The same was true in 2008 and 2009. And, with the release of the 2010 study late last week, the same is true this year. Instead, J.D. Power pumped out a watered-down report that’s essentially useless to riders who are shopping for new bikes.

The survey is filled with staggering generalities that raise more questions than answer them. For instance, the 2010 study reports that motorcycle quality has declined dramatically in the past year – from 29 problems per 100 motorcycles in 2009 to 152 in 2010. Those stats are worthless if brand names are not attached. Did one or two brands have undue impact? If so, what are their names? Is there another brand that’s far superior in build quality and reliability? We’ll never know because J.D. Power refuses to tell us.

Some of the other data found in the study are painfully obvious. For example, the population of motorcycle buyers is aging; the average age of riders increasing from 41 to 49 years old since 2001. We didn’t already know this by simply opening our eyes?

This the 13th year that J.D. Power has released the survey. Only once has it been worthwhile – the year that brand rankings appeared. The research company routinely rates customer satisfaction for cars and countless other products, just not motorcycles. There’s no trophy presented for “best in show” among motorcycle manufacturers, leaving us riders guessing as to which are reliable and which ones aren’t.