Originally Posted by
big john
I was trying to point out that the difference isn't as great as you have said. You can see this at the races. You have higher paid team riders competing against private teams. As in bicycle racing, the rider is the biggest difference. Sure, a factory team will spend a lot more on the bike and the rider, but the production bikes are quite good and much closer to the top tier than they were back in the days of "works" bikes.
A mud race or other difficult conditions can even things out.
You are still missing the point. I would bet dollars to donuts that no one is out there winning elite level races on a $9000 showroom fresh MX motorcycle. People
are out there winning elite level mountain bike races on $9000 showroom fresh mountain bikes. They probably aren’t winning those same races on $600 Specialized Hard Rocks, however.
“A
frame, swingarm, engine cases, and other major parts” leaves a lot of room for add-on parts and add-on costs. I assume that by “engine case” that means the external parts. The internals…the important bits for making the motorcycle go fast…aren’t production. Same for suspension, gears, transmission, etc. All of added parts have to be added to the cost of the motorcycle for comparison and, as with bicycles, the frame is a pretty small part of the cost of the bicycle.