Careful Sharc, that is coming from a politician! And we all know how right on top of things they usually are.
You guys are thinking of markup on bikes at the Dealer level............ Dealers are not making a ton of money on a bike sale per bike because we are cheap and buy at lowest price we can get from out of state if we have to. But the bikes are sold to the dealers at a price where the manufacturer is still making money on it. Do you think Yamaha cares if Breyley Yamaha in North Royalton sells a YZ450F for MSRP or $1 over Dealer cost???? Certainly not......... they got their money already and what Breyley does with it is up to them. If they can get MSRP, good for them, if they have to sell it for $100 over cost........... it's no skin off of Yamaha's back either. Same goes for all manufacturers / dealers......... but if all your dealers go out of business......... you have a hard time selling stuff as a manufacturer so it's in their best interest in the long run to price the bikes where they will sell and both dealers and manufacturers make a profit.
KTM is a motorcycle company, and a motorcycle company only. There are other motorcycle companies that do lots of other things (Honda makes cars, Kawasaki makes heavy equipment, Suzuki makes cars, Yamaha makes all kinds of stuff) that they can get revenue stream from......... but KTM is motorcycles only and things related to their motorcycles. They happen to not be in the crazed Japanese economy that is struggling with rebuilding after a nuclear disaster, and made a deal with one of the biggest "marketing" companies in the world in fellow Austrian company RED BULL, but KTM generates it's global income from motorcycle sales, along with parts, and accessories for those bikes.
If you ever look at the market outside of the USA (and even in the USA outside of MX only), and you'll find that KTM is selling lots and lots of off road motorcycles.......... is that a bad thing?