ReSTored
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I view Klim as a relatively high cost, high product quality vendor of gear. They've obviously given this some thought and determined you can have two ways to buy the vest, outright or rent/lease to own. This gives people who might be questioning the value or cost of a vest to spread out the cost over time, maybe making it an easier purchase decision for some. I think Klim will have very few people who stop making payments............... Price things too low, or not operate profitably, the genius of the product wont matter, the company will cease to exist. Similarly, price to high or abuse your customers, and you will not last either.
My view on the Klim vest is they are being slightly disingenuous about the "subscription". Its a lease, period, call it what it is. Miss a payment on you leased car? They send the repo man. Miss a payment on you " subscription " they turn the vest off. Same thing. Maybe the Klim customer doesn't care, or fully understand, but if they are happy I guess Klim is okay. I'd certainly view it with a dubious eye.
The ST1100 is essentially an analog bike and there will be people who can keep this bike, and the 1300, on the road for many more years. Very easy to work on. Flash forward to 2052, 31 years from now. How many 2021 KTM's, BMW RT's and K1600's will be on the road. The complexity of today's vehicles is such that parts, technicians who still know how to service them, availability of special diagnostic tools, ongoing software updates etc...... means it will either be prohibitively expensive or just technically impossible to keep these vehicles on the road. Aside from the fact that these are all internal combustion vehicles and they may well be legislated off the road by then, so maybe a moot point.In regards to technology in vehicles.............as an example of how things are now and will be in the future, my KTM comes with the cruise control and shift assist software preinstalled but requires paying for activation by the dealer.