JD had actually considered donating the bikes to orphanages, etc. IIRC. Their lawyers said NO, if somebody got hurt on one JD could be held liable.

Ever priced what it would cost to build a bicycle if you bought all the parts new at retail prices? Or worse yet, been foolhardy enough to build one with all new parts even at Ebay and clearance prices? You have to remember you aren't really paying for the materials, you are paying for all the warehouse workers, administrative people, transportation, taxes, dealership personnel and so on, and so on AND the name. The more pieces of the pie getting doled out means the pie has to be bigger....... Doesn't make it hurt any less for the end user though.