I agree compared to bikes of yesterday, there are so many choices for so little cash. Gone are the days of the bikes that beat their rider up,you know heavy clutch pull,kidney jarring suspension, A board with a vinyl cover for a seat, hand grips made of hard plastic.
Motorcycle industry fixation.
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Because every extra adds cost. Have you noticed that the japanese sports bikes (without these extras) are much cheaper than the tourers that contain these creature comforts.
After a long ride on my just purchased sv650s I realized how little of the power I was using on my ZX9R. I sold the ZX9R and replaced it with a VFR800 within a week.
Honda should provide some upgrade options for the VFR such as heated do dads and cruise control. It is such a great all around bike now, it would allow for those who wanted more options to more to pay for it.
Why is it that when we buy a car we expect there to be varrious options and levels of creature comforts to puchase as extras. But this is not the case with cycles. After all how many people buy the base model no extras Accord?
Honda should provide some upgrade options for the VFR such as heated do dads and cruise control. It is such a great all around bike now, it would allow for those who wanted more options to more to pay for it.
Why is it that when we buy a car we expect there to be varrious options and levels of creature comforts to puchase as extras. But this is not the case with cycles. After all how many people buy the base model no extras Accord?
Because there are different bikes for different people, just as their are fat and skinny girls. I have a GSXR-1000 and like it just the way it is. Everything is a compromise. Manufacturers build bikes single focused because that is what people ask for. I don't see too many people asking for more upright riding positions or quiet exhaust on motorcycles.
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Ducting systems won't really work on a bike for a very simple reason, if it's cold enough to need a heater, you're either in leathers or a textile riding suit that'll insulate you from any warm air as well as cold, the heat would dissapate before it ever penetrated your clothing. Heated grips would be nice as well as adjustable seats and windshields, but If you're going to ride in the cold or wet, you'll need to invest in some good riding gear and a bike with some kind of fairing/windshield. At one time I had a VF1100S sabre, I bought the biggest slipstreamer clear windshield/fairing they sold and bolted it on from about october to may or june, it was as aerodynamic as a barn door but it kept me warm and dry. I've rode pretty much every day for the last 25yrs, except when it's below freezing and foggy. The way to stay warm is block the wind and insulate yourself with good riding gear.
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Thats why bikes like the Bandit, ZRX, Speed Triple, Monster and 919 or even a stone age antique like a GSX1100G are to me, more fun than an R1 or GSXR100 or any other full-on sportbike, I'm a street rider, the sport-standard type bikes give good performance and handling on the street, I don't really care about track performance unless someone wants to lend me an RC211V or something, an interesting example is the dyno test between the FZ1 and the 1200 Bandit, up untill 7k rpm the Bandit is ahead on torque and horsepower, but the party line is the FZ1 is better because it's got higher peak HP and Torque. That may well be, but the Bandit's got better wind protection, better ergo's and, at street speeds handles just as well. From my own experiance 7k on a Bandit is hauling ass just fine for a street bike, Maybe an expert level racer can overpower a Bandit's handling, but I can ride pretty fast myself, and I didn't notice that much differance between the two on the street. I think it's important to have bikes like sport-standards to fill the middle ground between race reps and cruisers, too narrow a focus on either end of the spectrum isn't good in the long run.
No, it's not too much to ask. Get your heated grips at http://www.aerostich.com/riderwearhouse.store - Cat No.1400. Cost about $37 and took me about an hour for a clean install on my VTR1000. While you're at it, order Cat No. 112 for an accessory outlet (SAE Fuse Plug) for $8 or buy the Cat No. 2525 Yuasa Battery Charger or $29 and get the SAE outlet in the bargain (five minutes to install).
Now you have exactly what you want for less than a hundred bucks and the 10,000 other people that bought the same bike don't have to pay for that and a bunch of other do-dads they don't want or need. Would that cars were so easy and cheap to customize with creature comforts - we could buy in cheap, and add ONLY what we want!
Now you have exactly what you want for less than a hundred bucks and the 10,000 other people that bought the same bike don't have to pay for that and a bunch of other do-dads they don't want or need. Would that cars were so easy and cheap to customize with creature comforts - we could buy in cheap, and add ONLY what we want!
"All day comfort, excellent handling, good looks... and please don't respond with a list of bikes that currently do all that. My question is why don't ALL bikes do that? Is it too much to ask that my fingers don't go numb?"
This is the same as asking why all cars aren't at least as quick as a sv650 or even a Sportster. What do you think it costs to purchase a car with "all day comfort, excellent handling and good looks" and that's at least as quick as some of the slowest motorcycles? It costs 50K and it's called an M3. How many bikes can you get for that?
This is the same as asking why all cars aren't at least as quick as a sv650 or even a Sportster. What do you think it costs to purchase a car with "all day comfort, excellent handling and good looks" and that's at least as quick as some of the slowest motorcycles? It costs 50K and it's called an M3. How many bikes can you get for that?
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Don't pick on my "Mighty G"! Your Bandit has the same engine with only 20cc more and a slightly different cam. I have a ball wasting 600's, 955i's and other cutting
edge "wunderbikes" on the street. Nothin' charges out of the hole like my old "boat anchor". Except my buddy's old ironhead Sportster with the 74in stroker kit. You really like that broad Bandit torque curve don't you?
"But that's impossible", Joe Squid says. "All the magazines say my 600 can do the quarter in 10.86 sec. Your G can only do it in 11.38. And it's completely impossible for a Sportster to out-drag a 600-4!"
Welcome to the real world Joe. A highly competent rider can get the 600-4 to run 10.86. A squidly incompetent like you can't even break into the twelves.
There's nothing like humilating some squid on his "latest and greatest" while riding an "old inferior" bike.
This is the danger of the motorcycle press. You read these articles and you begin to actually believe that the newest bikes are really a magnitude better than your current ride. It's all about ponying up the bucks for new bikes. The journalists are paid through ad revenue to do this. They are generally far more the friends of the manufacturers than the riders.
edge "wunderbikes" on the street. Nothin' charges out of the hole like my old "boat anchor". Except my buddy's old ironhead Sportster with the 74in stroker kit. You really like that broad Bandit torque curve don't you?
"But that's impossible", Joe Squid says. "All the magazines say my 600 can do the quarter in 10.86 sec. Your G can only do it in 11.38. And it's completely impossible for a Sportster to out-drag a 600-4!"
Welcome to the real world Joe. A highly competent rider can get the 600-4 to run 10.86. A squidly incompetent like you can't even break into the twelves.
There's nothing like humilating some squid on his "latest and greatest" while riding an "old inferior" bike.
This is the danger of the motorcycle press. You read these articles and you begin to actually believe that the newest bikes are really a magnitude better than your current ride. It's all about ponying up the bucks for new bikes. The journalists are paid through ad revenue to do this. They are generally far more the friends of the manufacturers than the riders.
There are some really valid points being brought up here. I read quite a few magazines (but not at the expense of riding time!) and the journalists, especially in the US, have forgotten that most of us have to pay for our rides and that we don't all go to track days every week. I have no problems with track days and hope to do some this season, but I only have one bike and don't have the money to trash $300 worth of tires in addition to the track fees. Let alone the cost of repairing my bike if I wad it. I ride every day that I can (too much snow lately to get much riding in). But as long as the journo's of the mainstream mags only give respect to hard edged sportsbikes and belittle all else then the lemming like squids and newbies will only buy those. I used to sell bikes and one of the reasons that I quit was that guys who have absolutely no experience what-so-ever would come in and want a bike that even I couldn't get the most out of. Try as I might to shift them to something more appropriate (and less expensive) they had to have the GSX-R. Coincidentally the GSX-R 1000 was on the cover of Cycle World every freaking month for about a year! I know it is a great bike, but it isn't the only great bike out there. I am still convinced that Cycle World is in fact owned by Suzuki, and I *own* a Suzuki!
Asking the manufacturers to incorporate more user friendly features isn't really all that outragous. Yes, I know that there is the aftermarket, but after spending as much as I did already I hate to have to spend another wad of cash to get the bike to be more livable. Most of us need a center stand more than we need to save the weight.
While we are at it, I'd love to see the price of bikes come down. If I have a bike that is a parts bin special, such as my Bandit 1200s, and the costs of development have long since been amortized, why does it have to cost so much? And why is it that the Bandit and the FZ1 have both seen price reductions in the UK but not in the US?
What I would really like to see is a new player in the market. I'd love it if Hyundai were to start making big bore practical bikes. That would light a fire under the Japanese's asses and drop the prices. They could still make all the race reps that they want, and there would still be plenty of wanna-bes out there to buy them. Hyundai cars were crap at first, but they are competitive now.
Of course the mags would all trash the bikes, but if Hyundai bought enough advertising space all of a sudden they wouldn't be such bad bike after all...
Asking the manufacturers to incorporate more user friendly features isn't really all that outragous. Yes, I know that there is the aftermarket, but after spending as much as I did already I hate to have to spend another wad of cash to get the bike to be more livable. Most of us need a center stand more than we need to save the weight.
While we are at it, I'd love to see the price of bikes come down. If I have a bike that is a parts bin special, such as my Bandit 1200s, and the costs of development have long since been amortized, why does it have to cost so much? And why is it that the Bandit and the FZ1 have both seen price reductions in the UK but not in the US?
What I would really like to see is a new player in the market. I'd love it if Hyundai were to start making big bore practical bikes. That would light a fire under the Japanese's asses and drop the prices. They could still make all the race reps that they want, and there would still be plenty of wanna-bes out there to buy them. Hyundai cars were crap at first, but they are competitive now.
Of course the mags would all trash the bikes, but if Hyundai bought enough advertising space all of a sudden they wouldn't be such bad bike after all...
Why is it that 500cc bikes are concidered small? And 250s are for wimps.
If the Manufacturers want to have a renaisance like in the 70's and early 80's they need to PROMOTE regular bikes. For regular people. I.E. "You meet the nicest people on a Honda"
Magazines need to appreciate what they call boring bikes and show the good side of Buell Blasts and Honda Nighthawk 250s. Customizing, riding, repairing, enjoying. Integrating them into normal life.
Yet in the USA riding is seen as a hobby and not a form of transportation. It is a niche market full of niche markets. Why do you think there is only one major American Owned Manufacturer here? I believe that it is because that is all the market will support.
If the Manufacturers want to have a renaisance like in the 70's and early 80's they need to PROMOTE regular bikes. For regular people. I.E. "You meet the nicest people on a Honda"
Magazines need to appreciate what they call boring bikes and show the good side of Buell Blasts and Honda Nighthawk 250s. Customizing, riding, repairing, enjoying. Integrating them into normal life.
Yet in the USA riding is seen as a hobby and not a form of transportation. It is a niche market full of niche markets. Why do you think there is only one major American Owned Manufacturer here? I believe that it is because that is all the market will support.
It's a business - the inductry produces what consumers want to buy, ergo, it does have the consumer in mind. It may not have you personally in mind, but it is definitely tuned to bike buyers as group. I read in Cycle World that Kawasaki isn't planning to upgrade the Concours because the company doesn't think it can move 6,000 units. That's just 120 bikes per state in the U.S.!
Finally, you want climate control? Buy a cage!
Finally, you want climate control? Buy a cage!
"The Harley hasn't really changed for 80 years."
Except for self-canceling turn signals, hydraulic lifters, kevlar belt, balance shafts, kick-ass stereos, and a bunch of other creature comforts. Sure, they haven't changed anything I personally pay attention to in a bike (except by buying Buell, and there is that VRod motor, admitedly not cutting edge, but damn it's a change!). They've stacked a lot of the same 'luxury' items onto the old platform that Honda and BMW put into their turing bikes. They've changed the motor and cycle parts mostly to improve relyability and quality of ride. They've changed plenty, just not where it won't help them sell. And why should they?
Except for self-canceling turn signals, hydraulic lifters, kevlar belt, balance shafts, kick-ass stereos, and a bunch of other creature comforts. Sure, they haven't changed anything I personally pay attention to in a bike (except by buying Buell, and there is that VRod motor, admitedly not cutting edge, but damn it's a change!). They've stacked a lot of the same 'luxury' items onto the old platform that Honda and BMW put into their turing bikes. They've changed the motor and cycle parts mostly to improve relyability and quality of ride. They've changed plenty, just not where it won't help them sell. And why should they?
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Yes you are absolutely right Sarnali!!!!!!
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I seriously doubt that the author will see your reply...............
Since his comment was posted almost TWENTY YEARS ago.
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