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Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater Mon, 17 Oct 2005
I think I've mentioned this before, but I've found the Z750s to be I'm not begrudging the marketplace its 750cc, 100HP motorcycles. They have a place, and I'm very glad they exist. However, where are the bikes for people like me? Why are there no 400cc, 50HP inline fours? Where are the CBR250s? Where, in short, are the realistic bikes? In the US, our marketplace really starts with the 600cc motorcycle. There are a few (notable) exceptions, but the motorcycle companies don't start caring about bike sales until the engine size hits 600cc. Over this size, you see dramatic R&D budgets, huge advertising expenditures, and an ever-increasing upper size limit (I'm thinking of the 1800 and 2300cc bikes which have come out recently). Motorcycles of this size provide super-legal performance in many aspects. Most of them are very capable of breaking any speed limit in the country, in a matter of seconds (even my Ninja 250 could hit 80 without trouble, which is 10 MPH faster than any speed limit I'm aware of). Most of them offer 0-60 times well under 5 seconds, which counts as a high priced sportscar in the automotive world. Most of them offer what I will call mediocre gas mileage. So, we have a motorcycle marketplace well-stocked with sportscar-performance models. Where are the sensible cars for everyday use? Where are the Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys of the motorcycle world? We had some in the 80s and 90s, with mid-size Honda Nighthawks. But even then, 500cc and up was the order of the day. There wasn't a real, thriving 100-400cc market until you go back to the early 70s and late 60s. Yet, this is a size which is well suited for the kind of driving almost everyone can do. With a 250, I was able to keep up with all kinds of traffic, and that engine was at least 17 years behind the state of the art. Imagine what a modern, fuel-injected, 4-cylinder 250 could do! And, they do, if you go to Europe and Asia. That's the most frustrating part. These bikes exist, they work well, they're cheap, and they're well-supported. But we can't get them here, because the manufacturer decided it wasn't worthwhile. Honda has been selling the CBR250 and CBR400 for years, both bikes I'd love to get my hands on. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Kawasaki sells a Z500s or Z400s (or similar bike) overseas that I can't get here -- yet that's exactly what I want. So this is an open request to manufacturers: please bring in the reasonably-sized bikes! With the recent (and likely permanent) increase in gas prices, the US market is going to open up to motorcycles with good gas mileage (and already has, see the recent rise in scooter sales in urban areas), which perfectly defines these small bikes. I can't be alone in wanting a small, reasonable-performance, high efficiency motorcycle. I know I'm not, because of the regular frustration expressed on the Ninja 250 board on this very topic. Even more than that, for every expression of frustration, there are between 10 and 100 people who aren't speaking up, or aren't even aware their frustration has any expressive path. I don't actually expect this situation to change any time soon, because hey, why would all the manufacturer's marketing surveys be wrong? Americans always want "bigger and better," never looking back or saying, "hey, actually, that one back there was perfect." Posted at 09:17 permanent link category: /motorcycle Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net. |