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Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater Mon, 21 Jun 2010I took a troll through Motorcycle Daily today, and came across this interesting article. The relevant portion for today's discussion: Imagine my surprise when, after having my ass kissed for several years, I attend a press event where I am scolded, along with several other journalists, by the manufacturer's rep. That's right, most manufacturers want to "make nice" with the media, for obvious reasons. Piaggio's North American president, however, had a different idea. The media wasn't doing a good job of selling motorcycles as transportation in the U.S. The traditional buyer here, of course, is focused on entertainment, not practicality. Piaggio wants that to change (although they still want the occassional buyer to step up for an expensive Italian superbike). To which I say, Cool! The article goes on to explain that of all the bikes available at the Piaggio press event, none of them were of the small-displacement, "transportation" variety Piaggio was worried about. Ok, so, irony aside, this is the kind of thing I want to see. Europe has boasted a robust two-wheeled transportation sector for a long time, in large part because gas has typically been 2.5x what it costs in the US, making even economy cars seem pretty spendy. A 110 MPG scooter looks pretty nice when you're dropping $8 per gallon of fuel. The comments on the article are revealing, although hardly surprising. Small bikes are too small. The US isn't Europe (bigger cities, further distances, etc.). US buyers won't buy based on practicality or transportation value. Where's the Bigger-Better-Faster? That's where I get frustrated. It would take years of work to change the minds of a significant number of Americans as to the transportation value of motorcycles. That's years of advertising dollars, years of editorials, years of advocacy, and years of legislation. None of which, of course, will happen. Why? Because that's not what people want. They want Bigger-Better-Faster. We know. Why? Because we told them that's what they want. Yet here I am, freshly back from a trip around the mountains on my diminutive 250cc motorcycle, where I got a trip average of 64.5 MPG. My riding companion, on her 800cc BMW, got 62 MPG. Despite my small-bike "handicap," I was riding at the pace I wanted (which was more or less the speed limit, occasionally hampered by slow-moving cars, which were passed in short order). Granted, this was a trip more about fun and vacation than transportation, but it breaks a common notion held forth in the Motorcycle Daily comments: "Oh, a 250 is too small for American roads." Bullshit. I just did it, and if I'd needed to do it at an average speed of 80 MPH, the bike would have complied. My "little" 250 was more than a match for I-5, and it was adequate to climbing mountain roads at 4000 feet, and it was able to do all that for less fuel than any car yet produced. That's a bike that's "too small" for American roads? Bzzzt! Try again. My point is really that there are US riders who ride for transportation, and we do it with a wide variety of bikes. I'd be thrilled to see more 250cc-and-smaller bikes in the US market, and see them marketed as daily transportation rather than crap-your-pants adrenaline machines. Well, perhaps my point is too diffuse to really pinpoint, since I've touched on marketing and popular expectations and practicality, but hopefully you can see where I'm headed. We're using too many resources as a nation, and it's really in the public consciousness with the oil catastrophe ravaging the Gulf of Mexico (and soon to ravage the Atlantic, if the spread happens as predicted). Reigning in our transportation choices is one way to reduce our oft-belabored (but otherwise ignored) "dependence on foreign oil." Lose the SUV and pick up something that uses less gas to get around. Consider a motorcycle or a scooter -- imagine what happens to your budget when you're buying gas in 2 gallon doses instead of 20 gallons at a time. Posted at 10:31 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. |