Being a motorcycling journalist, you are in the fortunate position of being able to ride a wide range of bikes without having to fork out for them. All very well and good, but the trouble comes when you have to think of something to say about them.
The problem is that, in this day and age, there is no such thing as a bad bike. They all do what they are designed to do very well; with nothing much to differentiate between bikes in the same category. Every aspect of a machine’s components has been refined over the years so now there is no excuse to have a bike that stalls, or has flat spots or that doesn’t handle well, that doesn’t stop quickly and safely and doesn’t shake itself to bits, or leaves its calling card on the garage floor.
Ever increasing levels of electronic sophistication are changing out of all recognition the riding experience of even the simplest commuter bike, whilst improvements in materials and engineering techniques have had dramatic effects on bike longevity and service intervals.
But the basic concept - that of an internal combustion engine driving the rear of two wheels – remains the same and this concept can be traced back to the very beginning of motorcycling. Naturally there have been a few attempts to reinvent the wheel – look at the German Megola with its radial engine inside the front wheel, or the Neracar from America (slogan – ‘Motoring on Two Wheels’) but they never took off because they were either too different and scared people off or were just too plain daft.
It has been argued that we have reached a point now where the motorcycle is being refined, not reinvented. But hasn’t that always been the case? Has any manufacturer ever really stuck their neck out and tried to reinvent the wheel (or, at least, tried and survived?). They long ago ceased to introduce anything radically different as they know that the buying public will not go for it. We are like a flock of sheep and are terrified of being seen to be too different. How ironic that we who choose to ride motorcycles are afraid of being seen to be different!
That’s not to say that innovation is stagnant. Look at the increasing presence of the electric-powered bikes on road and track. Until recently, the development of electric bikes was left to small, independent manufacturers such as Quantya or Mission Motors, but now BMW, Yamaha, Honda, etc, are all making serious noises about future electric bike production and KTM have released the Freeride e electric off-roader.
But is this reinvention or simply more refinement of the original concept? Personally, I’m not sure, but I don’t care. As long as there is something ‘new’ in the world of motorcycling it means that the manufacturers are looking at ways of surviving and that means that motorcycles will be around for a long time to come.
Keep it between the ditches, rubber side down.
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