I don't know

KC, you asked a question that I have wondered about for several years.

Why are so many bikes getting oogly (worse than ugly)?

The sport bikes with their little tiny pointed rear ends look great on the track but on the street they look like honey bees in heat.

Does anybody here think the rear end of these bikes look as good as the sport bikes of the 80s and 90s?

IMO, even Bimota is putting out some ooglies. They use to put out some beauties.

BMW, GS bikes with their dorky front "bill"...........puhleeze.

Google some of the older sport bikes and then compare them to the latest.

Lots of rickey-racers want bikes that look like they just came out of the MotoGP paddock.

Well guess what, when you try to design a faux racer for the street you get a bike with ergos that chiropractors love.

That is why, when I was racing years ago, I decided to ride 250gp bikes because they were true race machines.

My Suzuki RG500 had ergos like a VFR and a beautiful rear end.

I hate to say this but cruisers seem to be more honest in their mission-design than sport bikes.

The only thing we can do is to bombard the marketing departments with feedback.

We're just preaching to the choir here.

 

KC-10 FE,

I fully agree. The new CBR1000RR makes me wretch every time I look at it. The old Fireblade looked awesome.

And yes...the 1098 is too bad-ass for mere mortals.

 

just a thought

Maybe, just maybe we the mature VFR enthusiast isn't the market the manufacturers are after. What appeals to us as a group isn't what the 19 to 28 year old demographic group will buy.
The kids will sell the bike in 2 years and buy the new flavor of the month a version of planned obsoleteness whereas we are thinking that at 2 years the rings and valves are getting settled in and looking to ride the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia.
Its the capitalist market at work, just get on your VFR the best Gran Touring bike out of Japan and go chase a sunset. Thats what I'm going to do when the 18 inches of snow in my front yard melts.
See ya down the road...

 

The CBR looks great! And according to the ride reports in the mags it works great too! As for the "disturbing trend" toward ugly bikes, I don't see it. Instead, I see innovation and evolution.

Kbrick is right. Honda probably doesn't feel the need to consult grouchy old 4th Generation VFR owners when it designs its supersports.

A lot of you guys want Honda to build a 1000cc VFR. However, you probably would complain about it because it wouldn't look like a VFR - it would look too angular and "modern." It would have linked brakes and ABS and HESB and other new-fangled technological developments, consarn it!

 

I wonder how much water you could collect in a nice daily down poor with that exhaust if it sat outside?
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