From: crawford@boole.mitre.org (Randy Crawford)
Subject: Re: Dealer won't budge on '91 ST1100
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 05:32:38 GMT

In article <1993Jan4.184046.4181@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> car377@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (charles.a.rogers) writes:
>In article <moseley.151.726165026@u.washington.edu>, moseley@u.washington.edu (Steve L. Moseley) writes:
>> In article <1992Dec31.014706.7534@serval.net.wsu.edu> 
>> bill@wsuaix.csc.wsu.edu (William E. Johns;S23015) writes:
>> 
>> >Now I've never actually said that the PD is a "beautiful" bike.  Without
>> >considering paint lets's just say that it is a bike of character.  
>> 
>> BMWs, Ducati, Harleys - these are bikes with character for sure. They don't 
>> work as well as the other (Japanese) bikes, but they've got character the 
>> others lack. 
>
>The bikes don't lack character.  Character, like beauty, is in the eye
>of the beholder.  The "lack" is in the beholder, not the bikes.

How very Politically Correct of you.  Do you really believe this or are you 
just trying to keep your dead grandmother happy as she watches your every
move from Heaven?

So what is it about the Pacific Coast that makes you think it equals the
character of a Norton or Brough Superior?  Nah.  There's no question that 
many bikes cars or people have much more character/personality than others.
To deny this is silly at best.

>
>> But why is character so expensive? 
>
>It's not.  My bike has gobs of character, and it only cost me $3.1K.

What bike?

>
>> Why does character cost more than function?
>
>Function is part of character and character is part of function.
>However, some riders believe that these intersecting attributes 
>are somehow mutually exclusive and that some bikes don't possess 
>one or the other of them.  Such a rider can usually be induced to 
>pay a premium for something that is nothing more than an artifact 
>of his/her own imagination (or lack of it). 

Puh-leez.  It takes no imagination to conceive of _any_ cycle which has
more character than certain UJMs (Universal Japanese Motos).  I own a
Ninja 900 and it has far less personality than my Kaw H1 or H2 did --
thank God.

Messers Johns and Moseley didn't claim that function and character are 
mutually exclusive, only that function seems to cost less than character.
And I think the observation is a valid one.  In nearly every category,
a japanese cycles exists which outperforms an equivalent european model
-- acceleration, top speed, smoothness, engineering, touring comfort, 
reliability (arguable when vs. Beemers but quite close).  It's only when
the visceral component is factored in that these so-called rice burners
often fall short.  They just don't light my fire the way the Ducs or the 
Harleys do.

The sight of a blood red 851 or the sound of a 1340 Evo is elemental.
I think that a motorcycle engineer (or marketing executive) often has to 
choose between designing for style OR function.  Given our fondness for 
the sound of an antiquated twin or the sight of a classic cruiser, a price 
must be paid in performance or aerodynamics to serve the fashion.  No bike 
can be everything when it must perform like a product of the 90s yet look 
and sound like an antique from the 50s.

Harley, BMW and Ducati have developed styles of their own over the years.
Now they are enslaved to them.  None can (or would) adapt to the technical
challenge of the japanese makes both because of cost and because the market 
is fond of the tradition of each marque. 

To compete with more modern sport machinery, BMW would have to raise the 
horsepower of their flat 4s, extensively retooling and redesigning not only 
their engines.  Their chassises and powertrains would need modifications to 
meet the new demands of increased HP and torque.  As would their suspensions, 
gross weight, braking, etc. have to be altered.  But why?  Not to sell more 
bikes.  It's largely the sight and sound of the flat four that helps to keep 
the beemers in demand.  I suspect that BMW has difficulty in producing
enough machines to meet demand.  

The simple fact is, people want BMWs, Ducatis and Harleys because they look 
and feel a certain way, and thy have a history and mystique which attracts.  
They have character.  In my opinion, the buyer of these marques is paying 
for style and tradition (character) more than function.  And when did fashion 
and exclusivity ever cost less than mere function?
-- 

| Randy Crawford        crawford@mitre.org        The MITRE Corporation
|                                                 7525 Colshire Dr., MS Z421
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