[ST] Magazine reviews

["David Pople" <davidgpople@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have views on the content of the bike magazines. Ones like "Performance
Bikes" are pure entertainment. Others such as "Ride" (UK mag.) are serious
attempts at quantifying performance of bikes and/or kit. This does not mean
that the marginal differences in scores dictate that one bike or jacket or
whatever is the best for you, because so much is subjective and varies with
the infinitely variable human form. Reviews of bikes which score 95 or 94.5
are essentially saying that "the bikes are both very good and we can't tell
them apart but our preference is for this one." In the UK peer pressure
among the fashion conscious has led many sport riders to dispose of their
Blades in favour of R1s and now the R1s in favour of GSXR1000s. There are
vast numbers of R1s suddenly available. Could this be because of the
perceived difference in the overall performance which most riders will never
experience or rather that this has been reviewed as now being the most
desirable bike? I think I know the answer. The industry must love that extra
0.5 scores for boosting turnover. The rest of us especially those like us on
this list accept that we will buy what suits our needs not the fashion
industry. So I take the scoring system with a large pinch of salt and read
the detail looking for the hidden but relevant information. But in the end
riding is believing. Until you test ride you will never really be able to
form an opinion. I wonder which bike will do a Nadya Comanetsch and get
100%?

David (not yet Salty Dawg but the money's in the post Lisa).

PS. I nearly bought a Falco and third on the list was the ST4 when I had set
out to get a Beemer 1100 Sport. Figure that one out. But not even a hint of
doubt that of all of them the RS is the most suitable for me. FWIW I like
the Futura's looks.



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