[ST] Jap cr#p vs Yank cr#p vs Brit cr#p.... Lighten up!

["Alex Ozzard-Low" <alexol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fine comment STeve!

I still can't believe that this FJR thread has lasted this long.  Buying a
motorcycle has never been about logic or "best" - it's about what tilts your
emotional kilt, what you like, what hits the spot and is at least vaguely
realistic for your wallet.  The ONLY area that bikes excel (at least in the
US apart from California) is performance - you can't split lanes or filter
through traffic, so there's little advantage there.  Even when you can split
lanes, apart from heavy traffic commuting, a car is often faster door to
door as you can go further on a tank of gas, you don't need to stop so
often, and you don't need to spend all that time putting on battle-dress.
Bikes aren't practical, and they are very expensive to run - until recently
I had a fancy German sports car which would easily go through a set of tires
in less than 20k miles, at a lower per mile cost than my ST.  What's
important, is how they make us FEEL, which is a hell of a lot better than
99.8% of cars.

As for the Jap vs American vs Brit vs etc thing - that is just juvenile,
almost as stupid as the seemingly endless 600cc shoot-outs the magazines are
so fond of.  The poor Harley people are actually deluded into thinking their
bike is all American.   According to a recent article in one of the car
rags, the car with highest US content (measured by component value) is a
Honda Civic.  The motorcycle with highest US content is, wait for it, the
Honda Goldwing!  The GW has (if I recall correctly, and I probably don't)
26% non-US content, and the HD typically has 34% non-US.  You like an FJR?
Fine, buy one.  You don't?  Don't buy one.  "Best" is what is in your head.

I like my Sprint, because it more or less does what I want it to do for the
moment.  And yes, I feel it has a certain Japanese blandness to it -
personally, I'm convinced that the only engine configuration that has an
immediate & visceral feel to it is a v-twin, and even then I'd narrow it
down to a Moto Guzzi, but the trade-off is that you seem to lose the
multi-use capability.  When I get bored with the ST, or something else
better suits my needs, I'll change.  And so will you.  I'll bet there's
no-one presently on the List who will be riding the same Sprint 20 years
from now.  Better make that 10 years.

And for the guy who doesn't know how many cylinders his bike has?  I'm glad
to see him (or her) riding - the more the better.  After all, bike knowledge
is only relative.  We all know how many cylinders we have, some of us have a
bit more knowledge and can do some work on our bikes because we are
enthusiasts.  But we are only enthusiasts to the degree that suits us - I'll
bet there are VERY few on the list who know, for example, the valve spring
rate.  It's like computers - you used to HAVE to know quite lot about the
guts of 'em, now its mostly plug 'n' go (or not, if you are a contributor to
Mr Gates' IRA).

Lighten up -  it's about what we enjoy, our passion.  As someone said, it's
not about life and death - it's more important than that.

Alex

(who probably ought to duck for cover about now!)