Character

[Capo]

LOL well some designs even though being utilized today, are 40-50 years old (Ducs, Harleys and Guzzis haven't changed much).. and I haven't owned any bikes in the last 25 years that many would consider having character since most everything has been Japanese. Some would say my 2003 Bonnie but honestly that was a very good motorcycle and had very few traits that I would consider giving it character, so other than old stuff and stuff others have that I know I have nothing for comparison.

What do you think gives a bike character Capo? You ride a lot of the bikes that many people would probably describe as having such. Is it a physical feature? rarity? country of origin? Is just being non-Japanese enough to say a bike has character?

I don't think you can firmly define the word as it applies to motorbikes. But you know it when you feel it. My sense is that it implies something that feels other than studied, focus grouped or created in a lab, with certain 'flaws' or characteristics versus the perfect, that make it interesting. And lust worthy. Out right performance, reliability or spec sheet factoids don't fully matter....I never much cared what Sophia Loren's blood pressure or 40 yard dash times were.

Japanese bikes, fairly or not, are blanketed with the 'no character' description, due to the very thing that makes them so good...their engineering, smoothness, and build quality, at the expense of being anodyne. Thank you, Mr. Deming.

And yes, marketing plays a part. I still haven't been in a Honda dealership that seems to give a rat's butt about making the potential owner feel like something special is about to happen, or that their bikes have won TT's, GP's, MX championships, or are of a magnificent lineage. It's hard to feel all character-y when they have to move a lawn mower and generator out of the way to get to the 3 year old CB1100 stuffed away in the back of the showroom.

Just my opinion, and whatever makes your own blood rise.