Symmetry

[ride4now_imp]

gheil..where did you find those pics of the deluxe? The one from 3/4 rear down low looking up is unusual and stunning. Love it.

Honda's website...it has the 2014 in all it's glory! Both versions...

I'm with Ferret... compare the look of this...


With this...


Symmetry is important in design... Think Apple vs. HP. Or
Cadillac vs. Lincoln. Or a Nest thermostat vs. a Standard.
Is one inherently better than the other? Personal opinion....

But you can't deny how this bike looks....








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Personal indeed.

While some folks like The ferret will be comforted by the symmetry and stronger nod to the past offered by the Deluxe version, and others like myself are more turned on by the contrast offered by the original design, I'm guessing that most here will agree that either option looks better than a bike covered almost entirely in plastic.

Personal indeed.

While some folks like The ferret will be comforted by the symmetry and stronger nod to the past offered by the Deluxe version, and others like myself are more turned on by the contrast offered by the original design, I'm guessing that most here will agree that either option looks better than a bike covered almost entirely in plastic. You are right, most here will agree with that. However, every time I fire up my modern superbike and put in a day's riding, I am reminded of why I am not in that majority.

Thinking of the twin pipes, there is a real-world reason -- now meaningless with respect to function -- why most guys think twin pipes look better.

Back in the days of hot-rodding, a separate exhaust for each cylinder or each bank of cylinders did in fact yield more power. Thus, dual exhausts were more desirable because "everyone knows they mean more power". With V8 engines you had your headers and maybe an "H" pipe connection between the two under your car (this provided better torque), with the signature twin exhaust tips coming out under the bumper.

This thinking then projected onto aircraft; the exhaust stacks on later model piston aircraft were sometimes designed to provide additional thrust at high power settings. This was mainly associated with the Merlin V12 engine installed in the high-performance fighters and bombers of the time (P-51 Mustang, DeHavilland Mosquito, Lancaster). Visually, the sight of these pipes spitting flames whilst warming up for a night bombing mission became iconic. Later, Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racers were known for emitting fountains of blue-white flame from their eight individual exhaust pipes (one for each cylinder) so the notion of "the more pipes, the faster" became ingrained in our moto-culture.

Then we moved to the jet age, and a large cylindrical object facing rearward came to mean "more thrust". So more pipes suggests more thrust and more power; the buying public responded very well to these kinds of styling cues. Witness the emergence of fins on the automobiles of the late 1950s. They denoted power and speed.

All that stuff is history. Now, power and speed comes from design features that cannot be seen at all. It comes from extreme refinement of the intake and exhaust tracts, of lighter, better materials, and most recently, computer control of every aspect of the engine's performance. Yet, the notion of loud, multiple pipes still resonates with the buying public. To this day we see the uprated versions of cars with two pipes. For example, my own V6 Toyota Venza has dual exhaust tips, but when inspected, it can be seen there is just a single large diameter pipe from the engine joining a large silencer at the rear of the car. This silencer has twin outlets. Not at all necessary, but even to women, who usually don't pay attention to such things, the idea of dual exhausts means more power, more prestige.

By contrast my V8 Tahoe has a single exhaust exiting the rear of the vehicle under the bumper. It works just fine.

That is why we persist in thinking symmetry is better. But it has now been relegated to a choice of style only, not function.

Personal indeed.

While some folks like The ferret will be comforted by the symmetry and stronger nod to the past offered by the Deluxe version, and others like myself are more turned on by the contrast offered by the original design, I'm guessing that most here will agree that either option looks better than a bike covered almost entirely in plastic. You are right, most here will agree with that. However, every time I fire up my modern superbike and put in a day's riding, I am reminded of why I am not in that majority.

Thinking of the twin pipes, there is a real-world reason -- now meaningless with respect to function -- why most guys think twin pipes look better.

Back in the days of hot-rodding, a separate exhaust for each cylinder or each bank of cylinders did in fact yield more power. Thus, dual exhausts were more desirable because "everyone knows they mean more power". With V8 engines you had your headers and maybe an "H" pipe connection between the two under your car (this provided better torque), with the signature twin exhaust tips coming out under the bumper.

This thinking then projected onto aircraft; the exhaust stacks on later model piston aircraft were sometimes designed to provide additional thrust at high power settings. This was mainly associated with the Merlin V12 engine installed in the high-performance fighters and bombers of the time (P-51 Mustang, DeHavilland Mosquito, Lancaster). Visually, the sight of these pipes spitting flames whilst warming up for a night bombing mission became iconic. Later, Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racers were known for emitting fountains of blue-white flame from their eight individual exhaust pipes (one for each cylinder) so the notion of "the more pipes, the faster" became ingrained in our moto-culture.

Then we moved to the jet age, and a large cylindrical object facing rearward came to mean "more thrust". So more pipes suggests more thrust and more power; the buying public responded very well to these kinds of styling cues. Witness the emergence of fins on the automobiles of the late 1950s. They denoted power and speed.

All that stuff is history. Now, power and speed comes from design features that cannot be seen at all. It comes from extreme refinement of the intake and exhaust tracts, of lighter, better materials, and most recently, computer control of every aspect of the engine's performance. Yet, the notion of loud, multiple pipes still resonates with the buying public. To this day we see the uprated versions of cars with two pipes. For example, my own V6 Toyota Venza has dual exhaust tips, but when inspected, it can be seen there is just a single large diameter pipe from the engine joining a large silencer at the rear of the car. This silencer has twin outlets. Not at all necessary, but even to women, who usually don't pay attention to such things, the idea of dual exhausts means more power, more prestige.

By contrast my V8 Tahoe has a single exhaust exiting the rear of the vehicle under the bumper. It works just fine.

That is why we persist in thinking symmetry is better. But it has now been relegated to a choice of style only, not function.
Yeah... But my twin pipe MKS looks better from the rear!
Don't get all worked up now...