Was insulted today !

[kevbroce_imp]

I get a lot of thumbs ups and comments on my CB. Sunday it was a guy in his late 30's driving a Turbo 911 the pulled up along side me and gave me the thumbs up. Monday a guy in his 50's commenting on it after he saw it in the parking lot. Apparently the mailman that delivers at work eyes it pretty hard on his delivery runs. My boss was poking at it today.

[Wisedrum]

There are certain vehicles, be they scooters, cars, motorcycles, boats or planes that are just timeless in their design when compared to their counterparts, and can overwhelmingly be appreciated by young and old alike. The best of the best when it comes to design. Every once in awhile a designer and manufacturer gets lucky, and their work will be looked upon favorably forever.

The new Bonneville, the MG V7, the CB1100 look close enough to those timeless designs to draw praise where ever they go by all age groups.

You forgot to mention the W800, cause it is not sold in the USA?
In my opinion it's the most timeless of all.
Of course besides the CB. But it comes first.
Not a good statement in a CB Forum, I know......

Wisedrum

[Cormanus]

I'm with you, Wisedrum. I think the W800, and the W650 before it are beautiful retro bikes.

[Motogeezer1949_imp]

Yep, all great. That Kawi looks sweet, though I like the performance of the CB. I've already done a 2200 mile trip and I'll be going to our CB Rally in May, probably rack up another 2200 there. I can tour all day long on the CB. Not so sure (but would like to try!) if I'd be as comfortable on the Kawi.

[the Ferret]

Didn't mean to leave the Kawi out , but we here in the US had very little exposure to the W650 and none to the W800. I have never seen one in the wild. I would say that the W/series Kaw and the New Bonnie share the same design ( that of the British Verticle Twin) in the eyes of most and only the dedicated would know the difference at first glance.

[Cormanus]

For the record, I'm not trading the CB in for one.

[Motogeezer1949_imp]

There's usually several at Daytona. The great Mecca for watching/riding bikes of all kinds

[Cormanus]

Timely, perhaps, that I came across [url=http://www.wired.com/2015/02/classic-cars-still-look-cool-decades-later/#slide-id-1734315]this piece a moment ago. I'm saddened by the failure to include the Aston Martin which I've always thought has a timeless quality.

Beauty, eye of the beholder ...

[Wisedrum]

Yep, all great. That Kawi looks sweet, though I like the performance of the CB. I've already done a 2200 mile trip and I'll be going to our CB Rally in May, probably rack up another 2200 there. I can tour all day long on the CB. Not so sure (but would like to try!) if I'd be as comfortable on the Kawi.

The same with the W. Comfortable in a different way. It's a bit easier to handle
due to the smaller weight. The riding position feels sort of being more relaxed.
The engine has a good portion of torque too, but of course not as much the CB.
The CB is a more stable bike, you will notice it riding in higher speed.

First Bonnie and W may look the same. They really don't.

Strangely enough Kawa copied the old Twins up to a greater degree than Triumph does it by itself. The W is well rounded out,
designed after their english predecessors. The new triumph looks too corny, not well portioned. That's the way, they appear to me.

The blackened out Kawas are no good examples of for how well they can look, too ratbikesh. I prefer the shinier ones.

There should be no need, to sell one for the other.
Better, if you can afford the luxury, own both motorcycles being a fan of new retro charm.

Unluckily I can't understand the Kawa economy politics, why they don`t offer the W in America. Their would be some interest
in it and bikers, who would like to buy one.

Wisedrum

[the Ferret]

IMO the Kawi would not sell well in this market, because although it has the look us old farts like, Americans look at the bottom line (horsepower) and the Kawi lacks it in spades. According to dyno charts I have seen and as stated by Kawasaki itself, the W800 has only 47 horsepower. It may be a perfectly good ride, and all the power one realistically needs, but it's 10 horsepower down on the Triumph Bonneville which everyone complains about being underpowered, and nearly 40 horsepower down on the CB 1100. Over here people question if the CB has enough horsepower and there are laments on this board about the lack of power of the CB. I remember well when it was introduced here in 2012 the " why doesn't it have 100 horsepower? and the comments on why the "83 1100F had 105 horsepower, why would Honda put out a bike 40 years later with 30 less horsepower?"

Read the comments section from Motorcycle Daily when the bike was introduced

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2013/05/2...de-review/

You may think the new Bonneville looks " clownish" but that is because you are more knowledgable than the average citizen or motorcyclist even. I can't begin to tell you when I had my Bonnie how many hundreds of people came up and said " beautiful old Bonnie, what year is it?" And the absolute look of astonishment on their faces when I would tell them it was brand new. The same thing with a CB 1100. I would never confuse it for a 69-83 Honda 4 ( because I am more knowledgable than the average) but I have only had 2 people out of maybe 50 that have approached me that said " is that the new CB?" Most assume it is a restored early edition, with the same comments I got from the Bonnie " nice old Honda, what year is it?".

My favorite comment wasn't made to me but to forum member RandyB when someone approached him and said " What year is it?" to which Randy replied "2013" and the guy says " no, I know what year it is.... what year is your bike?"



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