Triumphrat

F4sSprintST · 12-13-2007

What do you think of their engineering? Styling? Marketing? Approach? Performance? What makes them different? - what makes a "Honda"? What makes a "yamaha"?

Aprilla -

BMW -

Buell -

Ducati

Harley -

Honda -

Kawasaki -

KTM -

Suzuki -

Triumph -

Victory -

Yamaha -

Major Kong · 12-14-2007

Aprillia-Pricey, exotic, Rotaxy-small dealer support

BMW-Pricey, sold-the-birthright-for-a-bowl-of-porage, gadgety for the sake of gadgets (gadgeti gratis gadgeti), king of the dual sports

Buell- Pricey, nitch-within-a-nitch, red haired stepchild of H-D

Ducati-Pricey, serious about performance, so-so quality, exciting line-up

Harley-Pricey, big chrome, big name, must be popular because I see the stickers on the back of pick-up trucks, no company R&D (beyond styling/asthetics)

Honda-Good value, reliable, well made, quality on a budget, a little dull

Kawasaki-Good value, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, Japanese juggernaut of performance

KTM-Mostly just orange dirt machines

Suzuki-Yin to Kawasaki's Yang

Triumph-Mostly progressive, quality on the high side of reasonably priced, David to Japanese Goliath, growing potential, fun and practical from the UK

Yamaha-Fast, poor quality, but fast

HiDesert · 12-14-2007

I'd have to think about that a lot longer than I have time for right now, so I'll confine myself to two remarks:

1) I'm just glad there are eleven major manufacturers to choose from today. Actually, I'd include Victory to make an even dozen. That's great.

2) I've got to disagree with Major Kong. Yamahas are very high quality bikes. I'd put them on par with Honda, definitely ahead of Kawi or Suzuki.

LoVel · 12-14-2007

Aprilla - ?

BMW - stuffy

Buell - wannabe

Ducati- expensive maintenance

Harley - bowling

Honda - red

Kawasaki - green

KTM - ?

Suzuki - GSX-R

Triumph - cool

Yamaha - confused - is it yamaha or is it star

F4sSprintST · 12-14-2007

Aprilla -

BMW - tries for innovative technologies, clings to some quirky stuff

Buell - quirky underdog with some constraints

Ducati - Italian racing orgasm machines

Harley - chained to the past & their traditional customer base. Knows what sells

Honda - Well engineering, balanced approach. Does nothing great, but everything well

Kawasaki - usually a bit more zing, but a bit more unpolished

KTM -

Suzuki - good bang for the buck, kind of "plain", but good performance

Triumph - mix of new old school and some special bikes with personality

Victory - new approach to traditional markets

Yamaha - very innovative, even when it doesn't work out.

StaggerLee · 12-15-2007

Aprilla - Never ridden one

BMW - boring, quality built and reliable but what is the point if boring?

Buell - Never ridden one

Ducati- awesome, great handling, temperamental not practical (but who cares!) sound great

Harley - V-rod looks good but way overpriced the rest is just CAT or JCB with chrome

Honda - very good quality, excellent motorbikes but without a soul (I would be happy to buy another at any time)

Kawasaki - Fast, great sports bikes though not the best quality

KTM - not my scene man!

Suzuki - poor quality (worst of the lot) I will never buy another, my first bike was a susi but everyone since then has been very poor reliability (crap electrics usually) would buy Honda instead

Triumph - Great (but not perfect) requires attention to the 'finish' to become a true top marquee brand. Needs to work on the dealer network as that is it's weakest link.

Victory - no idea

Moto Guzzi - They are coming back in strength after being off the radar for a decade or two, strong 'real' bikes , character, temperamental, flawed but lovely to own

Yamaha - I always buy there music stuff (second to none) stereo, piano ...never owned a Yam and they seldom have a bike model that I even want to think about owning. the 'custom range' of bikes are for gay pirates that have no taste, gosh they are ugly looking.

HiDesert · 12-15-2007

Okay, now that I've got a little more time...

Aprilla - Good motorcycles, plenty of V-twin soul and Italian passion, but hey, it's still an Italian company. Which means customer service and company stability comes about as naturally to them as gefilte fish does to a pizzeria.

BMW - A poster child for overengineering; sometimes in a good way, often not. Some very creative engineering, too, but heavy and overpriced, and given the price, their reliability should be better. As in flawless. Maybe it is, and the stories I've heard are just groundless griping, but at BMW prices the only stories should be of the massages you get at the dealership while the bike is there to have it's tire air rotated.

Buell - The product of one brilliant man's obsession with making a sportbike out of inappropriate, outdated technology. With reliability as a definite secondary, maybe even tertiary, consideration. They're getting better, and the test rode I once took was an Experience with a capital "whoa, nellie," but you've got to buy them from dealers who'd rather be selling you chromed pushrods drop-forged in a pool of Willie G.'s elbow grease.

Ducati - dating a supermodel is a clichéd analogy, but you just can't beat it. Enough passion to turn a catatonic stamp collector into an obsessive compulsive desmophile who'd put those valves on his toothbrush if he could figure out how. Want a center stand for your Monster? We'll let you know when we get enough orders to make some. True story - I $hit you not.

Harley - Fantastically successful business. Excellent motorcycles for going straight, provided you don't want to go straight too fast, or for impressing a) other Harley riders, or b) the motorcycling ignorant. Philandering Ducati engineers destined for hell will spend the afterlife in Harley's engineering department, or it's ectoplasmic equivalent, since you can't fit the shades of a dozen engineers in the two or three broom closets where the real engineering department probably has it's offices. Got to make room for those thousands of lawyers, stylists, and 'lifestyle engineers', you know! When they need a new engine, they call Porsche.

Honda - These are serious motorcycles. Very well designed, if they do occasionally try to give BMW a run for their overengineering euros. Excellent quality, in just about every sense of the word; good enough that they get accused of bribing motojournalists. And at times, a company of almost Ducatiesque passion. Snort at that if you will, but who else has manufactured an oval pistoned superbike? A six-cylinder 250cc racebike? Who made 4 cylinders, disk brakes, and an overhead cam an affordable reality all at once?

Kawasaki - Drag strip heroes; magnificent, snarling engines, with whatever else is necessary coming along for the ride. Great exhaust notes. Probably about tied with Suzuki as the second tier of Japanese motorcycle quality.

KTM - Dirtbikes with aspirations. Well engineered, pretty creative, but take it from me, customer service doesn't come very naturally in the land of origin. Funky styling.

Suzuki - Racetrack refugees; performance uber alles, even at the expense of refined fit and finish. Rarely innovative, but they do state of the art better than most in many respects, as anyone in the AMA can tell you.

Triumph - Elegance and refinement, balanced with an undercurrent (or undertow, on some models - S3 riders, I'm talking to you!) of ratty attitude to keep things interesting. Definitely produced from a love of motorcycling and motorcycling history. Today, among the highest quality bikes being produced. Eurobike style, prestige, and rarity without giving up anything in reliability, overall quality, or price. The twins sound great and look the part, while the triples combine the best of both worlds, V-twin and inline 4.

Victory - Made in the USA V-twin cruisers that manage to avoid being clones of HD (thank the dear Lord). Good bikes, not entirely free of shortcomings, but better than one might expect from such a young company.

Yamaha - Very high quality motorcycles; lately, on par with Honda. Exemplify the Japanese approach to business; you can ride your R1 to your violin lesson, at which you'll play your Yamaha violin, and record it for playback on your Yamaha stereo. Wellspring of the Vmax and the first triple I ever rode. Excellent carbeuration - okay, now excellent fuel injection. Occasional rumors of clunky transmissions.

John21 · 12-15-2007

Ok, my turn.

All Jap bikes......the same to me. Can't tell one from the next except maybe the wing stands out.

Italian bikes.....too few dealers to get involved with. Very nice bikes.

BMW......no use for them in my world. I do laugh at the way they hang old fashioned "milk cartons" on the side and try to convince you it's luggage

Harley.....the lowest tech bike availabe. Very "clicky" people. Very decidicate owners. Like an Edsel.

Buell......I do like the 65 Mpg, but I don't trust their technology or quality.

KTM.....Just another orange dirt bike

Triumph......it's in the blood, man!! The best group of diversified bikes anywhere in the market.

Silverado57 · 12-15-2007

Victory...
Seriously impressive bikes. Modern styling and great engineering. Superb handling for a cruiser and excellent power.
Bulletproof.
A great V-twin alternative to the HDs and Jap clones.
Heck, I bought TWO this year and looking at another.

Nickwiz · 12-15-2007

Aprilla - Flashy, not pretty to look at, and I've heard terrible problems with parts supply. Now they are going all quirky. To me ultimately they look cheap and tacky.

BMW - Used to think they were ugly old man's bikes (1930s models exepted). Maybe its my age but I think they are looking better. Extremely well built but infuriatingly quirky. But just a bit too sensible and tuetonic and a bit ugly still.

Buell - Mad as a box of frogs! Ugly in a strangely good looking way but I hear you need an AA breakdown truck following you everywhere incase of the inevitable breakdown.

Ducati - Beautiful, soulfull but made out of corrode to hell even in a dry climate! super rustoleum. The state of my mates , ridden mainly in the dry summer, monster has put me right off them. It's terrible. All alloy blooms and peeling paint!

Harley - Big old parts bin tractors. Begining to get their act together but still bitty ugly things in the main. And ridden by strange wannabe types mainly.

Honda - Well made, almost perfect these days (ssh don't mention the 80's) but zzzzzzzzzz oops sorry did I drop off?

Kawasaki - The only jap bikes I realy like. At the moment their stylist needs shooting but I love the insane power and total willfull madness of them.

KTM - The bike Messers Boorman and McGregor should've taken. Again they are quirky and either ugly as hell but functional like the Adventure or exquisitely different like the new RC8 or the Duke.

Suzuki - GSXR's are for chavs! The Bandits are what bikes always used to be and I love em for it. The oil cooled GSXR motor is a home mechanics dream and just great. The SV is the best little cheap bike on the market. Pity they are made of rustoleum like Ducatis and do they buy their electrics from Fiat?

Triumph - Cool like an Astin Martin or a Jag. Not the best in their class but they have class. (but then we would say that as we are all Triump philes) The triple sounds beautiful. My track day video convinced me of that. The 3 series are as well built finish wise as BMWs. The newer ones less so but they ride amazingly. Handling braking and that triple howl are what clinched it for me.

Victory - The prettiest and best V twin cruiser on the market. Looks like something built in a custom workshop. The 8 ball is simple beautiful. Put Harley's to shame.

Yamaha - Fast furious but a bit revvy and cheap feeling. Frankly they lack character like the Hondas. They are almost too perfect. zzzz

There ya go thats my take on it.