Modern bikes are amazing, but they kinda suck

[vtduc]

I'm the curmudgeon in this situation, there are very few new bikes that I even like and with most of them loaded with electronics, that weeds out some of the few as well. It doesn't help that I am not a fan of the typical modern style (jacked up rear ends with the look of motocross suspension travel, along with half the bike covered with plastic parts) but then let's add in the stupid prices as well combined with the current level of dealer greed.

Even if I COULD afford one - which I can't, nor could I afford a new car or truck either - there are just too many negatives for me to even be enthusiastic anymore. I haven't been in a showroom in over 5 years and it was a Honda dealership in Crystal River (35 miles from me, closest to my rural area) and I found nothing that even enticed me to want to sit on it, much less go deep into debt for it.

Count me in on the curmudgeon list as well..... Over the past 40 years I've accumulated the following bikes in my stable:

1993 Honda XR250L
2002 Honda Goldwing 1800
2000 Cagiva Gran Canyon
1995 Ducati Elefant 900
2002 Aprilia Futura (2)
1982 Moto Guzzi 1000 SP
2013 Honda NC700X DCT

All were purchased used and in excellent condition, I have slightly north of $20K into the whole lot (not including various farkels)

I look at all the new offerings and I just can't get past the pricing of the bikes versus the features/benefits they provide.
I see some that intrigue me (Aprilia Toureg 660, KTM 390 Adventure, Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello, Suzuki S1000GT, Ducati Desert X, Triumph Tiger 660 Sport to name a few)

However I feel that once you're astride one and rolling down the road, are they REALLY going to be that much better than what I have available to me now.
Is a $20+K Ducati Desert X going to be $20K better than the 900 Elefant or the Gran Canyon ? Is the Suzuki S1000GT going to be $15K better than my Aprilia Futura?
Is a $25K Goldwing going to be $25K better than the one I already have ? I think not.

Once the "newness" wears off, you're on a 2 wheeled machine going down the road with the wind in your face. Is 160HP cool? I suppose so, but I really don't use the 110HP afforded to me by the Aprilia Futura. I also find it paradoxical that 150+ HP bikes nowadays come equipped with all sorts of electronic rider aids that essentially restrict that available power to make the machine manageable for the average rider. I do a lot of riding, and I'm not getting dusted by a lot of folks on the street on superbikes doing over the ton. Maybe I'm just riding the wrong roads or something. Yeah, "Horsepower is like Pussy......." well I guess I'm just over all that nonsense.

Sure, ABS is nice to have, and fuel injection is a plus in my mind, maybe cruise control, but that's about it really.
For me, that sweet spot of electronic complexity versus owner serviceability peaked around the late 1990's to early 2000's.

 

[oldschool]

Count me in on the curmudgeon list as well..... Over the past 40 years I've accumulated the following bikes in my stable:

1993 Honda XR250L
2002 Honda Goldwing 1800
2000 Cagiva Gran Canyon
1995 Ducati Elefant 900
2002 Aprilia Futura (2)
1982 Moto Guzzi 1000 SP
2013 Honda NC700X DCT

All were purchased used and in excellent condition, I have slightly north of $20K into the whole lot (not including various farkels)

I look at all the new offerings and I just can't get past the pricing of the bikes versus the features/benefits they provide.
I see some that intrigue me (Aprilia Toureg 660, KTM 390 Adventure, Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello, Suzuki S1000GT, Ducati Desert X, Triumph Tiger 660 Sport to name a few)

However I feel that once you're astride one and rolling down the road, are they REALLY going to be that much better than what I have available to me now.
Is a $20+K Ducati Desert X going to be $20K better than the 900 Elefant or the Gran Canyon ? Is the Suzuki S1000GT going to be $15K better than my Aprilia Futura?
Is a $25K Goldwing going to be $25K better than the one I already have ? I think not.

Once the "newness" wears off, you're on a 2 wheeled machine going down the road with the wind in your face. Is 160HP cool? I suppose so, but I really don't use the 110HP afforded to me by the Aprilia Futura. I also find it paradoxical that 150+ HP bikes nowadays come equipped with all sorts of electronic rider aids that essentially restrict that available power to make the machine manageable for the average rider. I do a lot of riding, and I'm not getting dusted by a lot of folks on the street on superbikes doing over the ton. Maybe I'm just riding the wrong roads or something. Yeah, "Horsepower is like Pussy......." well I guess I'm just over all that nonsense.

Sure, ABS is nice to have, and fuel injection is a plus in my mind, maybe cruise control, but that's about it really.
For me, that sweet spot of electronic complexity versus owner serviceability peaked around the late 1990's to early 2000's.

Couldn't agree more, us curmudgeons got to stick together. And your last sentence is really the most indicative of how I've felt about the electronic evolution in the last couple decades.

 

[Shinyribs]

For me, that sweet spot of electronic complexity versus owner serviceability peaked around the late 1990's to early 2000's.

Man, you nailed it. I guess those were the words I was looking for.

Kinda like my '84 Ford truck. It benefits from all the chassis,steering, brake, engine/gearbox smoothness of a modern vehicle, but the only electronics in it are the ignition system. There's three switches on the dash. Headlights, wipers and heat.

Drove my Mom's van recently and counted over 160 buttons on the dash. What the actual fuck do you even do with all that? The vehicle kept making beeping alarm noises and flashing warning messages on the TV in the dash that I couldn't figure out how to turn off.

Beep beep flash flash " Don't look at this screen while driving!"

I wasn't gonna look at you until you made emergency sounds and I thought something was wrong.

Beep beep flash flash "Storm incoming. Be careful. Stop looking at the screen!"

Stop flashing insanely bright colors on the dash while im trying to drive in the rain at night!


Surely it's those damn millennials with their cell phones causing all the accidents on the road, not the intrusive electronics suites playing a part.

It was a comforting, simple joy to get back in my old truck and pull that manual choke knob.

 

[oldschool]

Kinda like my '84 Ford truck. It benefits from all the chassis,steering, brake, engine/gearbox smoothness of a modern vehicle, but the only electronics in it are the ignition system. There's three switches on the dash. Headlights, wipers and heat.

Drove my Mom's van recently and counted over 160 buttons on the dash. What the actual fuck do you even do with all that? The vehicle kept making beeping alarm noises and flashing warning messages on the TV in the dash that I couldn't figure out how to turn off.

It was a comforting, simple joy to get back in my old truck and pull that manual choke knob.

Yes to your first thought, even my '95 Silverado and my wife's '98 S-10 are simple compared to only 5 or so years later. She drove her truck for over 5 years with the check engine light on, never kept it from running and since we recently got the spider injection replaced it's not on anymore.

Any new vehicle we've rented gives me the same reaction as your second thought above - WTF with the big screen screaming for you to do stuff and alerting you to stuff if we're not allowed to hold our cell phones to our ears anymore?? Who the hell has the time or interest in exploring all those menus, we have plenty of them on our phones and ever-more-complex computers and tablets at home. Same thing with the ridiculous refrigerators connected to the internet, I can't tell when I need more beer or barbecue sauce? Jeeez.

There's a late '60s F100 for sale down the road from me and I know they'll want a crapload more than it's worth, but the joy of the simplicity in that truck... my father had a '66 and later a '71 and I drove the '71 a lot during high school, and it did and had everything you'd ever need (including horsepower, he transplanted a 390 4 barrel with C6 trans) except for better stereo. Which was the first thing I did with my Silverado, in part to comply with the frigging hands-free law here in Florida. That part works great but I'm a little disappointed in Kenwood's radio reception now that I'm living in ruralland. Though it did introduce me to the only crossover station in the area (really, the only radio station with a decent signal), decent selection of classic rock and modern country.

 

[Shinyribs]

Modern country. Don't get me started bro

 

[Danno]

I miss my 74 f100. I do have a modern 2020 truck now. But I have been in almost every trucks power distrabution boxes at work. Ford is the the absolute worst after early mid 2000s. I am a ford guy that bought a gm wt1500 regular cab with an 8 ft bed. I just hauled 1300lbs of bikes with my tailgate closed getting 26mpg. I purchased the truck right before the world went nuts for msrp.And there is no satellite antenna for forced downloads or giving my info to the factory.

I do have two 80s foxbodies and 89 ranger for classics.

 

[Bar None]

I like my simple single or flat twin cylinder air cooled motorcycles preferably with a carburetor.

Ladies not included.

 

[oldschool]

Modern country. Don't get me started bro

Dude, it's not bad if you don't take it seriously and the classic rock songs mixed in (including southern rock) help a lot. Yes, there's a blueprint for most modern country songs which is why so many are and sound alike, but like any other genre and local station, if you listen long enough some decent songs come through. Where I live, it's either listen to an internet streaming station (if you can find one that doesn't buffer all the time on my weak wifi in the detached garage), listen to all your own stuff (old equipment but full stereo in the garage including CD and cassette for all my leftovers from the '80s and '90s) or something like Spotify but I'm not paying them for it, nope. No rock and roll stations within 50 miles, pop stations nearby are weak and all suck and no hip hop out here, not that I'd listen to that garbage anyway. Only alternative is old school country and I had enough of Johnny Cash and Hank Sr growing up with my father's taste in music.

 

[Shinyribs]

They were blaring modern country on a job site recently. It was unbearable for me.

You can't just decide to give a guy the last name "Tenpenny" so blue collar plebs will relate, get him to force a twang while saying the phrase "cold beer" over a drum machine playing an urban beat and tell me it's country. I ain't buying it 😁 I'm with you on the old country, too. I can't do it.


Bro, for real, download Pandora for free and throw your radio away. Sound quality on Spotify is meh. Ray Wylie Hubbard, Driveby Truckers, Corb Lund, The Gourds...go exploring. I think you'd love it. I used Pandora for ages without paying a dime. I eventually splurged for the premium subscription just because I felt like I owed em. I don't have any internet or TV subscriptions. $45/month for my phone and I'm giving Pandora $10. Worth it imo.

 

[MVI]