Bikes with character... | GTAMotorcycle.com

Bikes with character...

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mimico_polak

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Was thinking about this recently and as I'm only used to Honda with literally ZERO character or 'wow' factor in my F/X/Rebel experience.

How would you define character in a motorcycle? What do you look for?

Sound?
Speed?
Comfort?

What do YOU look for?

I'm at the stage where I love riding, but I think I do really need a changeup to get me excited again. Otherwise, the X is just sitting there. And while it's a good bike for what it is...it's not great at anything except being reliable and cheap to own.

Unfortunately my budget is fairly limited so 'character' may be out of reach regardless of which route I go! LoL
 
mimico_polak said:
Was thinking about this recently and as I'm only used to Honda with literally ZERO character or 'wow' factor in my F/X/Rebel experience.

How would you define character in a motorcycle? What do you look for?

Sound?
Speed?
Comfort?

What do YOU look for?

I'm at the stage where I love riding, but I think I do really need a changeup to get me excited again. Otherwise, the X is just sitting there. And while it's a good bike for what it is...it's not great at anything except being reliable and cheap to own.

Unfortunately my budget is fairly limited so 'character' may be out of reach regardless of which route I go! LoL
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It is a subjective thing, but Imo character is all about feelings and sensations.

How does a bike FEEL when you ride it? how does it make YOU feel when you ride it?

Some bikes have a physical characteristics and vibrations, like ducati with their clatter and dry clutches, KTM with their angry raw feel...nowadays manufacturers also have parallel twins with odd firing orders that sound nice and have a cool thump.

sometimes its the sounds a bike makes, like when you twist the throttle (Aprilia V4s, Crossplane inline 4s)

Sometimes its the way the power is delivered that makes you feel excited/scared(MT 09, KTM superduke)

If you're on a budget, I suggest an mt07 or 09.

The opposite would be riding a soulless bike (fz6, z900...*insert more generic inline 4s*) which to me is like riding a microwave.


What I like in engines is:
1) Usable torque
2) Some character.
HP numbers on a spec sheet are pretty irrelevant to me.
 
I don't think character is really defined by performance attributes only really. It's about how you FEEL about the bike you own and how it makes you feel when riding it. If it's not exciting you, compelling you to go riding, or making you feel guilty or frustrated when haven't had/made the time to go for a ride it's time for a new bike.

I think our perceptions of character in an MC are internal creations of our own making.

Every bike I've ever owned had character until I grew tired of it and wanted to move on.
 
Imperfections.

An Instagram model with a perfectly curated look/image lacks character just like your perfectly engineered Honda.

When I've rented new Harley's with the super smooth/quiet M8 engine I can't help but think that I'd might as well have gotten a Honda.

my sportster has a shaky carbureted engine that's been jetted using drill bits, a high mount exhaust with minimal heat protection, belt guards, etc removed and everything on the bike is amazon/Chinese. from the rear shocks to the intake to the exhaust. The bike is sketchy but its got character.

My electric bike has a springer seat that you nearly slide off of, an home built battery with exposed connections fused at 500A, near-non-existent rear brakes, and a fender that I once had to tie back on with braided pieces of grass. That bike has lots of character even with its boring electric motor..
 
The answer to this will be different for everyone.
For me, it is simple.
The bike has to be appealing to me even with faults, if I like it and I can afford it, one day I'll ride it.
People typically will try to steer you to what "they" like, this is something I stay away from.
You know what you like and dislike, you know what you can afford, you know the local market.
 
Interesting in some way. Maybe it snorts and growls and shakes a little instead of being refined to the Nth degree. Maybe it feels like it's always on the edge of kicking the rider's butt. Maybe it needs to be fiddled with a little. Maybe it makes the rider work a bit to get anywhere.

It's a balance that's going to be different for everyone. I don't want "character" of the "I'm not sure I'll be able to get home because something is always broken" variety.
 
The way people use the term, "character", it's meant to excuse a flaw. Most times it's used to justify why they prefer it to something without those flaws:

"Yeah, he doesn't really do legal safeties, he swears at his customers and sometimes eats their sandwiches, but he's got character..."

And the actual reason: "he's cheap and I know my bike will always pass safety."

For motorcycles: "It doesn't start every single time. Sometimes you have to turn the throttle 2 1/2 times before thumbing the ignition. Also helps if you stand on the right hand side of the bike. But it's got character..."

The real reason: "I love the way the bike looks and sounds and the attention I get when I pull into a parking lot."

IMO, I think you should focus less on the "character" aspect of a motorcycle and figure out the real reason motorcycles get you excited and try to find one that fills in that blank. Different for everyone.

What don't you like about the CB500X? I've ridden one before and it's kind of an appliance - reliable, dependable, great on gas, a little bit down on power. But no stories to tell after you get off the bike - which is not necessarily a bad thing for some people.

But if a bike tries to kill you every time you twist the throttle, leaves you stranded many times in the middle of nowhere, only starts for you because *you* are the only one who knows the special ignition sequence but you still get a hard-on when you swing a leg over and it gets you a lot of attention in the parking lot... that's a memorable machine.

Kinda like the hot girlfriend that you sometimes have to issue a restraining order against because she's certifiably bonkers. But you keep going back to her because fook, is she ever great in bed...
 
Sound? Definitely. 180 twin like the CB? MEH.
Speed? Not necessarily.
Comfort? Not yet. Take advantage of youth while you still can. I'll ride the cool stuff until age and my back can't take it anymore.

Adding:
- Style - do you still stare at it in the garage?... turn around and look at it when you park it?
- Smell - strange right? Could just be me. I grew up with and around vintage and muscle cars. Something about smelling the oil and slight unburnt exhaust does it for me.
- Reliability - I like to work on it. I don't like to be stranded with break downs every other ride.

*edit to add one more:
- Cost - I ain't no baller.
 
Lightcycle said:
, only starts for you because *you* are the only one who knows the special ignition sequence but you still get a hard-on when you swing a leg over and it gets you a lot of attention in the parking lot... that's a memorable machine.

Kinda like the hot girlfriend that you sometimes have to issue a restraining order against because she's certifiably bonkers. But you keep going back to her because fook, is she ever great in bed...
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I've had a few of those. Ignition switch slightly melted on a Honda far from home. Figured out which contacts needed to connect and bent tines of a fork to get it done. Shove it up the back of the switch and it fired up. For reasons I never could figure out my bmw had a strange ground on ecu that floated about 5v above where it should be. That meant the computer was only seeing 7V or less at startup and that wasn't enough. I wired up an empty fuse holder to drop ground potential. Put in fuse, start bike, pull fuse and away you go. Once it was warmed up, you could skip that procedure and just bump start it.
 
What don't you like about the CB500X? I've ridden one before and it's kind of an appliance - reliable, dependable, great on gas, a little bit down on power. But no stories to tell after you get off the bike - which is not necessarily a bad thing for some people.
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right on the money - I bought it for the fuel mileage and being reliable, not the thrills. Took me to both coasts and some US runs with nary a hiccup. Mimico bought it from me when I moved.
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But no thrill in the throttle other than sitting rock stable at 140.

The 2010 Vstrom 650s I've had could be lots of fun if you would wind them up in the twists and had no luggage. Best value bike ever ...bought for $3k, rode for 20k, sold for $3k
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Some memorable rides also to the coasts and the US but far more fun in the twists than the CB500x. Less reliable due to stator issues - otherwise bulletproof.

The only throttle rush was with the CB1000F and that only to keep up with the kid on his hopped up FZ8. But it never met a gas station it didn't want to visit. :rolleyes:
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To a large degree motorcycles are appliances for me and I look for low maintenance and reliability and these days cost of fuel. I get 350km on the cb300F for a $15 fill up and aside for toe scraping on the Gillies ...no thrill at all. Carries lots of groceries tho with a 23L tank bag and 39L top case. :rolleyes:
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For me it's the sensations you get on the bike from these 2 senses: touch & hearing.

Do the sensations you feel in your hands, feet and up your body feel good?

Is the sound you hear enjoyable to you?

I've had an inline 4 and can't say I really felt those. The 2 twins I have now do indeed.
 
mimico_polak said:
What do you look for?
Sound?
Speed?
Comfort?
What do YOU look for?
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Personally, I like when manufacturers do something different than the rest of the market, even if it's not as efficient/powerful/reliable. And that makes me curious how it rides/drives/sounds/feels.

Rotary? Flat twin? Flat six (and mounted behind the rear axle)? L-twin? Trellis frame? Dry clutch? Longitudinal? Gas tank is inside the frame or under the engine? Tell me more...

If a vehicle has the same kind of engineering as 90% as everything else out there, and the only thing different is the badge, I'm not that interested.
 
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