That 'Classic Bike' look
Discussion
Am I the only one that doesn't like that 'classic bike' look? Like these:
I feel like every time a new bike is released that looks like this I'm left thinking, why did they style it like a bike from over 50 years ago? There are always a load of, "great looking bike" type comments. It probably resonates with older folks (60+) but always leaves me cold. Must be a super easy job being the head of design for these products!
Aside from sports bikes and adventure bikes, stuff like the Ducati Monster or the CB1000R are in my mind a good modern interpretation of a naked bike. And also still contain retro elements that reference older bikes. No need to make them look exactly 50 years old.
Do you think the 'classic bike' look will die out over time, or do you think there will always be a market for it?
P.S. I realise this may be an unpopular opinion, given the number of grumpy old gits on here.
I feel like every time a new bike is released that looks like this I'm left thinking, why did they style it like a bike from over 50 years ago? There are always a load of, "great looking bike" type comments. It probably resonates with older folks (60+) but always leaves me cold. Must be a super easy job being the head of design for these products!
Aside from sports bikes and adventure bikes, stuff like the Ducati Monster or the CB1000R are in my mind a good modern interpretation of a naked bike. And also still contain retro elements that reference older bikes. No need to make them look exactly 50 years old.
Do you think the 'classic bike' look will die out over time, or do you think there will always be a market for it?
P.S. I realise this may be an unpopular opinion, given the number of grumpy old gits on here.
Personally, I think it must be much more difficult to design a bike with the classic look.
Modern bikes are generally so much bigger and bulkier than genuine classic bikes (so much for lightweight materials...), have to meet so many more demands on capability, emissions, noise etc but still have to appeal to a far more demanding and yet far more limited audience than ever before.
I like the look of many of the modern retros, I just don't like their prices, weight and bland-ness (if that is a proper word).
Probably the best take on "old style" that I have seen recently is either the CCM Spitfire or the Ducati Scrambler.
Modern bikes are generally so much bigger and bulkier than genuine classic bikes (so much for lightweight materials...), have to meet so many more demands on capability, emissions, noise etc but still have to appeal to a far more demanding and yet far more limited audience than ever before.
I like the look of many of the modern retros, I just don't like their prices, weight and bland-ness (if that is a proper word).
Probably the best take on "old style" that I have seen recently is either the CCM Spitfire or the Ducati Scrambler.
Edited by Rubin215 on Friday 25th January 01:52
As a time-served grumpy old git...
I prefer, say, the CB1100 to the CB1000R for several reasons:
-- the seat and footrests - who would want to be a passenger on the CBR?
-- I like twin shocks - no fiddly little bearings to maintain, and, believe me, I don't need race-bred handling
-- the arse end in general - I hate those stupid number plate brackets that hang off the swinging arm (does anybody actually like them?), I hate bikes that spray road s
t up your back because there's no mudguard, and I hate seats that stick up in the air for no good reason, like some ste German streetfighter.
-- air-cooled engines look better (although I can overlook that for the POWERRR!)
-- I hate over-styled headlamps (especially if they don't work as well as a 7-inch diameter Cibié halogen from the 1960s)
The CB1000R prototype:
I prefer, say, the CB1100 to the CB1000R for several reasons:
-- the seat and footrests - who would want to be a passenger on the CBR?
-- I like twin shocks - no fiddly little bearings to maintain, and, believe me, I don't need race-bred handling
-- the arse end in general - I hate those stupid number plate brackets that hang off the swinging arm (does anybody actually like them?), I hate bikes that spray road s
t up your back because there's no mudguard, and I hate seats that stick up in the air for no good reason, like some ste German streetfighter.-- air-cooled engines look better (although I can overlook that for the POWERRR!
)-- I hate over-styled headlamps (especially if they don't work as well as a 7-inch diameter Cibié halogen from the 1960s)
The CB1000R prototype:
I'm largely indifferent, but I must admit when I was looking at one of Triumph's offerings, I'm sure I remember the throttle bodies had been deliberately made to look like pretend carburetors.
I thought that was a step too far personally, I mean if styling of an era floats your boat, whatever, but playing make believe seemed a bit, well sad.
It's like re-hashed retro Bell helmets et al. It's just grown men playing dress up really isn't it?
I thought that was a step too far personally, I mean if styling of an era floats your boat, whatever, but playing make believe seemed a bit, well sad.
It's like re-hashed retro Bell helmets et al. It's just grown men playing dress up really isn't it?
I guess it's the same as everything it's about choice and trends. Not everyone likes the same stuff. Manufacturers mostly know what they're doing and they try & make stuff that a significant bunch of people will want to buy.
The whole retro look is popular at the moment and like most things it's starts off as a bit niche by a few people who want to be a bit different & then everyone jumps on the band wagon.
As for the comment about grown men playing dress up surely that applies to every biker! Either trying to be a Power Ranger, Euan McGregor explorer, bearded hipster, chaps wearing Sons of Anarchy impersonator or something from the Blue Oyster Bar!
The whole retro look is popular at the moment and like most things it's starts off as a bit niche by a few people who want to be a bit different & then everyone jumps on the band wagon.
As for the comment about grown men playing dress up surely that applies to every biker! Either trying to be a Power Ranger, Euan McGregor explorer, bearded hipster, chaps wearing Sons of Anarchy impersonator or something from the Blue Oyster Bar!
Horses for courses, surely? AS for Triumph "trying too hard" disguising throttle bodies as carbs, they appear to know what they're doing, given even just UK market share
https://www.statista.com/statistics/312532/motorcy...
"This statistic shows six of the leading motorcycle brands in the United Kingdom (UK) according to brand sales from 2014 to 2017. Overall Honda was the most prominent and successful motorcycle brand in the UK from 2014 to 2016 with 20,495 units sold in 2016. Still the company sold more motorcycles in 2014, with over 26,000 units sold that year. This amounts to a decrease in sales per year by approximately 22 percent. Next to Honda, Yamaha is a very popular motorcycle brand in the United Kingdom as well, selling 16,040 motorcycles in 2016. As with Honda, sales dropped from 2014 to 2015, rising in 2015 again. Yamaha´s sales dropped by almost 15 percent from 2014 to 2016. The brand Piaggio sold more than 5,000 units in 2016, which was an increase to the prior year, when Piaggio only sold 3,661 units. The German based brand BMW hold a relatively stable level between 2015 and 2016, reaching 8,376 sold units in 2016, an increase of approximately 26.7 percent from 2014 to 2016. Triumph, the British based manufacturer in this list, sold more than 8,800 in 2016."
https://www.statista.com/statistics/312532/motorcy...
"This statistic shows six of the leading motorcycle brands in the United Kingdom (UK) according to brand sales from 2014 to 2017. Overall Honda was the most prominent and successful motorcycle brand in the UK from 2014 to 2016 with 20,495 units sold in 2016. Still the company sold more motorcycles in 2014, with over 26,000 units sold that year. This amounts to a decrease in sales per year by approximately 22 percent. Next to Honda, Yamaha is a very popular motorcycle brand in the United Kingdom as well, selling 16,040 motorcycles in 2016. As with Honda, sales dropped from 2014 to 2015, rising in 2015 again. Yamaha´s sales dropped by almost 15 percent from 2014 to 2016. The brand Piaggio sold more than 5,000 units in 2016, which was an increase to the prior year, when Piaggio only sold 3,661 units. The German based brand BMW hold a relatively stable level between 2015 and 2016, reaching 8,376 sold units in 2016, an increase of approximately 26.7 percent from 2014 to 2016. Triumph, the British based manufacturer in this list, sold more than 8,800 in 2016."
I'm 41, so missed the 60s and 70s bikes. In fact I didn't really get into bikes properly until my early 20s.
I really like the style of them though, something like a Z900 is just a bloody good looking bike. I don't have any rose tinted glasses about it, I've never ridden the original but like the look of the styled up new version.
Same for the new versions from Honda and Triumph, the Thruxton R looks good to me where race reps leave me cold.
I see them as a zero hassle way of owning classic looking bikes. I own two bikes from the mid 80s and understand the extra maintenance required due to the years and damage accrued along the way.
In fact I don't really need them to look like specific bikes from the 60s, it's just that the 60's styling lines up pretty well with what I like.
I really like the style of them though, something like a Z900 is just a bloody good looking bike. I don't have any rose tinted glasses about it, I've never ridden the original but like the look of the styled up new version.
Same for the new versions from Honda and Triumph, the Thruxton R looks good to me where race reps leave me cold.
I see them as a zero hassle way of owning classic looking bikes. I own two bikes from the mid 80s and understand the extra maintenance required due to the years and damage accrued along the way.
In fact I don't really need them to look like specific bikes from the 60s, it's just that the 60's styling lines up pretty well with what I like.
Pothole said:
Horses for courses, surely? AS for Triumph "trying too hard" disguising throttle bodies as carbs, they appear to know what they're doing, given even just UK market share
https://www.statista.com/statistics/312532/motorcy...
"This statistic shows six of the leading motorcycle brands in the United Kingdom (UK) according to brand sales from 2014 to 2017. Overall Honda was the most prominent and successful motorcycle brand in the UK from 2014 to 2016 with 20,495 units sold in 2016. Still the company sold more motorcycles in 2014, with over 26,000 units sold that year. This amounts to a decrease in sales per year by approximately 22 percent. Next to Honda, Yamaha is a very popular motorcycle brand in the United Kingdom as well, selling 16,040 motorcycles in 2016. As with Honda, sales dropped from 2014 to 2015, rising in 2015 again. Yamaha´s sales dropped by almost 15 percent from 2014 to 2016. The brand Piaggio sold more than 5,000 units in 2016, which was an increase to the prior year, when Piaggio only sold 3,661 units. The German based brand BMW hold a relatively stable level between 2015 and 2016, reaching 8,376 sold units in 2016, an increase of approximately 26.7 percent from 2014 to 2016. Triumph, the British based manufacturer in this list, sold more than 8,800 in 2016."
Whilst I am, genuinely, very happy to see Triumph doing so well. I'm not sure my subjective opinion is invalidated by market shares. The most popular car in the UK is the Ford Fiesta as well, but all things being equal I'd rather be seen getting out of a sheep.https://www.statista.com/statistics/312532/motorcy...
"This statistic shows six of the leading motorcycle brands in the United Kingdom (UK) according to brand sales from 2014 to 2017. Overall Honda was the most prominent and successful motorcycle brand in the UK from 2014 to 2016 with 20,495 units sold in 2016. Still the company sold more motorcycles in 2014, with over 26,000 units sold that year. This amounts to a decrease in sales per year by approximately 22 percent. Next to Honda, Yamaha is a very popular motorcycle brand in the United Kingdom as well, selling 16,040 motorcycles in 2016. As with Honda, sales dropped from 2014 to 2015, rising in 2015 again. Yamaha´s sales dropped by almost 15 percent from 2014 to 2016. The brand Piaggio sold more than 5,000 units in 2016, which was an increase to the prior year, when Piaggio only sold 3,661 units. The German based brand BMW hold a relatively stable level between 2015 and 2016, reaching 8,376 sold units in 2016, an increase of approximately 26.7 percent from 2014 to 2016. Triumph, the British based manufacturer in this list, sold more than 8,800 in 2016."
Incidentally quotation marks are generally used to, erm, quote people, who said they were "trying too hard"? Only to be clear, my personal opinion is that form should follow function in almost all design and engineering, and I'm not sure this is the case in some of the "retro" stylised products. I don't think that's the same as what I think you're implying I said.
As above, we've not had 50 years of engineering advancement and then ended up with the same designs due to coincidence, it's simply fashionable. Either driven by older blokes who want what they had in days gone by but don't want an old bike, or by young hipster types who want it to fit in with their retro motif.
Either way, seems a bit sad to me.
Styles and fashions change.
Some massive generic sweeping assumptions on their way here. When sports bikes took over, everything got covered it plastic, it didn’t matter what the engine looked liked, then add water cooling with hoses and pipes everywhere and finally massive catalytic exhausts systems. So long as it was all hidden it didn’t matter, now “naked” is back in and (in my opinion) a lot of the engines on display are plain ugly.
Triumph especially should be applauded for managing to make water cooled, Euro 4, engines which actually look ok and I include the triples in that, Ok the faux retro is a taste some don’t like but I like an engine that looks like it belongs in a motorbike and not like it’s been ripped out of car.
I think it’s great that you can choose almost any style of bike these days, to suit your taste so why complain if you don’t like a Yamaha XSR when you can have an MT or A Tracer or even a Niken for goodness sake.
I just leave this here
Some massive generic sweeping assumptions on their way here. When sports bikes took over, everything got covered it plastic, it didn’t matter what the engine looked liked, then add water cooling with hoses and pipes everywhere and finally massive catalytic exhausts systems. So long as it was all hidden it didn’t matter, now “naked” is back in and (in my opinion) a lot of the engines on display are plain ugly.
Triumph especially should be applauded for managing to make water cooled, Euro 4, engines which actually look ok and I include the triples in that, Ok the faux retro is a taste some don’t like but I like an engine that looks like it belongs in a motorbike and not like it’s been ripped out of car.
I think it’s great that you can choose almost any style of bike these days, to suit your taste so why complain if you don’t like a Yamaha XSR when you can have an MT or A Tracer or even a Niken for goodness sake.
I just leave this here
Bob_Defly said:
Am I the only one that doesn't like that 'classic bike' look? Like these:
Do you think the 'classic bike' look will die out over time, or do you think there will always be a market for it?
P.S. I realise this may be an unpopular opinion, given the number of grumpy old gits on here.
There's classic and there's unfaired. There'll probably always be some sort of market for both in as much as there'll always be some sort of demand either brand new or second-hand classic style or unfaired bikes! The motivations behind someone choosing a V-Max versus someone wanting a Royal Enfield are probabably rather different in a few areas.Do you think the 'classic bike' look will die out over time, or do you think there will always be a market for it?
P.S. I realise this may be an unpopular opinion, given the number of grumpy old gits on here.
Edited by rodericb on Saturday 26th January 07:06
gareth_r said:
As a time-served grumpy old git...
I prefer, say, the CB1100 to the CB1000R for several reasons:
-- the seat and footrests - who would want to be a passenger on the CBR?
-- I like twin shocks - no fiddly little bearings to maintain, and, believe me, I don't need race-bred handling
-- the arse end in general - I hate those stupid number plate brackets that hang off the swinging arm (does anybody actually like them?), I hate bikes that spray road st up your back because there's no mudguard, and I hate seats that stick up in the air for no good reason, like some ste German streetfighter.
-- air-cooled engines look better (although I can overlook that for the POWERRR!)
-- I hate over-styled headlamps (especially if they don't work as well as a 7-inch diameter Cibié halogen from the 1960s)
The CB1000R prototype:
I agree completely. I ride a CB1100EX because it looks like a bike I used to ride to school 50 years ago but it's totally reliable. Perfect!I prefer, say, the CB1100 to the CB1000R for several reasons:
-- the seat and footrests - who would want to be a passenger on the CBR?
-- I like twin shocks - no fiddly little bearings to maintain, and, believe me, I don't need race-bred handling
-- the arse end in general - I hate those stupid number plate brackets that hang off the swinging arm (does anybody actually like them?), I hate bikes that spray road s
t up your back because there's no mudguard, and I hate seats that stick up in the air for no good reason, like some ste German streetfighter.-- air-cooled engines look better (although I can overlook that for the POWERRR!
)-- I hate over-styled headlamps (especially if they don't work as well as a 7-inch diameter Cibié halogen from the 1960s)
The CB1000R prototype:
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