Diminutive Beauty

The only little street bike available from the biggest companies selling in the US (not including scooters):

http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/kawasaki/2009-kaw...

A good article worth reposting, especially since many people think a 250cc or 500cc motorcycle is way too small and underpowered for even a beginner on 60 mph roads:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/good_first_motorcycles.htm

I think an American company (Motus) is trying to build a Corvette-engined sport tourer- half a Corvette engine is way too heavy for a sportbike. The plastic front fairing so far sort of resembles a Corvette front end.

This is from goingfaster.com, my favorite Harley bashing site:

"If I had been Harley, I would have gotten together with Chevrolet in order to design an ultra compact, multi-valve liquid cooled four cylinder. Think of it, Harley and Chevrolet building American sport bikes, standards, and cruisers. You want foreign technology, Milwaukee? Chevrolet bought out Lotus, that's how they got thirty-two valves in their 350 cubic inch Corvette ZR-1!

If someone out there is reading this, and you have more money than you know what to do with (multi-millionaires or billionaires only, I'm afraid, because this is going to take a lot of money), and you are wanting to do something that other people around the world will remember your name for ages to come, here's a simple solution.

You, or you and a group of investors, need to churn out the highest tech motorcycles that the world has ever seen. Motorcycles that the Japanese will work day and night to overcome. Motorcycles that are American designed and built. Powered by the highest technology engines that Americans can produce. You'll get the best designers that money can buy, smart kids, who aren't afraid to try radical designs and building techniques, who know how to compete with the rest of the world.

America could build V-4s and conquer the world motorcycle market. I'm not talking about taking a Harley and plugging a small block Chevy in either! We would start to build what Americans build best; hotrods and fast bikes. You'd see them on the global tracks, you'd have racers running from other corporations for a chance to ride on your team.

Real American motorcycles: modern, CAD designed stream lined dreams that would prowl the streets of the world, proclaiming that once again, America was the power to be reckoned with. They would be light, powerful, and since they would be mass produced, they would be affordable, as affordable as the Japanese imports. Those of us who crave a real American bike could walk into a Buell or Chevy dealership and take our choice of new American standards, cruisers, tourers, sport-tourers, and sport bikes. We could even have factory designed accessories! Racing leathers, helmets, decals, etc.

Money out the wazoo from patriotic young Americans who would have a motorcycle to be proud of! Do you realize how much money is involved in aftermarket paraphernalia? Well, I guess if you are Harley Davidson, you really do understand.
Until America builds real bikes, Americans will buy their real bikes from Japan and Italy and Germany."

The last Harley to win at Daytona was in 1969:

http://www.motorsportsetc.com/champs/daytona2.htm

Now that's a hot rod I can relate to!

As a non-American I have to admit I'm a little non-plussed by the dreams of American domination of the motorcycle industry. Dreams of bygone days seem heavily tinted by patriotic fervor and emotion. If America was ever a power to be reckoned with in the motorcycle world it certainly was not in my lifetime, at least outside of the Harley lifestyle market. And why in a country obsessed with free market are we limited to patriotic young Americans building American bikes? That article seemed very odd and self defeating, in that only a Google billionaire type could save the day. If you are looking for a good example of how to do it then look no further than Triumph. That essentially is a brand new company that copied the good business practices from Japan and slapped a historic badge on brand new bikes. Building attractive modern bikes and modern classics they have carved out quite a niche for themselves, as well as a great reputation. Didn't take a billion dollars, mostly know how, hard work and dedication (okay, and probably a few million). That would be an attainable goal for anyone trying to start an American bike company.

Seems to be lots of people crying out for it.

There are a few people that might buy a Motus to sit next to the $50,000 Corvette in their garage.

It did take a multi-millionaire to restart Triumph, and I think their motorcycles are very good, just more expensive than the $4,000 to $7,200 category that Japan sells bikes for, and they have none of their sportbikes winning races, but they are fine for the street and for non-race track days.

Harleys sell well in the US and have a high resale value, but I have decided I will not buy another one (I owned one of their 65cc Italian imports from 1971 to 1973) unless I win the lottery, or they come out with a much more high tech new model that is reasonably priced (probably when hogs fly).

The Harley Davidson XR-1200R flat-track style street bike is a step in the right direction, until I see the air-cooled motor that bakes you in the summer and a high price tag for the horsepower. I am buying a Kawasaki ZZR600 with 350 miles on it for $6,000 in two months from a guy at work- it seems like a better deal to me for 98 horsepower and liquid cooling, without the antique-type technology for a higher cost. It will not beat the newer 2009+ 600cc Ninja on a track, but I am not going to race it.

Even though Kawasaki no longer has any bikes in 800cc MotoGP, they have won recently for flat track and are in the top 5 now for some of the other race series:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2010/09/08/how-kawasaki-con...