What happened to "Plain" Standard motorcycles?

[wmax351]

What happened to all the "Standard" Motorcycles, with a visible (and powerful) engine, neutral and comfortable seating position, normal handlebars, without tons of plastic. The few that exist are selling great (New Bonneville, as well as the Thruxton).

Even the old Harley Sportster's count. The new ones (except the XR models) are still really low, cruiser style.

What about all the old UJM's? The original SOHC Honda 4's were great. They looked good, handled well, were fast (for their day, and still hold up today.), and fun. I had a CB550. It was great. And you could work on the engine without removing a car's worth of plastic. They were lighter. No amount of composites in the fairing are lighter than not having one.

Or the old Airheads. They looked great. No fairing needed. Some of the newer BMWs are okay, but still not great.

Do people just not like these anymore?

[mrbreeze]

You don't want a UJM. All the Harley owners will laugh at it and say it sounds like a sewing machine. Now quit thinking and go get that Sportster.

[Grainbelt]

They are called 'naked' bikes now and are a hell of a lot faster than your CB550 was. Off the top of my head...

Triumph Street Triple & Speed Triple
Ducati Monster & Streetfighter
Aprilia Shiver
BMW F800R
Kawasaki ER-6N
Suzuki Gladius
Honda CB1000R
Yamaha FZ8

It may be that you are just a bit older than their target demographic.

[JamesG]

Market fragmentation.

and

Marketing. Something with swoopy pieces of plastic that they can slightly change from year to year is an excuse to slowly upward creep the price, vs just plain naked inflation or profiteering.

[BulletProof]

What are you babbling aboot? I ride an '01 UJM.
Standard bikes never went anywhere - dont call it a comeback.

Look with your eyes not with mouth(fingers in this case)

[andoulli]

"What happened to all the "Standard" Motorcycles, with a visible (and powerful) engine, neutral and comfortable seating position, normal handlebars, without tons of plastic. The few that exist are selling great (New Bonneville, as well as the Thruxton)."

You must not be paying attention, FZ1, FZ8, Speed Triple, Street Triple, aforementioned Triumph twins, Gladius, Nighthawk 750, Bandit 1250S, R1200R, F800R, ER-6n, Z1000, Mana, Tuono, no doubt leaving out a bunch I can't think of.

[njd]

[flak]

there's still plenty of standards, they just look a lot different than they did way back when - my 1250 bandit is a modern day UJM in every sense of the word - it has very little in the way of modern amenities, just a big engine you can see, standard controls, and a fairly upright seating position - the biggest difference is the quarter fairing on my bike out front, but even then it doesn't have too much plastic

I think the definition of a standard evolved over the years such that the frame geometry and stance of a UJM has incorporated the advancements that make them more capable, more stable, and overall outperform the older bikes that inspired them to begin with - alogn with modernization, they lost the general look and stance of much older bikes

triumph (as mentioned above) has done a good job of broadening their line over the years to offer old-school rides like the bonneville alongside cruisers and modern sportbikes - I'd have to say triumph probably has the closest thing to an old UJM from a purely stylistic standpoint

[wmax351]

I'm 20.

I know there are naked bikes still. They are a completely different aesthetic.

This is the tuono. I don't see this as a "Naked Bike"



And this just looks weird:



Do people see this as looking nice?

[VixObs]

Originally Posted by wmax351

I'm 20.

I know there are naked bikes still. They are a completely different aesthetic.

This is the tuono. I don't see this as a "Naked Bike"



And this just looks weird:



Do people see this as looking nice?

Yes

[Ryan381]

Originally Posted by wmax351

Do people see this as looking nice?

I like the looks of the speed triple, to each his own I suppose

[forrestlaw]

Don't forget about the SV650. Was a big seller for suzuki. Recently discontinued for the Gladius, but the SV looks better in my opinion.

[El Guero]

In a country where a motorcycle is more of a pleasure vehicle than a practical vehicle, the staid standards you describe are just too damn boring. A UJM is great if you are going to ride every day in all kinds of weather, but if you are just going to go out for fun every other weekend then you will probably want something more exciting.

FWIW I like standards, but the whole "jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none" thing bores me now. A stump pulling Speed Triple is good, but the FZ8? Yawn.

[zokalr13]

[Grainbelt]

Originally Posted by wmax351

Do people see this as looking nice?

Well, it isn't any worse than this.