car/bike manufacturers

[Gemini]

following on from an earlier thread about bmw bikes being boring.....

it got me thinking how can a vehicle manufacturer get it sooo right with one product and so wrong with another?

for example.

honda fireblade, arguably the best road bike ever made - legend! yet apart from the honda nsx supercar, all their other cars are a bit pants, the majority of their customers are the blue rinse brigade!

looking at it from another angle, suzuki cars are skunk, but their bikes are genius!

i know nobody on here would say no to owning pretty much any bmw car, so why is it we wouldnt be seen dead on one of their bikes?

and take kawasaki, brilliant bikes, but the bikes are pretty much a hobby for them, they built tanks and warships! grrrrrrrr

i came to the conclusion that the only bike/car manufacturers that get it spot on in either field are the italians

what are your thoughts?
gem

[crushedlizard]

Hey, I'm stuck with 4 wheels at the moment and have to say my Honda Prelude is awesome. I feel their biker love has come through in the way the engine loves to be revved. VTEC is simply awesome.
Plus it was decades ahead of its time. It has electronic 4 wheels steering that either turns with or against front wheels depending on speed. ABS, Cruise control, Climate control, not just A/C, etc etc. This is all from a car pushing on for 20 years!

The CRX is another example. Tiny 1.6 engine and yet it revs like a bike.

Admittedly though, Honda have lost their way and become increasingly boring.

And yeah, no other Car manufacturer comes to mind...

[RedexRobB]

Italians havent always been good, ducatis always had electrical gremlins. Take Alfa's, you couldnt pay me to have one, when they work they are fantastic but apparently unreliable. And anything italian that does work has extra zeros on the end of the price tag.

You have to look at the markets they are aming for too, intentional or not. Hondas are renown for reliability, which is why old people buy them. A honda will outlast any blue rinsed old lady from bournemouth. But i know for a fact they are trying to get younger people to buy thier cars, as are Jaguar.

You also have to take in thier experience, and what products are gonna reap the best rewards. No point in ploughing millions of R&D into a product where theres not that much of a demand, which is guess is the reason why they can do so well with one product and not another.

[Gemini]

imo the best road cars are either subaru imprezas or mitsubishi lancer evos.

the reason i say this is they are fast as f*** but u can also get a weeks shopping in the boot and take the whole family out with you

what 2seater supercar can u do that with?

and before someone says, "hang on, this is a bike forum" im getting to my point,

how come scooby or mitsy aint made a bike?

gem

[Vard66]

That's the thing with that though, Gem.

They're not supercars. Completely different market, so a bit of an unrealistic and unreasonable comparison.

Plus, there are a million cars out there I'd own before I'd own either an Evo or an Impreza.
It'd also have to be one of a select few of either of the above for me to want one anyway.
You can keep your Evo VII VIII and IX - I can't tell them apart anyway.
A VI I'd have, or branching out slightly a Galant VR4, and as far as Scoobies go, I'd probably only really want to own a 22b or P1. Though another M20 variant would be a close run thing as to if I would or not.

[Gemini]

and wtf have subaru done to the new impreza, looks like a fuckin daewoo!

gem

[Vard66]

Nevermind the new one, what about the last six versions?

IMO, the Impreza died in 1999.

[Jamz]

how come scooby or mitsy aint made a bike?

Because all wheel drive bikes are a pile of shite!

Honda make a load of hum-drum bikes and then there's their superbikes - much like with their cars. And even their superbikes are seen as the sensible option the same as their cars.

People like to say that any reliable vehicle is 'boring' though. Apparently VFR750's are slow boring bikes for the pipe and slippers brigade, but anyone who rode with me would probably have another opinion of the bikes!

If you think about the vast differences in engineering between bikes and cars it's hardly surpriseing why they don't bother doing both. Just take the suspension for example!

And even Suzuki weren't too crap when they decided they wanted to win the Pikes Peak hillclimb...

[cargo]

My car is a ten year old Mondeo I've had it 6 years now it's a bit dull and a bit reppy but I really like it it's been ultra reliable never ever give any real problems and zips through the MOT every year no problems. Mind you it has always been dealer serviced. I've towed a box trailer with two bikes and a weekends worth of kit with it to races one trip was over 200 miles. I've also towed a caravan with it.....................I've hardly got near it since my wife passed her test................my only job now is to put petrol in it............ she drives it
I prefer my...................................

van is a 16 year old Transit full of rust and about two ton of very dodgy wielding but it hangs together worst prob was broken springs in the rear I fitted new heavey duty ones and now it look like an A Team van It's short wheelbase but I can squezze 3 bike in if need be it gets used and abused daily and still survives one day it will lie down and die but not yet I hope

[masterofinsanity]

no-one interested in a bmw then??

[Gemini]

i think the recession has hit germany hard with that one....



obviously didnt have enough of the same headlights

gem

[RedexRobB]

I like the look of that!

headlight are odd, but they got a habit of that tho it seems

[Gemini]

i spose its like a pair of tits, never exactly the same as one another

but f*** me, if your wife's tits were as much as a mismatch as them headlights you'd be straight down the plastic surgeons wouldnt u

gem

[Scott221]

RC8 is where its at. They make cool cars too!!

[superman]

im gona go against the grain and say i actually like BMW bikes. there good for commuting and more than likely comfy to ride. at the moment im into my sports bikes but i would consider a nice BM in the future i recon...
Honda have afew nice cars out there, i do like the civic and most type "R" models are pretty cool. plus they go forever i will say there build quality in recent years has improved unlike some car makers.
scoobys are gone now, the back has been knocked out of them and anyone who gets one will be simply paying more insurance for a car thievs love to nick and police love to pull over.
im now thinking what a bike built by ford would look like lol.