Are you Brand Loyal?

[gdb069]

Yes I am brand loyal to: Solex, Lambretta, Sears, Yamaha, Bultaco, Ducati, Triumph, BSA, Norton, HD, and BMW but now I have an Accord,h an Acura, 2 Shadows and a Honda lawn mower!

G

[tigrzeye]

After owning 3 Honda and 3 Kawasaki motorcycles previously, my first Yamaha. Not brand loyal but until now there was a trend ..

[PA Dave]

Absolutely. I won't seriously consider buying a bike that isn't a brand name.

[barncat]

Nope. I have a Honda and Kawasaki in my garage now. I traded my Harley to get the Honda, Sold my Goldwing to buy the Voyager, My Suzuki to buy the Harley, etc...

Most brand loyalists are that way due to marketing and excessive brainwashing. Of course they hide behind the mask of "American Heritage and American Made". I am just a fan of motorcycles. and realize the strengths and weakness of any of them.

[MOFO YO]

*I have no desire for a bike over 750cc, but engine inflation disease still seems rampant.

Well said my man...

[jpr1968]

Originally Posted by gat803

I've owned many bikes from all of the big four in Japan, two makers from England, one maker from Canada, and one maker from the USA. My scooter was made in China.

I own and ride what I like. I don't like corporations, I like motorcycles.

Gat on a scooter? Got pictures?

[MikeB]

Loyal? No, but I do have some biases based on ownership of different brands. I have no objective evidence for this list, but this is my intuitive (and no doubt unfair) analysis of various marques in order of preference:
1) Honda -- not the fastest or sexiest line of bikes, but the best quality;
2) Suzuki -- excellent value, since comparable models are usually cheaper than the competition; quality is good enough for long-term relationships;
3) Yamaha -- a 'tweener, more sexy and innovative than Honda and better quality than Suzuki, but never quite at the top of either list;
4) Kawasaki -- a schizophrenic company, making both the beastly fast ZX-series and the agricultural-level KLR...and not much in between. For some reason (and I can't say why, because I've never had one break on me) I put Kawasaki at the bottom of the quality spectrum of Japanese bikes.

If I say where I put BMW and Harley I'll be accused of brand-bashing, so I'll leave that unsaid.

To be fair all around, a lot of these opinions were formed a long time ago when there was more product differentiation than there is now. I suppose if you put me on comparable models today and let me ride around blindfolded (har, har) I would not be able to tell the difference between them.

[kacealraid]

Only because it's all I've owned. If I had the money and time, I'd try some other cruisers or rides.

[gypsy]

I've been riding my 98 vt1100 since 2000. had a79 goldwing before that and a 750 shadow before that. in my younger day in the 70's i rode a 64 norton atlas then a 650 triumph chopper. i like honda. its an engineering company that makes many very reliable and economic products. however, it seems mike ALL the bikes coming down the pike today are really great machines. who can honestly name a poor one?? i've just been on this shadow for so long i think i'd probably hurt myself if i got on something else besides i know it so well mechanically and do all my own wrenching, customizing and painting.... luv it.

[vzshadow]

Originally Posted by tmoldovan

Yes and no, some bikes are simply out of my price range, BMW, Triumph, etc.
.......

Check out the price of a new Triumph Bonneville and compare it to a 750 Shadow. The Bonnie is quite a bit less. The America and Speedmaster cruisers are within $100 of a Shadow.