Why no Liner in the Mega Twin Shootout

[kenoliner]

<div>I was suprised to see that you did not include the Yamaha Roadliner in your mega twin shootout. Afterall, this is a bike that you guys have raved about since its release. Why is it missing in action in the shoot out? I like the bikes you chose but I would have thought the addition of a Roadliner would have made sense.</div><div> </div><div>Ken - Harleysville, PA</div>

[Honda919Rider]

<div>Or a Warrior -</div><div> </div><div>And a VTX1800F to round it all out.</div><div> </div><div>Maybe next time!</div>

[carlo]

If I may be so presumptuous as to answer for Mr. Editor Edwards...<br>I think it's because the three bikes they featured are all heavily promoted as power cruisers. The Yamaha Roadliner isn't promoted primarily as a &quot;power cruiser&quot;, and while the Honda VTX was originally praised in ads for it's power, it wasn't really advertised the way the three in the article are. The ads for the Honda and Yamaha don't make any claims of the same nature as the ads for the Suzuki, which try to suggest that it's got GSXR heritage, or the VRod, which suggest that the Street Rod will blow sport bikes away.<br>The only cruiser that wasn't included that I can think of that was blatantly advertised as having been built specifically for performance is the Kawasaki Mean Streak.

[CW1Edwards]

<div>Carlo has it mostly correct, plus there's newsworthiness. The Hammer S and the Night Rod Special are new for 2007, and we had yet to put the Suzuki 109 to the test. All three give off a &quot;two-wheeled musclecar&quot; feel. We originally planned to include the Shelby-style blue-and-white M109--perfect for the theme--but found out that it won't be available 'til much later in the year.</div><div> </div><div>DE</div>

[kenoliner]

<div>I guess I can see your point. There sure seems to be a ton of sub-categories for cruisers these days.</div><div> </div><div>Ken - Harleysville</div>

[CW1Edwards]

<div>We're living in the era of niche marketing. Retro-cruisers, power-cruisers, touring-cruisers, standards, retro-standards, hooligan-standards, sportbikes, supersports, sport-tourers, luxury-tourers, adventure-tourers, enduros, street-legal enduros, play enduros, motocross, cross-country, supermotos, superbikes...and I'm sure I'm missing some.</div><div> </div><div>The variety is great, but it can be daunting to a first-timer. When I bought my first streetbike, it was matter of checking the bank account to see if I could afford a CB175 or a CB350.</div><div> </div><div>DE</div>

[hacksaw]

<div></div><div>well david, you already know my opinion on micro niche moto marketing, so i wont belabor that issue at the moment.</div><div> </div><div>something else to consider though, i have been reading some of these comparos for years now. decades actually. 3 bike comparos give you the best idea of what up. one vs one is to absolute, and more than 3 is a bit more flash than usefull or at least to much to really compare on. but three seems to generate a depth on a scale thats more intimate and therefore more useful in objectively evaluating a machine on a personal level.after all, there was originally 3 muskateers and i have never seen four blind mice. and the five stooges? that would be definite overkill. </div><div> </div><div>hacksaw- yamahaville, japan.</div><p>Message Edited by hacksaw on <span class="date_text">01-12-2007</span><span class="time_text">12:33 PM</span></p>

[boxster]

<div>With all due respect, Hacksaw, I find multi-bike comparos (i.e., more than three bikes) to be helpful and informative, provided there is more substance than flash to the article. Multi-bike comparos also increase the odds of learning about &quot;that partilular bike&quot; the reader may be interested in. Give me the broadest feasible coverage and let me narrow it down for myself.</div><div> </div><div>-KS</div>

[carlo]

I'm still waiting for a multi bike comparison of Dual Sports that includes an Aprilia! (or even a road test of the Aprilia dual-sport model)<br>The latest version of the Caponord is supposed to have all sorts of cool features.<br>And my R1200GS riding friends who I've traded bikes with on rides confirm my own seat-of-the-pants impression that the Caponord is slightly quicker, and slightly better handling than the GS. I'd like to see if that can be backed up by a more scientific round of tests, or if it's just that Italian panache fooling my hindquarters.<p>Message Edited by carlo on <span class="date_text">01-13-2007</span><span class="time_text">12:12 PM</span></p>

[hacksaw]

<div></div><div></div><div><br></div><blockquote><div><hr>boxster wrote:<br><div>With all due respect, Hacksaw, I find multi-bike comparos (i.e., more than three bikes) to be helpful and informative, provided there is more substance than flash to the article. Multi-bike comparos also increase the odds of learning about &quot;that partilular bike&quot; the reader may be interested in. Give me the broadest feasible coverage and let me narrow it down for myself.</div><div> </div><div>-KS</div><br><hr></div></blockquote><div>if that works for you fine. i understand your point. all i can say to me, less is more. i would rather it be narrowed down already. i dont need any broad breaking downs while on the john. which is where my active library is.</div><div> </div><div>let me ask you, every try to get to know someone with 5 or 6 people talking? or would you develope a better relationship with just three folks in chat? given the time and space constraints of the magazine.<br></div><div></div><p>Message Edited by hacksaw on <span class="date_text">01-14-2007</span><span class="time_text">12:07 AM</span></p>