Where are all the naked bikes?

[isaac]

Has anybody else noticed that the "naked bike explosion" that Motor Cyclist magazine keeps talking about just hasn't really happened?

They've made mention of all of these manufacturers stripping their faired models, giving them more livable ergonomics and calling them naked bikes. Ducati's long since been known for it.


Triumph had seemingly cornered the hooligan bike market before it was invented.


Suzuki has their SV and Bandit line. Honda has their 599 and 919. Kawasaki has their ZRX1200. Yamaha has the partially faired FZ1 and 6, and then the MT01, which we may never see imported.

They're all out there, but where the hell are they? All I see anywhere is wrapped in plastic - the de rigeur of young guys into seeming sporty. The only naked bikes I ever see are cruisers, with the occasional oddball jap standard from the 70s or 80s thrown in there. I go wild with enthusiasm whenever I see a nice example of one of those riding around.

My waving confuses both sportbike and cruiser riders alike. Sportbike riders are wondering why that guy coming the other way on a harley is waving at them. Cruiser riders are wondering why that guy that just passed them on that (what from behind looks like a..) sportbike just waved at them.

So what the hell? Has anybody actually seen one of these modern naked bikes on the road? I've maybe seen one naked bike made in the last decade - a Suzuki Bandit 600 - in my nearly 3 years of cycling. That's it.

[hawkLer]

you must live out in the middle of no where. i see these bikes all the time.

[Doc]

Me too, Although I see more Harleys and sportbikes heading into downtown goig by the front of my house. Where I ride I usually see more sportbikes (Has to be the roads).
"Naked" bikes used to be called "Standards" or "sport standards" they were around before the repli racer types (Norton, Triumph, Honda CB's...

[isaac]

you must live out in the middle of no where. i see these bikes all the time.

By comparison to NYC (the most densely populated city in the western hemisphere), Orlando probably has 1/100th the motorcycles. Still, the metro Orlando area is pretty big, with a population of more than 1.5 million people. There just aren't shit for motorcycles.

O-town definitely is massively deficient in motorculture in general. If I want to see hot cars or bikes, I have to go to Miami or Tampa. Tampa's a dump and they still have tons of supercars and bikes.

That said, I did see a hot naked bike tonight parked next to the grocery store. It wasn't so much a naked bike though. It was a crashed ZX6 with the front plastic sawed off, the underbelly remaining, and a hooligan headlight in place. Good stuff.

[hawkLer]

i would say that the type of toughguys who ride sportbikes or as some say "crotchrockets" are equal in number in nyc and the cities you listed. it just so happens there are many more people in nyc with great taste in machines. also lots of people who have money to throw around (i'm not one of them, the $ part i mean...)
anyway, lucky me, i guess... i at least get to see and hear some of these bikes. i'm thinking i'll be as proud or more than they are once i have my hawk out of the bedroom, though!


let me point out that i don't mean people who ride sportbikes are "toughguys." i love sportbikes and wish i had the money or a scheme to get, get, get money to have one. i'm just talking the skullcap, squid-types aaaaand now this is blending into another current thread.

[SMF]

i'm thinking i'll be as proud or more than they are once i have my hawk out of the bedroom, though!

out of the bedroom? so you're either single, she doesn't live with you or if she does you need to marry her b/c you'll never find THAT again

[hawkLer]

no, she doesn't know where to find me. she's still floating along lost, confused, no joys to be found, out there alone in this world.
but hey, that's part of the reason i got the hawk. there's no pillion spot on the cafe racer!
yeah, i'm single, okay?

[Doc]

https://www.yahoopersonals.com

https://www.match.com

[isaac]

^Well played, good sir.

[hawkLer]

well played indeed.... however, here in nyc there are actually humans around to interact with. and if those don't work there is always www.jdate.com

[SMF]

no, she doesn't know where to find me. she's still floating along lost, confused, no joys to be found, out there alone in this world.
but hey, that's part of the reason i got the hawk. there's no pillion spot on the cafe racer!
yeah, i'm single, okay?

um.... ok.... didn't mean anything by it

when i lived in FL I'd put my hawk in the living room whenever a hurricane threatened to roll through. it was safer there than in the garage...

yes i was single then (and continue to be), much better than being with any of my x's

[hawkLer]

no offense taken whatsoever! keep in mind that i'm usually joking if i'm not talking about bikes....

[dagus]

www.yahoopersonals.com

www.match.com

And www.americansingles.com -- it's where I met my wife. And we celebrated three years together, last Wednesday.

[dagus]

Don't forget the Agusta Brutale. Saw one in the flesh at Hawk's Nest this summer. The rider was a Brit expat, with old money apparently. Very interesting conversation, the kind of guy who knows a little about an awful lot.


Sweet Lord have mercy...

Yeah, in NYC and the boroughs, the streetfighter trend is growing. Two out of every three bikes is another Duc Monster. In Brooklyn, especially around Williamsburg and Greenpoint, every bike is a cafe racer!!!

Can't wait for the Suz B King...


...oh, and you forgot Buell... they're kind of like motorcycles...


...and if you haven't picked up a copy of Streetfighters magazine, do. It'll blow your mind. Oh, and google "Ludovic Lazareth" while you're at it.

Naked bikes are big in Europe right now, and the trend is starting to really pick up here. Give it 5 years, you'll see a lot more I think.

[ovlovder]

my feeling is that, on a street bike, the motor should be visable.