Video: Are there too many types of motorcycles?

The right tool for the job matters, and if the tool that you are looking for is a motorcycle, the selection of options has absolutely exploded in recent years.

Not too long ago the selection of fresh-from-the-manufacturer motorcycles consisted of limited options of highly differentiated models. As of late, however, that has evolved (or devolved) into a plethora of options that are blurring the lines between riding segments; sport, supersport, hypersport, mini naked, super naked, retro sport, and that’s just the beginning. What does something like “Neo-Sports Cafe” even mean?

Is specialization making things better/worse?

Look, as a rider who falls firmly into the category of “I want to turn the key and go,” I personally am all about having the model that I want right on the dealership floor. The first motorcycle I ever bought, a Harley-Davidson Nightster, was supposed to get turned into a rolling advertisement for Roland Sands parts and accessories. I had grand visions of a roaring, rumbling, All-American cafe racer owning the streets of my college town and asserting its superiority over all other vehicles in southeastern Ohio. It was going to be glorious, and I was going to do all of the work myself. It would be a great project.

That bike was precisely as stock on the day that I sold it as it was when I first rolled it off of the lot. I loved it, and I took great care of it, but I quickly learned that for everything I wanted it to be, I would never actually get to all of the work that was needed in order to make the motorcycle in my garage the same thing as the motorcycle that was in my head. So, in the end, I traded it in and procured a Triumph Thruxton that had the work done for me. It kept me happy, but more importantly, it kept money flowing into the industry because I bought it brand new, current year, directly from a dealership.

Am I in the majority, or on the fringe? I honestly have no idea. It’s just my personal experience and doesn’t speak to the macro trends underlying consumers’ likelihood to purchase, the paradox of choice, or the cost structures associated with producing a continually bifurcating lineup of goods.

What I am pretty certain of, however, is that selection is a foundational element of freedom, and freedom is at the core of riding a motorcycle in the first place. So all of these new motorcycle types would seem to be a good thing, right? But maybe it’s not? Maybe there are some negative externalities that have gone unaccounted for along the way. Either way, in this edition of Highside/Lowside, Lemmy, Joe, and Spurgeon tackle the topic and offer their own views of the road ahead.

Listen to Highside/Lowside

If you've enjoyed this discussion, rest assured that the guys have no shortage of opinions on plenty of other motorcycle-related topics as well. To hear them all, be sure to check out the Highside/Lowside podcast that's available via Spotify, Apple iTunes, Stitcher, LibSyn, and Google Play Music.