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O&GDriller
1/9/2020 4:01pm
1/9/2020 4:01pm
Edited Date/Time
1/12/2020 9:34am
I posted this thread buried in another link and it got some interesting responses. My post is genuine. I'm not trolling. I'm curious hoping some of the more serious forum members will chime in to offer an explanation of the brand loyalty concept.
I find it very amusing to see the passion and vitriol people have towards an assortment of mechanical mechanisms based upon their color of the plastic to which the mechanical mechanisms are attached. I've never understood the brand loyalty mentality.
I don't give a damn what color the bike is I'm looking to buy. I'm buying the best bike to suit my needs regardless of color. The people manufacturing and selling these mechanical mechanisms are looking to take as much of my money as possible in selling me one. Therefore, I'm going to buy from the manufacturer selling the better product, for my usage. Believe it or not, at 59 years of age and riding for 49 of them I can guarantee my needs are much different than the needs of guys utilizing these machines to make a living.
What's even funnier is the people with a hard on for a certain color even thought they never owned the color they hate. I don't get it. How can you dislike "a machine" that you have no personal experience. Nonsensical.
Hell, I don't even give a damn if the color I choose to buy wins SX or MX races or championship(s) as it has nothing to do with me. The bike these guys are winning on are nothing like the bike I'm riding as a professional practice rider. I won't even get into the difference of the human at the controls of these colored machines as they relate to me. I don't think I'm even of the same species....
I find it very amusing to see the passion and vitriol people have towards an assortment of mechanical mechanisms based upon their color of the plastic to which the mechanical mechanisms are attached. I've never understood the brand loyalty mentality.
I don't give a damn what color the bike is I'm looking to buy. I'm buying the best bike to suit my needs regardless of color. The people manufacturing and selling these mechanical mechanisms are looking to take as much of my money as possible in selling me one. Therefore, I'm going to buy from the manufacturer selling the better product, for my usage. Believe it or not, at 59 years of age and riding for 49 of them I can guarantee my needs are much different than the needs of guys utilizing these machines to make a living.
What's even funnier is the people with a hard on for a certain color even thought they never owned the color they hate. I don't get it. How can you dislike "a machine" that you have no personal experience. Nonsensical.
Hell, I don't even give a damn if the color I choose to buy wins SX or MX races or championship(s) as it has nothing to do with me. The bike these guys are winning on are nothing like the bike I'm riding as a professional practice rider. I won't even get into the difference of the human at the controls of these colored machines as they relate to me. I don't think I'm even of the same species....
I agree with your post, I am in a similar station in life for age, experience, and perspective about motorcycles. The best motorcycle is the next motorcycle, I want to try them all and I could care less what color the bodywork is. I just like what I like. It's one of those deals where once you ride it and it feels right, for whatever reason, that's the best one
Pro racers are loyal for other reasons, and at the same time I can't blame them at all for pimping their brand, or become connected to a brand. That's the image they are selling, by being slow and old we have the option to ride whatever is best for us at the moment
My $.02
I came back to racing a couple of years ago and rode YZs because they were still making 2 strokes and I thought I wouldn't like owning a four stroke. Back when I was a kid there wasn't even a blue brand.
Fast forward to a year ago and I bought my first 450, a new Kawi. My first green bike and I love it. And my next bike, who knows what it'll be. Probably another Kawi, or a Yamaha 450 if they can slim it down more.
I can see folks rooting for the brand they ride (we are a very tribal species), but I really don't get sh*tting on other brands. Kinda weird.
Honda had the super-cool guys like RJ, Bailey and O Show. Kaw had Ward, who in the 80s was really dry and boring on the mic.
People are brand loyal for all kinds of reasons- it's probably part of what makes it fun.
The Shop
I found that certain brands tend to operate in a certain way, too. For instance, Yamahas tend to be more of a straight-line bike than Hondas. Not always, but they are pretty stable. I like the way they handle, so that's what I go for. Plus, most of my gear looks good on a blue bike, so I stick with what I know. Brand loyalty by default.
Henry Ford didn't get it either. Couldn't understand why anyone would want anything but a car painted black.
I had never even thought of owning a KTM or anything bigger than a 250, thought about it, Shayne King had just won the world championship on one.
Went ahead and bought it, 24 years later I’m still racing a KTM.
I started riding at age 4, had a Suzuki JR50. I think by age 6 my dad moved me up to a Kawasaki KX60. The color meant nothing but if I remember correctly I think Kawi was the only brand that offered a 60 bike back in 1994 when I was 6. By age 8 or 9 my dad moved me up to a Kawasaki KX80. Again...color meant nothing. It was a used bike we found in the newspaper, went to check it out and drove home with it.
By 10 I was starting to take riding/racing serious. I can't explain it but I just started getting really fast and moving up from novice to intermediate. My dad started taking me to the track 2 times then 3 times a week, racing 1-2 times a month at least. It seemed like all the other kids were riding Yamaha YZ80's and they were fast. My bike clearly was under-powered so in 1998 my dad bought me a brand new Kawasaki KX80. This bike finally put me on an even playing field with all those YZ's.
Why did we stick with Kawasaki instead of getting one of those fast YZ's??? Because around that time I became a HUGE fan of team Kawi/Pro Circuit/Splitfire. They rode Kawi's like me, their main competition was also Yamaha (YZ125's - I think it was Yamaha of Troy back then) and I LOVED the way those bikes looked. The graphics were so cool with the big spark plug on the air shroud. My dad actually bought me the 1998 Splitfire graphics for my bike which made me feel like I was a member of their team. I was fighting the YZ80's while my heros battled the YZ125's.
Now in 1999 - I was at an arenacross race and was maybe 1 of 3 guys riding a Kawi vs everyone else on YZ's with a few RM's and CR's sprinkled in. I swept the 85 7-11 class and also the Supermini class on a stock KX80 with PC pipe & muffler. After the race, a representative from Pro Circuit actually came over to our pit and I'm paraphrasing here but he basically said "I love those graphics, you really took it to those blue bikes. How would you like to be on the team?" They offered me a team support sponsorship and within a month my bike was tricked out with full motor and suspension work along with the new team graphics for that year. I was on cloud 9.
Real long story kinda short - we became very serious with racing and our commitment. I bumped up to expert/supermini, we had plans in place for the Vegas Mini-nats & Lorettas. In 2000 I got the all new KX85 (2001 model). Before I touched it, Pro Circuit did full motor/suspension work and all the other cool hop-ups. This bike was insanely fast, easy to ride, it was a dream bike. Right before the Mini-nats in Vegas, I had a freak accident during a race that left me paralyzed waist-down.
So ever since then I've remained a diehard team green member. Add to the fact Mitch Payton is also a paraplegic, it's just always felt like home to me. This will sound insane but if someone came up to me and said I could walk/ride again but it could only be on a Yamaha, I'd probably say "F*** You".
In my mind your response is a very rational explanation for your "green connection". There were performance considerations and specific acts by "green" sponsors that would have me being a "green" guy same as you. It's completely logical. If you weren't a green guy I be curious why not.
Your post doesn't really address the behavior I'm curious about. For example, I don't think you're going to write, or contribute to a post about your dislike of a different brand without you personally experiencing an unpleasant event that forms the basis for your dislike.
My lack of understanding is in relation to an individual disliking something even though he's never had any personal experience with that "thing". It's comical when someone trashes Wile E Coyote's Acme brand active suspension when they've never even seen one let alone ride or own a bike equipped with Wile's stuff.
Throughout life we've all experienced/observed this phenomena. It's guess it's the old Chevy versus Ford bias. I often joke it must be genetic... A poster above explained the tribal tendency of humans. I think this is a valid consideration that bears merit. I don't have that tribal mentality specific to brand loyalty but i do about many other things in life so I can appreciate the concept.
Interesting comments!
P.S. I think it's a bit amusing somebody would give my initial post a thumbs down. Got to love Vitards!
"I'm diehard Team Green. I hate all other brands, especially Yamaha".
I can appreciate your preference/loyalty to green for the many reason you elaborated and I can see you having a bit of a negative taste in your mouth for those damn YZ's. However, what is the basis for your hatred to all other brands as it doesn't seem like they've ever done anything "bad" to you?
Pit Row
look at James stewart on the difference between that 09 yz and 10 yz 450. 2010 yz 450 sucked
2009 yz 450 was a great bike
I wish they were Suzuki's.
I've owned everything, I feel most "at-home" on the last Gen RMs.
*including 4strokes...I've had two crfs and spent nearly 6 years on the 06-09 yz450f
I grew up riding all Hondas, from xr50 to cr125 I was on Honda's all the way through. I have no problem with them to this day, but unless they decide to bring the CR line back I don't see myself going to the dealer to grab one.
When I got my first 250 it was a RM250, absolutely loved the bike and still have it. I grew up watching Travis and Ricky absolutely blow minds on that bike and it was the greatest thing ever for me to finally have the same. That was all fine and dandy until I had to do some serious motor work. The suzuki faithful will never mention it, but you're going to absolutely pay out the ass for any OEM suzuki part, it's just insane. Ya sure, the bike might be cheap to start with, but god forbid you ever need to swap a crank, you better have deep pockets. For a kid in high school, that freaking bike basically bankrupt me and I decided then and there I'm never buying another one. Also see KTM for outlandish parts pricing.
As I got more into hillclimbing, I needed a 450 for be able to race the pro extended classes. My dad ended up picking up a leftover 2011 YZ450 and promptly realized it was way too much bike for him, so it essentially became mine. What I learned quickly was that yamaha didn't screw around when it came to build quality, and I didn't realize how cheap the fasteners were on my old RM until I started to work on the YZ. I also realized that I could ride the bike with a stock motor, and because of the low end hit and overall power, I could race hillclimbs on a stock motor and at least have a fighting chance. I don't have the money to do a bunch of motor work and I definitely can't spend 8K building a fire breathing 450 race motor with full custom cams and exhaust, so stock yamahas are the best bang for the buck in my eyes. I'm now on a 2018 and finished the points in the top 10 even after missing the final round in a national series, on a stock motor. The dyno doesn't tell the whole story, go ride a stock ktm and a stock yamaha and you'll see what I mean, similar peak power but very different approaches to getting there. I'd probably like the KTM more for track and trail riding, but the yamaha is hard to beat for hillclimb.
My play bike that I ride damn near every weekend in a YZ250 with almost 250 hours on the clock. I'm still on stock chassis bearings, stock bore, and even stock clutch. There's a few areas on the bike that are showing it's age, and some downright idiotic design elements that should have been corrected 10 years ago (looking at you open front wheel bearings and atrocious stem seal design), but the fact of the matter is I've raced everything from hard enduros to supercross futures on this bike and it's taken it all in stride. I don't see any other bike on the showroom floor that will fit those needs, so for now Yamaha has me pretty well kept.
Edit: I should also mention that having bikes that share common parts is a HUGE benefit. Saves a lot of time and money, as well as save you in a pinch.
I've owned at least two of all the OG four and would totally own a KTM or Husky.
I never buy the same brand of gear twice either.
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