bias
 

I noticed something in my behavior recently; a bias against certain manufacturers. I would be looking at a webpage and skip over the road tests of most European bikes.
Other than a Triumph (which was made in Thailand anyway), I've always owned Japanese bikes and bought from all 4 main producers over the years.

What brought this to my attention was the new Royal Enfield, it struck me that I'd consider buying one yet a Ducati/Aprilia/KTM/BMW/MotoGuzzi; no way.
We have a local BMW dealer so it's not a case of access, although the other European dealers are a minimum of 40 miles away - I think it must be a cognitive bias based on my (erroneous?) perception of their reliability plus I'm usually more interested in smaller bikes (both physically and in capacity).

Anyone else biased against certain manufacturers?

Re: bias
 

me too but its based on my perception that some manufacturer's products are over priced for what they are! They promote themselves as premium brands and want loads more money for the name.....

Re: bias
 

Yep, and me I'm afraid. Largely American bikes; the big v twins which tend to promote the good ol' boy/outlaw image. When I lived in the SE of England several decades ago the outlaw/patch club/HA thing was big, and not very pleasant, involving as it did a lot of criminality, violence, intolerance, and some very nasty racism. Harleys and others like them just summon up some pretty unpleasant images of those times.

Re: bias
 

Nope I have no bias whatsoever. I also have limited experience and no money.

Re: bias
 

I have a bias based on my decisions a few years ago when getting advice from my mechanic about new bikes. He flat out refused to work on Moto Guzzis as he's had endless problems with their electrics. At the time I really wanted a V7 or similar, although couldn't afford it anyway. He said if I got one he wouldn't work on it and really emphasised going for one the four Japanese manufacturers. That's how I ended up with an SV... still a V-twin. I've also had comments (jokes) each time I've MOTed my SV about it being a more affordable and more reliable Ducati.


I'd still have an "unreliable" bike if money was no object, I could actually afford it and afford to make any problems someone else's problem to diagnose and fix.

Re: bias
 

Similar here. Being skint a lot of the time helps remove the need to make decisions :-)

Re: bias
 

I have noticed bias in a lot of magazines in favour of certain makes and brands. VW / Audi always get good write ups despite their less than optimum reliability, likewise BMW, I have also seen tyre tests that put Continental winter tyres in first place about 0.5% ahead of Nokian, even though the Nokian was much better on snow and ice because, (wait for it) the Continental tyre was 'better in summer braking' LOL ( seems to be a German bias in a lot of magazines, but I suppose the testers have to pander to their main advertisers). One German rider said that they pronounce BMW as 'B M troubleyou'.... priceless.

I like Jap stuff and it has never let me down or cost me loads of money in repairs / servicing. My brother bought a 1 year old Skoda Octavia last year because of the good write ups, he only kept it for 6 months and it spent a lot of that time at the dealer trying to track down various odd faults, the worst of which was the battery kept going flat overnight on various occasions and not charging properly anyway. He now has a Suzuki Grand Vitara 1.4 Boosterjet AWD (direct injection mild turbo 138 ponies) - and having driven it I can tell you that engine is amazing, great torque available from 1500 revs, the 6 speed manual box is a delight and it will perform offroad better than many vehicles seen as proper offroaders ( and which are much more expensive ) - and not a single problem or niggle in 18 months.

Personally if you are buying with your own money get a Jap product, if it is a company car and you want a 'badge' on your drive to impress your neighbours ( mainly about your lack of knowledge of cars) and you don't have to pay for repairs by all means get a German product. If you are a ROF ( rich old f4rt) get a Harley or 1200GS - I hear the latest ones can be powered entirely by the smugness of their owners....

Re: bias
 

Having rode around with mates who had leaky unreliable Brit bikes in the 80s I'd never have one. Same goes for the 2 strokes of that era, nothing but trouble for my mates.

But I had a soft spot for Guzzi's and I had a V1000 Spada, which never broke down on me, and I'd still like another. Same goes for Ducati, despite their known flaws. My Guzzi had it's problems, but mostly due to the previous owner. It only let me down once, when I broke the stupid plastic fuel union on the carb with my boot. But it stopped me taking it to the IOM for the TT, and my relationship with it wasn't the same after that.

I am biased against anything Harley, plus any Specialized or Trek pushbikes, whereas anything Italian will get my pulse going.

Re: bias
 

I was too, then picked up a cheap older Trek (Emonda) carbon frame to try something different to steel and love it. Even though it's dated with external cabling etc the ride is great.


I had an old steel Mercian (British hand made) frame that was lovely, but strangely fitted with old Campag 8 speed Record components (sacrelidge I know! Classic English frame and classic Italian groupset!). The Campag record looked amazing and worked well when it was tuned, but needed adjustments every week or two. As much as I loved it I'm much happier riding more dependable Shimano groupsets.

Re: bias
 

Similar experience, having ridden steel for most of my life, I'd tried returning on my old steel Colnago after a 10year break, but just couldn't. Sold that ( big mistake) and got the love of my life, my Wilier Izoard. Still have it, won't ever get rid of it, everything about it's ride is perfect.

I still have a steel framed bike, which rides nicely, plus a Chinese Ti frame, but neither ride like my carbon Wilier. The only material I won't consider is aluminium or an alloy frame.