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BMW takes top honors...


Silver Surfer/AKAButters

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Silver Surfer/AKAButters

... in several categories:

Top 10

 

I am actully surprised that the GT didn't make the list.

 

Not for those with weak stomachs.

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Funny, I owned a red PC800 and loved it like a child loves their weeble; The thing would never fall over. I lost count of how many people walked up to simply say what an attractive bike it was. I think maybe 5 have said my 12RT is good looking and just as many if not more say its as ugly as a 5 day old liverwust sandwich.

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I own #9 and at one time owned #10.

I've lusted in my mind over at least one other bike on that list...

Also owned #10 on the related List .

Amusing take on motorcycling styling...

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GS wasn't any uglier than the Honda Interstate, the main competitor of the day.

Until my 1100, my GS -GKZ was the least reliable bike I had owned, spending 3 months out of the year I owned it in the shop, primarily for electrical problems. I sold the bike 1 day before the 1 year unlimited mileage warranty expired with 43K miles on the odometer. The bike just loved to hoist that front tire in the air. Riding two up through a hairpin was always done on the rear tire only! (Ahhhhh, to be young and immortal once again....)

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#2 might well be ugly but I'd love one to sell right now. Rare and expensive.

 

I think that they are a touch harsh with #9. The R1200RT isn't *my* cup of tea, I much prefer the softer lines on my R1150RT but I don't think it's *ugly*.

 

Linz ;)

 

 

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Oh man I'd forgotten about the GS Touring bikes... sometimes something is so ugly it's beautiful... :grin:

 

That's how I feel about my R!

 

BMW motorcycles... the definition of 'Form Follows Function'...

 

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What ,the perosn picking these bikes is on crack. only 2-3 bikes on there should have been on there. The FJR, connie, RT, 800ST, streamliner all should have never been on that list. Not becasue I own one but Cmon, a buell Ulysses didnt make that list? No R1200C? No Suzuki intruder? No ducati multistrada? no honda valkyrie? How did an RT make the list but not a GS? As much as loved my GS, I used to get people all the time commenting on how ugly it was.

 

Beauty is definately an eye of the beholder topic but witht e exception of a few, there wasnt a single bike that should have been on that list.

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What ,the perosn picking these bikes is on crack. {snip} No R1200C? No Suzuki intruder? No ducati multistrada? no honda valkyrie? How did an RT make the list but not a GS?

 

You just didn't dig deep enough - here is the master link to all of his Top 10-Ugliest lists. You'll find the R1200C there along with the Honda Rune and a bunch of others.

 

jdg

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Cali, you're looking at the TOURING list. Take a look at the other lists...

Hint: You'll find the R1200C....

 

Thanks. I did see some of those ont he other lists. This guy is on crack. Did you see is preffered bike list? What a joke. I had a suzuki madura (his ugliest cruiser) Sorry but that was a nice looking bike, especially compared to some of the others on the list. But really, a ducati hypermotard as ugly? Some of his comments even attack the type of bike category and not even the actual bike. He is nuts and has his head up his arse.

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Silver Surfer/AKAButters
Cali, you're looking at the TOURING list. Take a look at the other lists...

Hint: You'll find the R1200C....

 

Thanks. I did see some of those ont he other lists. This guy is on crack. Did you see is preffered bike list? What a joke. I had a suzuki madura (his ugliest cruiser) Sorry but that was a nice looking bike, especially compared to some of the others on the list. But really, a ducati hypermotard as ugly? Some of his comments even attack the type of bike category and not even the actual bike. He is nuts and has his head up his arse.

 

Agree. I just thought that it was funny in general. Realy did not agree with most of what he said. Although, that piece about the vision had me rolling. :rofl:

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Hmmmmm.... I had an R1200C and always got a lot of interest and compliments on it. It is in the Gugenheim book Art of the Motorcycle. I now have a silver 12RT and get lot of interest in that too. But I agree that the brown ones "sand color?" are not really that attractive.

 

Gael

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Good stuff for debate. The more subjective the better.

 

Funny enough I really like the "repugnant" deco lines on the Stratoliner tank. Don't like the rest of the bike much, but the chrome lines look good. Also, the VMax is supposed to look like a cartoon bike, IMO. If it looked "normal" it couldn't be a VMax.

 

Sorry to say that I'm with him on the R12RT. I hope they radically change the styling in the near future.

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I think the massive problem with Mr Licino's views is that he is looking at the older bikes through 21st Century spectacles instead of judging them by the standards of the time.

The Ducati Paso, BMW K1 and Vincent, for example, might not look good now with our better understanding of aesthetics, but they looked avant-garde with massive "WOW!" at the time - and compared to their contempories. If they were "dead ends" in the long term, then I would argue that we need some of these just to see what happens. Poking a little fun at these older machines is fine, but to call them ugly by our standards is rather unfair.

In some cases he has also deliberately chosen the poorest color choice for the machine, the R1200RT for example. I believe the beautiful R11xxRT had to move on to attract new buyers and I'm very happy with the styling of my black-over-silver 1200RT.

 

I will agree that all the modern faired Italian sports-bikes are heartbreakingly beautiful by any standards as are many of the 1930 sports cars from Bugatti (i.e. Type 57 Atlantic) and Alfa Romeo. and because they are heartbreakingly beautiful already, they do not have really have to move the game on in other areas. I mean that although the Italians are leaders in bike styling, they are followers everywhere else (let's not argue about Desmo valve gear!).

 

More comments, please!

 

(I would have posted this on Mr Licino's hub, but I wasn't prepared for the caustic comments towards anyone who disagrees with him!).

 

 

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To Johns comments. Good points but here's another view. Neither is right or wrong:

 

"I think the massive problem with Mr Licino's views is that he is looking at the older bikes through 21st Century spectacles instead of judging them by the standards of the time."

 

Almost nothing is more subjective than styling, so I'd say he's looking at them through his own glasses, as we all do.

 

"The Ducati Paso, BMW K1 and Vincent, for example, might not look good now with our better understanding of aesthetics, but they looked avant-garde with massive "WOW!" at the time - and compared to their contempories. If they were "dead ends" in the long term, then I would argue that we need some of these just to see what happens. Poking a little fun at these older machines is fine, but to call them ugly by our standards is rather unfair."

 

I thought the Paso was ugly then and continues to be. I thought the K1 was "different" and nothing more. Agree that we need experimentation to push the envelope; however, that could and should be done in the context of good design. I think both of those bikes were sorely lacking in that area.

 

"In some cases he has also deliberately chosen the poorest color choice for the machine, the R1200RT for example. I believe the beautiful R11xxRT had to move on to attract new buyers and I'm very happy with the styling of my black-over-silver 1200RT."

 

Again, totally subjective, but I think BMW completely missed the mark on the R12RT styling, in any color.

 

 

I will agree that all the modern faired Italian sports-bikes are heartbreakingly beautiful by any standards as are many of the 1930 sports cars from Bugatti (i.e. Type 57 Atlantic) and Alfa Romeo. and because they are heartbreakingly beautiful already, they do not have really have to move the game on in other areas. I mean that although the Italians are leaders in bike styling, they are followers everywhere else (let's not argue about Desmo valve gear!).

 

Completely agree here. The Type 57 Atlantic, old Alfa's and Bugattis (I'm guessing that you'd add as well classic Ferrari's, and Maseratis i.e. the 250GT SWB Ferrari, and Maserati Birdcage) are some of my absolute favorite cars. Also, agree that when something is that gorgeous older mechanicals don't get in the way of desire. I'm sure there are a million analogies to the opposite sex here as well. ;>)

 

"More comments, please!"

 

You got 'em. :)

 

 

 

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