This isn't the first, nor will it be the last fugly bike era. There have been plenty of ugly bikes before - naff late 1980s/early 90s Japanese sportsbike shellsuit colour schemes, bulbous jellymould fairings, that cream and blue thing someone posted on the thread about the Z1000 someone has just bought. Frankly Ducati's back catalogue has a few blobs e.g. the Paso, the older Multistradas, that keep the Diavel company in the ugly corner. (Though the looks haven't grown on me, there's a little nagging voice that keeps saying a Diavel would make a sensible addition to our garage). The 848 is still a good looking bike, though the Panigale is a retrograde step compared with the 1098/1198 generation (just as in my view the 749/999 weren't as sexy as the iconic 916/996 generation). I agree with Char that MV Agusta still know how to make attractive bikes, although I prefer the F4 to the newer F3. Interesting collection of articles in the August edition of Performance Bikes about MV Agusta, including an interview with Paolo Bianchi at the CRC design centre, "Every part had to be special. It had to be art." Maybe the lack of genuinely gorgeous looking production bikes explains the greater interest in custom bikes. Personally I love the Giordano Loi Prama (also in the August PB) ...
I love the looks of the Diavel, and it rides like a dream. I'm biased. It's a good job we don't all like the same bikes (or food, beer, women, holidays etc.). Vive la difference!!
it seems i hav both the ugliest and most stunning, multistada 1100s from behind yum.yum from the front well need i say more.
I'm with the OP, there are very few stunning bikes. I think the 848/1098/1198 is a far nicer looking bike than the 1199. I don't really like the look of the F4. The Suzuki has looked the same for years, the Ninja looks daft (it just looks like its sulking), but I do like the Blade, the HP4 bimmer and I do like the look of the RSV4 :smile:
The recent trend of a car style silencer box hanging under the bike and then a short stubby exhaust pipe to my eyes looks heavy and clumsy.
If I had the money I would buy the Diavel now as I have seen it in the flesh and heard it and seen it move I want one Liking the panigale also Ideally the SS wins hands down for me oh and the supermono and the 888and the ..... *as she fades into the distance*
I'm with you all the way with that, I test rode a diavel and I loved it, as an everyday hack it would be an absolute hoot if I had the cash. They're exactly the same, and they dare to call themselves designers or engineers. They make pretty pictures nothing more, and then write a whole load of existential drivel to justify the amount of time they've been tossing it off for over it. That's why we have seen all these design trends come and go. If you took a motorbike and design started with a faired in front wheel at the very front (so take your mudguard and rotate it 90 degrees forward so the cheese wedge was at the most forward point, then you have a starting point. But racing bike regs iirc say something about limiting the mudguard to project no further forward than the furthest most point of the fairing, so that knackers that argument. And that's before legislation gets in the way with noise regulations, emissions, angles of vision blah blah blah blah, but yes, just like architects.
I'm with Glidd on this too. +1 for the Diavel as well. Sounds great looks unique. At the dealers yesterday I was really trying hard to love the Panigale, its far better looking than its competition but I don't think its as succesful a design as the 848/1x98 series. It's a bit like the Porsche 911 which took evolutionary cues from earlier models but they got it bang on with that first 911 shape. Ducati have to do new things so I appreciate all the techical stuff in the Pani but the styling is at best a sidegrade. Still its amazing that in such a competetive market Ducati are so far ahead in terms of aesthetics: the Pani is still vastly better looking than any other current sports bike (except the 848). That includes the MVs which I just don't like. What pleases me most about Ducati though is they manage to avoid design themes that are excessively agressive and macho. Even the Diavel is a playful, if purposeful looking design. Hats off of to them for that.
Sorry, I don't like it. The front is ugly. Diamond shaped headlight inset into hyabusa-like bulbous nose? No thanks. It looks like a mashup of various design styles, its not pure at all. Doesn't know what it wants to be.
I wouldn't say the F3 is ugly, but there's nothing very new or innovative about it. It could have been designed 5 or even 10 years ago. I'm not yet convinced about the Pani but it is certainly more striking and looks more dramatic than the competition, which is to be applauded. For now I'm more than happy with the my 999. And my Benelli Tornado. Both still look stunning to me... :biggrin:
It occurred to me that it might not just be bikes either. Most cars are also very samey and you can only tell what it is by looking at the radiator grille or badge. Went to a festival last week, parked in a field with everyone else. What a nightmare to find the wife's greyish Ford Fiesta (it was night). It looks indeterminate - just "a car". As most other cars also look like this, you can easily mix them up. Is it the C class Mercedes that looks like a Ford Cortina? Anyway, there is at least one Mercedes that doesn't look at all Mercedes-ish. From the back it could be absolutely anything. Could it be that we just live in a bland era where consumerism and marketing have replaced ideas and creativity?
There are so may cars that look alike. VW Scirrocco = Vauxhall Astra = Renault Megane RS. I get confused. It doesn't take a lot though.
1. Ducati 916 is so beautiful its art 2. Yamaha r1 1st model pretty smart for a jap crotch rocket 3. Mv augusta f4 4. Ducati 1000 gt 5 bimota db7
Yeh must agree with gliddofglood don't want to upset any panny owners but when it was first launched under all the bells and whistles of the "flagship" Ducati I thought yeh I will trade in but after seeing it in the flesh at the Birmingham show bloody hell who thought of the rear shock stuck way out there and that humongous wide space under the seat ?!!! Naw not very inspired. just didn't do it for me anyway, but hey everyone to there own :smile:
The MV F3 is a classic case of form over function. It doesn't function! Gearbox is awful, throttle is awful, leaks oil, lacks lower rev band stomp and a recent comparison test concluded 'if only it had a GSXR 750 engine', presumably made by Suzuki as well. Shame really.
