There are some brands of bicycles that can cost more than the down payment on a car. Why? Surely making a bike lightweight and reliable isn’t so difficult that it warrants that price? Is it just the brand name or maybe it has to do with customization options?
Not just marketing. Carbon fibre and weight reduction can get very expensive.
Of course, you pretty quickly hit diminishing returns, and most people don’t actually need that for a short weekend trip.
But it can make sense to spend a few thousand on a bike, if you’re using it to commute or you use it for work (deliveries, etc.).
Don’t know much about bikes, but I remember reading the story of someone who had bought something insane. Think a high end ducati. Anyway, he was complaining about how it overheated and/or got to hot at traffic lights. Someone pointed out it wasn’t designed to idle at a traffic light or cruise highway speeds. He was driving it too slowly for it to cool the engine properly. He’d bought a bike that was designed to go fast, only to find out it wasn’t actually that good at riding around at relatively slow speeds.
Don’t know if that’s true, but it does illustrate that more expensive isn’t always necessarily a better choice for an individual user.
Yeah, nah, Ducatis are like the carbon road bikes of the motorcycle world - all about dick waving. A little while back one of the larger YouTube channels took the latest Ducati to a track and put it up against a cheap 7 year old Suzuki, and the Suzuki was still faster … and if you buy a Japanese sport bike it’s not going to have the mechanical problems of a Ducati either.
Source: I have owned, ridden, repaired and raced a lot of motorbikes, including some fast-ish ones.
I think I watched that video. Ducati Panigale vs a GSX-R?
Not just about dick waving. The Ducati was prettier and Italian.
From what I know of cars, that means it was more reliable than something Japanese, because they replaced breakdowns and technical issues with temparement and character. Because humans are irrational, that’s not unlikely to cause the user to anthropomorphise their overpriced but technically flawed vehicle. (“She sometimes gets stuck in 3rd, you need to be gentle.”)
That’s the one.
It’s all just horseshit, if you want a motorbike with character, get a classic one. Hell, even my '82 Montesa manages to be reliable, yet has character out the wazoo.