Brand loyalty

I have often been asked the question "am I brand loyal"?  In other words would I ride a different make of bike or am I loyal only to Triumph.  I ended up having a very interesting conversation with a friend today about this very issue.

First and four most, I don't care what bike you ride, if you are on two wheels, weather it be a scooter, Harley, Honda, Royal Enfield.....I don't care.  The fact that you are on two wheels makes you part of the "Brotherhood...or Sisterhood" as the case may be.  We have something in common, something that is very hard for the non biker to understand.

There is one main reason that I like Triumph.

The Engine.   I fell in love with the triple engine.  The first time I heard it it rocked  my boat.    It continues to rock my boat.  That growl that only a triple makes is very very addictive.  There is simply no other bike maker out there that has capitalized on this.  Although I hear rumours that MV, or could be Aprilla are doing something similar.  In the mean time triumph has cornered the market on this particular issue.  Who ever at Triumph came up with the idea is a genius.

Character,  I have always like the Triumphs because they have character.  Although this reason is not exclusive to Triumph.  There are many bikes out there that I would also consider to have character.  They just don't have three cylinder in them!

I think now a days it is pretty hard to buy a bad bike.  Most producers of bikes offer high quality and performance that not many riders will ever take to there real limit.  But what I will say is that I think Triumph are thinking out side of the square far more than any of the other major bike manufactures.  The release of the Tiger cub, just reinforces this view.  The Rocket 2.3 litre triple, the 675 Daytona, the Street triple, Speed triple, and my favourite, which no other manufacturer has come close to being able to reproduce....the very simple and very cool Bonneville.   These are all fantastic bikes which appeal to a wide market.

On the other hand...........( and please I am not insulting Suzuki owners)  Suzuki has hardly come out with a new or exciting bike for some time.  Yes there has been regular and consistent upgrades on their class leader the GSXR1000, but what else?   This only appeals to a small minority.    The very successful Boulevard series are excellent bikes, but also they have been around for a while.  I read recently that Suzuki's sales in the UK have dropped 50% in the last three years,   Some of this is attributed to the recession but the writer was at pains to point out that they are simply not meeting the market.

 A classic example is the Adventure market.  This is one of the fastest growing markets in biking, normally dominated by BMW ( Thanks to Charlie and Ewen), yet now Triumph have a bike to compete, KTM are in there but where is Suzuki?  Honda has the Trans Alp, but again it is an old bike that has not seen any real innovations fro some time.

Now I am not turning this into a "Bash Suzuki" blog, I think personally most of the Japanese manufactures are missing the boat to some degree.  Where as BMW, Triumph, KTM and Ducati are all coming out with new and exciting models to meet todays markets and  the needs of todays riders.

Am I brand loyal........well I suppose I am..........but that can change!