Good post forchetto. well said. And honestly, what a great selection of bikes to bring up. I want that tr1! And really, i want one of each of those just mentioned. But that's just your point, no? its easy to drool. As an architect, i know well how well the mouth speaks and how easily the wallet stays shut.

But let us also talk about the tools for communication and collaboration that the modern world provides? How popular have super-motard bikes been in the past three years? its like they sprung out of nowhere. I think this is largely due to the sharing of ideas amongst an international community of bikers.

Some companies out there owe their very existence to viral marketing and user-contributed r&d. maybe not so much in the motorcycle and auto markets, but 'popular demand' has a different meaning when the cross-section of markets is so well represented.

If qingqi really wanted to hear from us, and there were enough of us throwing our two cents around, then yeah, i think it would be a good thing, resulting in a well selling 'instant classic' bike. One message board with maybe 2 or 3 threads (40 posts?) won't be enough, or maybe it will be.

But, i think the point here is that at the very least our ideas are bouncing around coalescing, refining, and (maybe) influencing an ear or two. At least its fun to think so. :)

Different tangent: There is also the direction that these guys took. Don't wait for the manufacturer to make your perfect bike, make it, well, build it out of the coolest components and sell it yourself. (at a premium) But damn, what a sweet bike. This is what i think of when i think of "the rock" (although the name might sound a bit like a clunker). And i think that a chinese company is well situated albeit under marketed to produce a competitor to other bikes that are soon to follow suit in this arena.

Dreaming,
adam