Moto Guzzi isn't Honda

[oldbike54]

 Or HD , or Toyota , or McDonalds , and thank goodness for that .

  Dusty

[Bonafide Bob]

Or HD , or Toyota , or McDonalds , and thank goodness for that .

  Dusty

Doing a little deep thinking Dusty? ;-)

[oldbike54]

Doing a little deep thinking Dusty? ;-)

 Having met me Bob , what do you think 

  Dusty

[canuguzzi]

Because asking for fries with that would be awkward.

[Demar]

WTF????????? I was hoping it was McDonalds

[oldbike54]

 Rocker will be along shortly to interpret , at least I hope 

 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

You can't make that many bikes, cars of burgers with a "soul"

[canuguzzi]

Yeah but Mickey Dees does have special sauce.

[oldbike54]

You can't make that many bikes, cars of burgers with a "soul"

 John gets it .. although we both would probably prefer personality to "soul" .

  Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

John gets it .. although we both would probably prefer personality to "soul" .

  Dusty

To me an inanimate object with a "soul" is impossible. Maybe it's my zen Baptist upbringing.

[oldbike54]

To me an inanimate object with a "soul" is impossible. Maybe it's my zen Baptist upbringing.

 Thus the term "personality" , which requires what ?

  Dusty

[oldbike54]

 Now that I think about it , hasn't Honda been promising hard bags for the VFR since about 1997 ? Hmm , seems even Honda isn't perfect 

 Dusty

[rocker59]

Rocker will be along shortly to interpret , at least I hope 

 Dusty

Guzzi is that indy hippie Italian cafe in the dodgy part of town.  The arch opposite of Olive Garden.

No matter how many yuppies discover it and want to make it something it's not,  it remains the indy hippie Italian cafe in the dodgy part of town, and can never be Olive Garden...

Damn.  I'm getting hungry...

[rocker59]

Moto Guzzi isn't Honda,  or HD , or Toyota , or McDonalds , and thank goodness for that .

  Dusty

 :1: to that, brother Dusty.

Preach it!

[oldbike54]

Guzzi is that indy hippie Italian cafe in the dodgy part of town.  The arch opposite of Olive Garden.

No matter how many yuppies discover it and want to make it something it's not,  it remains the indy hippie Italian cafe in the dodgy part of town, and can never be Olive Garden...

Damn.  I'm getting hungry...

 YOU preach it brother 

 Speaking of food , maybe next weekend you can lead us to a funky indy cafe in NWA .

  Dusty

[SmithSwede]

Zen Baptist?  Do tell

[oldbike54]

Zen Baptist?  Do tell

 It just means he has read Pirsig's book 

 Dusty

[jas67]

Now that I think about it , hasn't Honda been promising hard bags for the VFR since about 1997 ? Hmm , seems even Honda isn't perfect 

 Dusty

Honda did offer hard bags for the 2002-2009 VFR800.   I honestly don't know if they did for the VFR1200 or the current VFR800.

[jas67]

It is definitely winter, isn't it (this thread, and threads like it).

[Rox]

 

[canuguzzi]

 ..... ...... ...... .......

[DaSwami]

Different bikes for different moods...I really like my CB1100........

[oldbike54]

Different bikes for different moods...I really like my CB1100........

 Yeah , me too . No intent to slam any brand .

 Dusty

[Turin]

I'd argue that Harleys have character/soul. I had a hayabusa that had it's own kind of personality.

Obviously I'm partial to guzzi's, never being without at least one for the last 25 years.
I'd like to get an older Honda sportbike  one of these days.

McDonalds? can't eat that crap, made dirty hot dog water shoot out of my ass every time.

[oldbike54]

I'd argue that Harleys have character/soul.

 This isn't an argument , but it has been years since HD has produced bikes from the wrong side of the tracks 

 Dusty

[Turin]

 I don't really worry about the HD image/lifestyle thing, and if I were to look for one, it'd probably be a project from the AMF era. :)   

[Sheepdog]

There is more than one way to be moved by a motorcycle.

[Chuck in Indiana]

I'd argue that Harleys have character/soul.

Yeah, I get it too. There is something about the Harley engine, and to me the engine is what a motor cycle is about. I much prefer Rocker's indy cafe, though.

[Scud]

But Honda is a fantastic company that makes excellent products and has contributed great innovations to the industry.

After I got my second CB350-Four (now moved on to a collector) I bought an old book:  Honda: The Man and His Machines, by Sol Sanders. (1975).  It's a great story of Soichiro's life, his passion for machines (especially motorcycles) and the development of the company up to that time (when they were uncertain how the automobile line would do.)

A quote from Soichiro:

"Driving a car is like sitting in the living room; driving a motorcycle is something like riding a horse - it's driving and controlling something that is almost alive." (page 120)

Another quote from the book:
"Honda is chairman of the Motorcycle Safety Program in the Japan Automobile association. In the United States, it was Honda's initial offer to back an industrywide safety council operation for education and research up to $1 million a year that got the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, headquartered in Washington, going in 1971. In 1966 Honda developed techniques for simulating motorcycle crashes in a program to try to design bikes that would be safer... Honda was the first manufacturer to offer disc brakes on the front wheel - in the face of catcalls from the old motorcycle hands who saw them as superfluous... Honda has been first with a number of what cynical motorcyclists call "idiot lights," gauges for oil pressure, turn signals, beepers, and flashers." (pages 141-142)

So yeah - Moto Guzzi isn't Honda. But Honda has a rich history that has shaped the entire industry in ways that we can appreciate. A case could also be made that Moto Guzzi has learned more from Honda than vice-versa.

[zedXmick]

Honda did offer hard bags for the 2002-2009 VFR800.   I honestly don't know if they did for the VFR1200 or the current VFR800.

yes and yes