I know, I'm an old guy so it's easy to dismiss what I have to say. But think about what companies are doing. They know they have to keep us motivated to buy and they do it by always coming up with "newness". If it's new it's "better. Keeps our interest. Interrupts our brains' beta state, the fog that is our uber-saturated consciousness. And look how hard they're trying! I count five slogans on that package of toothpaste. Meaningless, insidious consumeristic mantra designed to seduce.

And motorcycles are a part of this too. Manufacturers can no longer afford to develop a model over years, like they once did. Blame market competition, I suppose. Instead of being ironed out and improvements made over three to five years, the bugs get swept away by the next new model, which contains a whole new set of bugs along with its new features! The bugs chase the bugs and nothing gets any better. Yes, motorcycles are fast, but market-driven obsolescence is even faster.

And the Japanese "Big Four" have made this an art, making motorcycling more consumable than ever. Less a lifestyle and more a buying lust. I miss the days when a machine was well-conceived, maintainability considered, durability engineered in, as if the bike was going to be the only one you would ever own. And of course now, it isn't, can't be, never will be. And you wouldn't want it even if it could.