can an average non biker tell the difference between different brand of SS?

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That's an intersting topic. The one thing I have noticed since I purchased my 250R, is that people who don't ride and think they know alot about bikes pretend to think they are experts. On one hand I get comments like : your bike is only a 250 , that must be slow. I respond by telling them that when compared to most other bikes it is relatively slow. But when compared to most vehicles on the road, it's quicker than 80% of them. The same people will later look at my bike and ask if it's a 600 cc or bigger. The comments I get are over the place. It's funny to see people who don't ride make all these comments like they have any clue what they are saying.

What I do notice is that riders who seem to have alot of experience and are riding SS bikes do provide alot of positive comments about the smaller CC bikes for newer riders. I found out that I can now tell when someone that knows how to ride their SS bike properly as opposed to someone who just uses it for posing and riding fast in straight lines. Just by the conversations I have with them.
 
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SkyRider said:
when you ride bikes for a few years u can tell the difference pretty easily but for the average person (chicks mostly), do you think they can tell?
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Chicks only notice the colour of your bike.
 
Unlikely they can tell the difference. If you covered the name and used the same colour scheme on the Japanese bikes I cannot tell the difference in most cases (other than maybe the Honda under-seat exhaust). Some of the European bikes have more "character" but even then it gets hard to tell them apart from any other SS.

I bet the average civilain cannot tell the difference between a 1990s GSXR and a brand new R1.

Of course it is also hard to tell apart the cruisers if you did the same (covered the name) other than obvious clues that the average person would never know (like rad, shaft drive, belt drive, oil leaks, etc.).
 
I couldn't tell the difference, until I decided to get my license and a bike, and I started thinking about what to get and checking out every bike that passed me. If people aren't involved in the sport they aren't going to pay too much attention. It's just a cruiser or a sport bike. Do you know all the makes and models of sailboats, or dune buggies? Probably not unless you are involved in those things.
 
With older model sport bikes, I could tell the difference by fairing shape, USD vs conventional forks, swing arm style and so on. Now, with most 600cc bikes looking the same, I have to rely on colour and guessing to figure out what it is.
 
A lot of people ask me right away "What kind of bike do you have?" I used to tell them "Honda VFR 800" and they'd be like "Ohhh ok.." Because they have no idea what that is. Since then, I've been switching my answer to "A very fast black one" and their responses are a lot more animated and appreciated! Regular people don't know bikes, too them it's just a bunch of letters and numbers.
 
I don't think most people really care beyond it being a cruiser or a sport bike. I usually say it's a sports bike -- 'but not one of those really fast racing ones', to preempt a lecture.
 
Unless it's a 125 (not ragging on you guys), girls won't know the difference. My 250's black and I get compliments on it all the time (although I took off the "Ninja" stickers, so people end up asking me what it is). Girls want a ride on a motorcycle - it doesn't matter what kind it is (most chicks obviously have a preference for sportbikes). But to be honest, I'm not too sure dudes should be using their bikes as crutches to pick up/get with chicks - it makes you neglect real qualities about yourself that you should be working on.

TwistedKestrel said:
And if they're over 30, it's Harley and "Ninja"
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Gahh...how could I forget Harleys!

SkyRider said:
not yamaha? since yami also makes musical instruments.
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That's why I wouldn't say Yamaha, Suzuki, or Honda (but out of all three, I'd say Honda's more well-known). Yamaha makes a bunch of other stuff, Suzuki tends to be seen as a cheap car brand (although they actually make okay cars), and Honda's too known for its cars.
 
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I just wanna say some guys think my bike is bigger then it is and even has a sticker on the side so some girls do know bikes and some don't
 
jay-d said:
Since then, I've been switching my answer to "A very fast black one" and their responses are a lot more animated and appreciated!
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Similar. I just say it's a Sport bike, if they look at me funny I say 'the ones you lean forward on and go fast'.
 
bottiegirl80 said:
I just wanna say some guys think my bike is bigger then it is
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some girls think mine is bigger than what it is also ..if you know what I mean
 
I saw a gsxr for sale at a bike show and it said "GSXR600. Do not pay attention to the sticker that says GSXR750, this is a 600cc bike" lol.
 
Curious how old the OP is..not looking to rag or argue about it..just that when i first started biking, I did it for the sport of it....IE to ride.

My next bike, I wanted something cool..to blend. It was important to get the supersport (at the time) and not have a 'standard'....

As I got older, I started thinking the non mainstream "it" bikes were wicked - vmaxes, rods, triples...

again, it's just something i notice with age gruops for the most part. Sure you have those that really try to be different and not fit in simply to defy the stereotypes, but let's face it. You get the popular bikes to be cool and fit in.

Again, not a snide arguement here, just an observation...
 
That's like guys ask how long u have been riding for kinda roll theirs eyes then after they c how u ride they change their way towards u
 
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