What is "character"?

[Paul in NZ]

My Street Magic has Character.

So do you mate - in buckets...

[Motu]

I think it's a case of - If You Have To Ask The Question....

[Clivoris]

In relation to motocycles what is character? An often mentioned term on KB forums. Personnally I think it has more to do with personnal emotional bias than anything else. Your thoughts please.

Surely sir you jest? I suspect that a man with bikes called Gerty, Rhonda, Gerbil etc...knows the answer already.

[toymachine]

In my mind atleast character is something bikes precisely engineered and mass produced to absolute stringent near perfection quality controls can't have... not off the shelf anyway.

Once it's been around a while and 'loosened' up, maybe been banged up a little bit, then it'll start gaining a bit of character... little unexpecteds, not quite in the state of perfection it rolled off the line in. You might say Hyosungs have alot of character... you never know what'll happen next ( :P )

That might describe most jappas that roll out nowadays, but alota the older ones will have it... older being a relative term given my age (my 86 vfr is 'old')...


In my opinion it's what makes a bike identical to others unique. If that's not too much of an oxymoron.

[Ixion]

Character ?

WTF ?!! Bloody hell.
Not to worry, mate. They all do that.
Oh. OK. Thanks. Nothing to worry about then


That's character.

[James Deuce]

A CB400/4 has a character and a CBX400 doesn't even though I have seen people abandon the CBX400 and take the CB400/4 for a ride instead.

Clear?

Good!

[jonbuoy]

IMHO... a bike that isn't perfect - has faults or reliability issues that you will live with because you love it anyway - bit like a woman. The agony and ecstacy - Ducati or any Classic bike as an example.

[eliot-ness]

A CB400/4 has a character and a CBX400 doesn't even though I have seen people abandon the CBX400 and take the CB400/4 for a ride instead.

Clear?

Good!

Clear enough. If the Bonnie hadn't come out in 59 I'd have traded the T110 for a BSA Road Rocket. For me only the Bonnie and Trophy appealed in the Triumph range. Character in a bike is no different to character in a person. It's that something that makes you stick to that model, overlook the faults and ignore the jibes from lesser beings who prefer BSA Gold Stars, Velocette Clubmans or Matchless CSRs etc. I once sold a Bonnie to my younger brother. He hated it and bought a Velo Thruxton. He's still rides it 42yrs later
The modern equivalent is the banter between GSXR, ZX10, R1 riders. On the road there's negligable difference but try telling them that. Each will have his reason for whatever he owns and in 40yrs time will still be espousing its unique qualities. That's what biking is about.
Unfortunately I'm getting too old to have fixed affiliations to one brand. I'll be trading the Bandit in a few weeks time, no idea what I'll get but there'll be no regrets, just the buzz of riding something new.

[Pwalo]

In relation to motocycles what is character? An often mentioned term on KB forums. Personnally I think it has more to do with personnal emotional bias than anything else. Your thoughts please.

It's what you use to justify your choice of motorcycle. All bikes have 'character'.

[blueblade]

Ride an Aprilia and then you will know. To me its mostly about the power delivery and sound. Most Jap in line 4's have very seamless delivery that can become quite boring. The twins are more "lumpy" with a beautiful kick from down low that begs you to wind the power on earlier and earlier out of corners. Very addictive. Crossed up wheelies out of corners almost compulsory

[laRIKin]

IMHO... a bike that isn't perfect - has faults or reliability issues that you will live with because you love it anyway - bit like a woman. The agony and ecstacy - Ducati or any Classic bike as an example.

I think that you are real close to the mark.
It could be the sound or the look.
It's more than likely a bike that has small quirks that you can live with.
Nothing real bad, but things that keep you honest and on your toes when you are riding or maintaining the bike.
I like my Guzzi's, because when you are riding them and you get it right though a set of corners you know it, but when you get it wrong you know it right away.
Not that the bike will throw you to the tarmac, it just does not feel that good.

A mate of mine use to ride a BMW and said it did every thing well, nothing great, that is nothing great just real well and nothing bad.
And said it was dead boring to ride after awhile compered to his Guzzi and loved the Guzzi for it.

[scumdog]

I think that you are real close to the mark.

A mate of mine use to ride a BMW and said it did every thing well, nothing great, that is nothing great just real well and nothing bad.
And said it was dead boring to ride after awhile compered to his Guzzi and loved the Guzzi for it.

Another guy told me the same but it was a Sportster vs a BMW.

BMW was a great bike he said - but had no 'character' so he sold it and kept the Sporty.

idb has a Ducati with 6 Kenworths load of 'character'.

[madmal64]

Well Ive been riding my Italian bike for nearly a year now and definetly has character
Gives me great feedback during the ride, more so than anything else I have owned. Has plently of little quirks that would and can drive you nuts.

Such as the famous EFI Aprilia reset that used to happen from time to time. I have been out on rides with other and to hear the f@#k from under the helmet as you get set to start up has had be laughing on more than one occasion.

It doesnt like going anywhere until the temp gauge reads at least 52c. Take her out under that and at the first stop it will stall.

When you turn it on you have to let the rev counter do its little dance & wait for the EFI to boot up properly.

All little things that make it interesting.
When I was looking at replacing my RF a rode plently of bikes and brought the Falco because it was quirky. Rode SV's, VTR's all bloody good machines but I found that the Aprilia had a bit of character or its own soul if you like to call it that.

[Indiana_Jones]

"Just because you are a character, doesn't mean you have character"

-Indy

[Big Dog]

I reckon charachter is what helps you to relate to your steed.
But like all things only those with "different" charachters stand out in crowd.
All bikes have a charachter some just need more saddle times than others to show themselves.
Bonnies, Harleys, guzzis get some of their charachters, and often most emanant charachter traits from percieved unreliabilities.
Marketing companies will dismiss this as charachter, it's not its just one of the traits.
My Jappa has charachter, one of its traits is that it starts everytime (except the time I left the lights on overnight).
Some of it's other traits,
She always wants to play.
She will tell you off if you are too rough with any of the contols.
She will make your pulse race if you share your time with it istead of on it.
She makes men in vehicles many times the price look on with envy.
She helps other people to understand who I am.
She responds to me, not always in the desired manner but that is the nature of the beast.
You have to know her to get the full value from her.

Who is my bike?
She is a woman of charachter.

Laugh if you like (prepares for various flames), but if you wanna be a better rider know thy bike.
They all have a personality of their own, but sometimes it is just easier to remember the vehicles we invest more time in.

Some prefer the charachter of a bitch that needs a good kicking to get going in the morning.
I prefer my machines to be happy to be part of the experience.

In answer to the original questions what is charachter in a bike?
The traits that machine holds that allow you to relate to your bike on a spiritual or emotional level by being easily compared with human traits.