What is meant by character?

[Lupine Lacuna]

A question that occurred to me riding along the coastal roads of where I live this morning. I am not convinced my bike has any, yet at the same time I am not able to conceive what character is, besides probably guessing that it would be a v twin.

[DrDonnyBrago]

[Villers]

Im with him, I think the term 'character' is often mistakenly used to cover the failings of a bike and its mechanical ineptness. Or it just happens to be old.

I'd like to relate it more to 'interesting' rather than 'pile-o-shit' personally!


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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[Nai]

I would agree it is used to advertise failings, but I also think theres positive character. Some bikes are enjoyable to fling around corners. Others sound quite static and sterile in the handling around corners.

[Shaane]

I disagree i have a G2 and a C1H and both are in perfect working order but when I ride the G2 theres just something that I enjoyed more about riding it. With the G2 I have to make it do something where as the C1 just pretty much cracks on. Its so easy to ride

my input ^^
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EMRA Roadstock #92 - Paperwork Permitted.
Previous: 1992 DT125R
Current: ~ 2005 ZX6R C1H

[pits]

For example
I rode a 2000 R6 (lolomgkeepsaying) and I thought it was frankly shit, felt like mass produced flimsy rubbish you merely sat on whilst it did everything it was meant to do, it just gave you no feedback or feeling.

My so far 100% reliable never broken down, or fallen apart 2000 Ducati, has a feeling to it that you are actually connected to the bike, it feels more purposeful in what it is doing, it doesn't have awful power delivery like the R6, it boils down to the charm of riding something different in the grand scheme of things.

Pull up on an R6 and not many people will care
Pull up on a GSXR and lose it amongst the sea of white and blue tampons already out there.
Pull up on a Ducati or something interesting and you spark the interest of other people, you talk about bikes etc.

I know where you're coming from the R6 left me cold and never wanting to get on another one again, would happily have another Ducati.
IMHO
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Stinkwheel: You have no right to free speech
00:32:08 Blau Zedong: yes, i am a massive CB400 fan and collector
00:33:00 Blau Zedong: the CB400 is my favourite road bike

[Lupine Lacuna]

For those who question the whole notion of chracter existing, what bikes have you ridden?

Moto Guzzi Griso?

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Character? I bring you RD350LC, CB500, R100RT :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIRb8TigJ28
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[jjdugen]

Yep, character is turning up at a meet on an old RD stroker. Everyone has a mooch over to reminice about the good old days, their first bike etc. Then you spend half an hour getting it to start, changing plugs, slowly working up a sweat of nuclear reactor heat whilst kick, kick, kicking away. Then, it decides to actually start, swamping the whole area in a cloud of acrid blue smoke. REAL character!
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The CBR900RR has been sold. Aprilia Falco worms its way into my heart.
Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[junglejim]

It's something that you cannot really define.
It's only through experience that you can quantify it.
I compare it to houses.
You can buy an old country cottage, that'll have creaking floorboards, a bit of damp here and there and will require constant maintenance but yet despite all of that, many people would find it much more satisfying to live in than a new Barratt home.

[Fizzer Thou]

There was a really nice condition Rickman framed Z900 that was parked up at Box Hill car park last year.There was far more of a crowd around that bike than the bloke who pulled in on his 'just picked it up from the dealer' S1000RR.

As one who dislikes a standard machine,I feel that this is what we pride ourselves in in that we can modify our bikes for not very much money and make it something differant to the standard machine that the makers punt out.I found this out after going to the Isle of Man TT back in 1980.Lots of other people had a standard CB750F2 so after that I wanted something that no one else had.Hence the special.
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Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'

[G]

As above - the 'failings' of a bike are usually used as 'character', or at least the bits a bike is missing out on compared to an easy to ride fast bike.

For me it's a bike which really encourages me to lean that bit further, turn the throttle that bit more and brake that bit later.
However, I don't tend to use the word 'character', as it's too associated with people that think it means not needing to change gear because their bike hardly moves in any gear and doesn't really have the concept of 'lean' or 'grip'.

[Lupine Lacuna]

Are v Twins more characterful than inline fours?

Is an inline four with a top end rush more characterful than a strictly linear one?

[G]

[Ingah]

[G]

Unfortunately the NSR125 is a Honda, so a bit lacking in character compared to some it's contemporaries.

In the end, of course, you can make your own fun on any bike - the people doing more impressive wheelies on cb500s than the r1s at ace cafe and those getting very respectable lap times racing them at cadwell show that.
But neither point to the bike it's self being exciting, which I don't think it is personally.

[MarJay]

I think that a lot of people see character as the failings of a bike, however, I see character as something important to a bike. I don't want a bike to break down, I don't want it to leak oil, I don't want it to have random electrical gremlins.

However, a bland bike is a boring bike. So, I say character is down to the power delivery, how the bike feels to ride and to some extent how the bike looks. Modern Honda's look bland. Their power delivery is linear, they ride well but are neutral.

On the other hand, my Triumph has a mad power delivery. it still has lots of bottom end, midrange and top end, but it feels different to a bland inline four. It looks quirky, and it might not be pretty, but it has character. It handles in a certain way that isn't neutral and easy to exploit, but it is useable and satisfying.

Its very difficult to define, but I think saying that Character = unreliability is not true.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Bendy]

'Character' is the tool we all use to justify to ourselves / others why we've got the bike we've got.

[G]

[Rogerborg]

https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v97/241/42/159101491/n159101491_30194056_5498.jpg
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[von1papen]

Yeah, character is different for each and every rider imo! No point trying to come to some sort of consensus on any bike, for one person its got oddles of character for another its bland.

Depends if you enjoy fixing and tweaking mechanical things to keep it running, if you want it to be fast and exciting, slow and economical etc

Hell I'd even say half of it is down to just where you've been on it or how many miles you've done, I love my CG simply because its taken me over 12'000 miles and never fails to disappoint or keep me busy haha

No point trying the brand is bland thing either, I don't actually mind Harleys but it makes me cringe when I hear the mainstream jap bikes have no character shite that comes from their owners.

[junglejim]

[Fizzer Thou]

https://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv23/WiNot_Rhencullen/Picture550.jpg

This is the Rickman that I posted about earlier.It is so differant to the normal UJM that it has the 'character' that so many other bikes do not.
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Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'

[von1papen]

Experience of non jap bikes amounts to a BSA and a ww2 R71 and sidecar, both of which were exceedingly fun!

Personally I'am fond of classics and old bikes so my idea of character would be totally different to someone who likes fast modern sportsbikes.

But I don't see how brand necessarily makes a bike have character or not. I prefer the look of traditional naked bikes and hate the look of faired bikes, but thats merely my opinion.

Also having a mg42 on the sidecar definitely counts as character

[Frost]

I think of character as just being something different. So it might very well be due to the fact that the bike is flawed causing them to sell in small numbers, or it might be something that sold in such huge numbers that nobody bothered to preserve one. So an RGV 250 has character as you could easily go your whole life without seeing someone kick starting a multi cylinder 2 stroke sports bike. That Rickman certainly has character too.
Unique styling, performance or handling characteristics also count towards character. Basically the only bike lacking in character are the recent ones that follow the formula for a generic bike without trying anything different.