His idea is that motorcyclists have become totally unattached to their bikes while riding because almost every bike out there can easily out-perform its rider. He thinks that there is a hunger for a bike where the rider is the controlling and limiting element. He believes that this allows you to become one with the a forgiving bike. I think he is absolutely right. How the market will react is another matter. I just read a review where the journalist bemoaned the lower power but then said that once he figured out that it had 5 gears for a reason and that if you used all of them you really were one with the bike, it was forgiving and worked great. I was impressed that the guy figured that all out.
I really really agree with all of that statement, especially.
The ability of the rider to use almost all of the potential of the motorcycle in actual use on the road is a BIG difference, and can add tremendous increase in enjoyment of riding. I have likened it in the past to "fishing on light tackle". You get to use all of the rev range and power curve in each gear, and it just gives SO much more fun to the riding experience.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents, and I'm not disappointed about this bike at all, and I'm even happy that they left something that I and others could do to it in the aftermarket.
I'm excited about the appearance of this bike on the market, and in the true "cafe racer" spirit, it is a platform upon which the owner can leave it as is, or do more customizing in various ways to suit his particular personality and desires.
I think it's very nice, and I look at this bike as an "advanced starting point" for me to individualize to my tastes anyway. There's little left to do, but there is some room to do more things to it, and this is a good thing, IMO.
I applaud the introduction of this machine.
I can understand the sentiment that there may be some particular or various aspects that some people would differ about, but overall I think this HAS to be looked at as a step forward overall, and an entry into a market that RE has previously not really been involved in, as a factory sport machine. It has been long in coming, and I have wanted to see this for quite a few years, and I'm happy it is now here. If it's not "everything you wanted", nobody is being prevented from adding the Ohlins or other features after purchasing the bike. And as Kevin points out, it's not as if the Paioli and Brembo are "junk". Those are high grade products that have been on some pretty exotic Italian sport machines.