[firecaptp7]

Honest to gosh! I just don’t understand the Royal Enfield North America (RENA) business philosophy. Perhaps it’s because I’m not a hipster. Perhaps it’s because I live in the Middle-of-America and not on the east or west coast. Perhaps it’s because I’m old enough to have ridden genuine “Made in England” motorcycles. Or perhaps I’m just not smart enough.

But does putting up cute and pretty and campy photos on a variety of Instagram sites or occasionally a group selfie on a Facebook page actually create new dealers or sell motorcycles? Does giving away Continental GTs to people unknown to 99.9% of Americans create any buzz anywhere except in their own small echo chamber? Do any of these low budget, low profile promoters ever ride further than up and down the road while a camera snaps their picture? Has motorcycling become nothing more than a flood of meaningless self-serving images?

As a MOTORCYCLIST I am interested in the following:

What’s it like to actually ride a Royal Enfield motorcycle? Are they reliable and dependable? Are they easy to service and maintain? Are parts and accessories affordable and attainable? What about the ergonomics? Are they comfortable to ride any real distance?

I would like to see true stories of real riders who use their Royal Enfield for pleasure, commuting and touring. I would enjoy stories and photos of long distance travels. I would read “how to” articles about performing routine maintenance, installing accessories or doing common modifications. I am interested in profiles of high mileage Royal Enfields that are still on the road.
 
Is RENA afraid to subject their product to honest motorcycle journalists for critique and review?

[Scotty Brown]

Welcome to the world of bean counters and self aggrandizement of writers.  It's all make believe these days.  As for myself I just enjoy riding my C5 and ignore the dither. 13,000 trouble free miles with a warm smile and no dragons to slay.

[Otto_Ing]

"The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim."

- Gustav Le Bon

RENA would need to admit some things which may not be too good for business. 

Considering that they are not doing such a bad job.

[tooseevee]

Welcome to the world of bean counters and self aggrandizement of writers.  It's all make believe these days.  As for myself I just enjoy riding my C5 and ignore the dither. 13,000 trouble free miles with a warm smile and no dragons to slay.

           Yer right, Scotty. It's all make believe now. It's all a TV show. EVERYthing is a TV show. Everything! Everything is based on ratings now and what gets the clicks and what gets you the most face-time on TV. Politics, selling. Everything. The whole world is run like a giant reality show. All that matters is ratings. Nobody actually studies any one subject any more. The 15 second social media clip matters more than the well-written road trip report by an unbiased, well informed bike rider/tester. 

            Plus RENA (Indians) has no clue how to sell Royal Enfields to regular Americans any more than AMF had any clue how to sell harleys. Thank god for the injection of AMF money, but HD Golf Carts and stupid HD scooters that looked like Cushmans?? Gimmeeabreak. Indian went out of business trying to sell small bikes for too long to Americans who did not want small bikes. Luckily Willie stole enough ideas from the garage builders (plus brutal corporate tactics and advertising) to create the so-called "factory custom" oxymoron and save harley. I learned to hate the motor company corporate vultures in the late '70s and RENA seems hell-bent on screwing things up for RE here. 

            I'm glad I got my AVL when I did. I've made it my own special thing with no dealers and no RENA. Harley fucked hundreds of small bike shops in the '70s and '80s just like RENA has done here now.

[Narada]

How about stories of mechanical achievements, interviews with engine builders or racers?

I'm not too interested in all the pictures of "customized" bikes. Usualy they just look "bastardized"  .

I know I'm not "normal" (thank God), but I would like to know what you can "do" with one? 

[gizzo]

How about just not looking at RE content on Facebook, twitter instagram and all the rest. You know it's garbage and that Indians are more obsessed with becoming Derek Zoolander than caring what a handful of Real Motorcyclists on the other side of the planet think or care about. Forget about it. People now can't focus on an article of any depth or length so journalism has become quick puff pieces with no tech information. The readers can't understand, nor do they care, about those things. If you want to read something motorcycling, have a look at http://www.sump-publishing.co.uk/index.htm
And read The blind giant/ how to survive in the digital age by Niel Harkaway. It'll make you feel better.

[REpozer]

This is one of the few things that I agree with Fire Captain on.
Have you sent this to RENA? I would be surprised if they would respond.
Most of the articles and technical information we want are on this forum.
I don't understand RENAs marketing either. But like I said before , ...it's RENA's company to loose.

[dginfw]

There is definitely more information on this forum than is available from the company itself. I agree with the OP on his assessment. ...I can only assume they want to build awareness before anything else, but why target a bunch of fickle, non-motorcycists?

[Guaire]

All of the reviews, experiences and ride reports are in this forum. Custom builders, engine mod, performance experts, electric systems experts, suspension freaks, tire gurus, they're all here.

[malky]

  ?

[gizzo]

haha, that fop looks like he's thinking "WTF am I looking at here?"

[Adrian II]

I think that just about sums it up, Malky. 

By the way, did you see items # 152562437624 and 332247278900 on ebay uk? Read the listings and weep. Ebay.com will give the asking price in $US which looks even worse...

A.

[krusty]

I hate all this lifestyle bullcrap, It's about as far from what motorcycling means to me as you can get. I like riding to clear my mind of the daily grind stress and strain.
It lightens my mood and I can escape all responsibility for a few hours at a time.
These hipster types with their expensive shoes and hair are so serious about trying to look cool, they miss the whole point of two wheeling.
Go to any local bikers cafe and the chat is varied, but you start a conversation with "What's your favourite moustache wax..." and see where that gets you!

[Richard230]

Motorcyclist magazine seems to have moved from reviewing motorcycles to reviewing lifestyles.  My subscription, which I have renewed continuously since the early 1970's, will be allowed to expire this fall. And I wrote the "co-editors" and told them just what I thought of their new direction and then said "goodby".   

[malky]

I think that just about sums it up, Malky. 

By the way, did you see items # 152562437624 and 332247278900 on ebay uk? Read the listings and weep. Ebay.com will give the asking price in $US which looks even worse...

A.

They'll be on the eBay merry go round of eBay stuff that never sells. If that army thing goes, I'll be out with the hacksaw. WOW. Special grips.