When we look for a motorcycle, a lot will come down to personal preference. Unlike cars, ergonomics are one of the most important factors.
How we sit on a bike, and the position we find most comfortable for what we are going to use it for will be the key determining factor in the type of bike we choose. Further than that, motorcycles are also usually an extension of our personality, there is literally a bike out there for all shapes, sizes, and personalities.
One thing that is more divisive and far more subjective than those factors is where the bike is from, American bikes have their own thing going on, but European and Japanese bikes have clashed head-on for decades and both have devout fan bases for different reasons.
10 Japan: Reliability
It has become almost synonymous with everything that comes out of Japan, which often create marvels of engineering.
One of the key factors here is culture, with the Japanese placing more emphasis on accuracy than any other nation (even Germans). It is something they pride themselves on, and their engineering accuracy/perfection has led to the production of some bulletproof bikes.
9 Euro: Desirability
Nothing can quite stack up to European bikes when it comes to desirability, and European in this context can be read “Italian.”
Designs can often evoke emotional responses, it is only natural, but only Italian bikes are able to really capture the imagination when it comes to styling. Japan’s only answer to this has been making more dramatic polarizing designs, not necessarily beautiful at all.
8 Japan: Comfort
Not everyone will agree here, once again this will come down to basic ergonomics. Although all bikes are developed with a wide range of heights and weights taken into consideration, if you fall towards the extremes of the scale, Japan will win this every time.
Although almost all bikes will be designed around a 6-foot tall frame, Japanese bikes just seem to find a way of making their bikes more accessible to everyone.
7 Euro: Elegance
Where efficiency and affordability seem to ooze out of Japanese bikes, there always seems to be an element of class about European bikes that Japan can’t seem to capture.
It is another more emotional sort of aspect, something that can’t really be converted into a list of numbers and specs, rather left to somebody's imagination.
6 Japan: Affordability
When you are able to make a machine in large volumes with a secure market that will buy up what you produce, the simple economy of scale allows for a lower price point.
Be it labor laws, profit margins, or simple greed, European manufacturers have not been able to match their Japanese counterparts without sacrificing quality. More recently we have seen partnering up with other brands that produce their machines in countries with more “flexible” labor laws with mixed results.
5 Euro: Unrivalled Ability
When it comes to numbers, Japanese bikes always seem to be right up there, until you ride them that is.
In the real world, numbers actually don’t mean a whole lot, they give you an indication, they don’t tell the full story of a bike’s performance. Often it is just how a bike makes its power, other times it will be performance in different environments. Either way, European bikes just have more overall ability.
4 Japan: Speed
In this case, numbers actually don’t lie. Although some manufacturers have a tendency to exaggerate their performance somewhat, nobody is dumb enough to lie about straight-line speed.
Japan currently makes the fastest machinery both on track and on the street, with few European brands even coming within touching distance.
3 Euro: Engagement
Another point that can be pretty subjective, but somehow this relates back to finding the odd human quirk in an inanimate object.
Japanese bikes are often cold and efficient machines, reliable and predictable. European machinery on the other hand (especially Italian) is rarely reliable, with some minor little foibles that will confound you, some larger issues that are a cause for concern and somehow these flaws appeal to us. Nobody can come up with a “reasonable” explanation for this, because it isn’t reasonable, it is emotional.
2 Japan: Technology
In a sense this is almost counter-intuitive, they will only add technology that they know will make the bike safer, better, and won’t fail, ever.
It is never technology at its cutting edge as a result, it is proven technology that every biker will know and love to have on their machine.
1 Euro: Innovation
To quote NASA on this, “Failure is always an option.” This is the European way, they will pack a bike with cutting edge features, and they will fail.
In some cases this sounds a bit scary, at the end of the day, it is us, the consumer, that they are experimenting on, but that is precisely the point. It is what leads to better, safer, machines, and you can bet your bottom dollar the Japanese bikes will come out the next year equipped with the same features (that won’t fail, ever).