Function > Form?

[GTS_Rider]

Yeah, this was for real. Milk-crate bolted to rear seat on almost brand-new RC-51 a few years back.

Eh, he wimped out in the face of the storm and ran for home on one of the b4TheSnowFlies rides years ago. Good try though...    

*Edited to add...

The first spare rear seat he tried to buy off E-bay, he made the mistake of telling the truth of what he was gonna do with it. After hearing the story, the seller actually refused to sell, even though it was the high bid for the seat! lol

[Gary B.]

I mostly agree but there are limits.

Same here.

[Rincewind]

I ride a sportbike stripped of its forms, and topped with an ugly Givi case.  Form follows function for me.  If I wanted a nice Form I'd go empty my man-purse at the nearest Ducati dealer.  

[karlfitt]

Most of the time, yes. But I'm sure someone who rides an Italian bike will be along shortly to disagree with you.

I ride an Italian Bike, and it has both.

Traded a 2004 BMW K 1200 RS for the 2002 Ducati ST4s

Both sport tourers.
Both had hard luggage, but I had to build the rack to put the top box on the Duck because Ducati and Givi both stopped making them.

The Duck functions very well thank you.
More comfortable on a long day than the BMW was. (I have done SS 1000s on both bikes)
More fun in the twisties (Ducati)
Better gas milage.

I never had anyone tell me "nice bike" on the beemer, but get it all the time with the Duck

[keepergale]

Yeah, this was for real. Milk-crate bolted to rear seat on almost brand-new RC-51 a few years back.

Eh, he wimped out in the face of the storm and ran for home on one of the b4TheSnowFlies rides years ago. Good try though...    

*Edited to add...

The first spare rear seat he tried to buy off E-bay, he made the mistake of telling the truth of what he was gonna do with it. After hearing the story, the seller actually refused to sell, even though it was the high bid for the sea

Looking at that . . . . . It is just wrong! I need to rethink my form vs function values.

[jfurf]

To a certain extent yes, but I will NEVER own a top box. That's where i draw the line. I'm just too vain for it.

[bomber]

If you ride something with tupperwear, it ain't alllll function -- it simply isn't needed almost all the time, in most cases, and contributes nothing to functions in some case ;-}

I like Function, and it informs my selection process the most -- though form certainly helps ;-}

The elusivly defined garage factor seems to have slipped through my fingers since I pruchased a KLR however.

[sagerat]

I have a GSA and a Ural.  I'm the poster boy of Function>Form.  

[Dan K]

I don't ignore form, it just follows function.  As long as I don't sacrifice function, I'll get the better looking of my options.  But I'll always be able to put a top box on my daily rider whatever bike it may be.

- Dan

[black hills]

If you ride something with tupperwear, it ain't alllll function -- it simply isn't needed almost all the time, in most cases, and contributes nothing to functions in some case ;-}

I like Function, and it informs my selection process the most -- though form certainly helps ;-}

The elusivly defined garage factor seems to have slipped through my fingers since I pruchased a KLR however.

once you get the DS disease there is no hope for you....sorry...

[X1Glider]

Function can be beautiful.  As an engineer, I was attracted to the R1100GS.  Ugly as sin to most people.  The fact that it did exactly what I required of it made it physically attractive.  You just had to understand why the function took on a given form to appreciate it more.

[Windblown]

I've owned some ugly bikes, boats, and trucks.  But man... I do love looking at eye candy!