Well, as I said I would, I went to Huntington Beach on Monday (02JUN08)afternoon to participate in the subject study group.
There were eight of us.
We signed in, chatted briefly amongst ourselves, had some refreshments (though I don't often find cookies 'refreshing', so I passed), and were filed into the conference room on the 6th floor of a luxury office building just off the 405.
We introduced ourselves, discussed our riding background and present riding style preference (poser/carver/tourer, etc.).
We were asked to take a highlighter to a map and indicate where our riding areas were. (I spent more time at the map than anyone; some people didn't even bother to get up off their chairs.)
We were shown a series of artist prototype renderings and asked to fill out (on a pre-printed form) our immediate impressions. We were asked for complete silence during this exercise.
We were shown another series of pictures and asked to give our perception (on a pre-printed form) of current production bikes (across the span/sport-cruiser-touring, etc.). Silence was again requested.
No cell phones.
I found it quite interesting that of the eight participants, four of us own 06LEs. Crazy. (Side note, after we departed the research facility, one of the 06LE owners and I were cruising in the carpool lane side-by-side south on 405. After a couple of miles at 90-ish, what do I see in an oncoming lane? You guessed it...another 06LE. Amazing).
My "take" on the whole experience is this...we all had an opportunity to speak (independently, without interruption) about what we thought would make the next generation Hayabusa a better bike, what all manufacturers should consider in future design arenas, what riders would consider major upgrades to their machines, and so on. I walked out of that building feeling like I'd made a contribution to the direction of the design of future motorcycles.
I was a little skeptical of the potential for 'scam' in this invitation, but after a couple of phone calls and some assurances, I felt comfortable enough to ride up there and participate.
I made a pitch for Hayabusa.oRg, as well; hopefully we'll see at least a couple of those guys show up here.
Three of the eight of us are serious canyon guys and I'd love to get together with them, as well as all the other seasoned SoCal folk (you know who you are), et al., to go shred some of our incredible roads together.
I'm glad I went...and would recommend the experience to anyone reading this (just get your comfort level that it's not something designed specifically to rip you off). At no time did I have to present anything (except picture ID and only for a couple of seconds) which contained my home address. Very comforting.
On our way out, they handed us each a check for $100.00. How thoughtful.
If anyone wants to know more about it, please ask. I'm happy to share any information I can with you.
Scar
There were eight of us.
We signed in, chatted briefly amongst ourselves, had some refreshments (though I don't often find cookies 'refreshing', so I passed), and were filed into the conference room on the 6th floor of a luxury office building just off the 405.
We introduced ourselves, discussed our riding background and present riding style preference (poser/carver/tourer, etc.).
We were asked to take a highlighter to a map and indicate where our riding areas were. (I spent more time at the map than anyone; some people didn't even bother to get up off their chairs.)
We were shown a series of artist prototype renderings and asked to fill out (on a pre-printed form) our immediate impressions. We were asked for complete silence during this exercise.
We were shown another series of pictures and asked to give our perception (on a pre-printed form) of current production bikes (across the span/sport-cruiser-touring, etc.). Silence was again requested.
No cell phones.
I found it quite interesting that of the eight participants, four of us own 06LEs. Crazy. (Side note, after we departed the research facility, one of the 06LE owners and I were cruising in the carpool lane side-by-side south on 405. After a couple of miles at 90-ish, what do I see in an oncoming lane? You guessed it...another 06LE. Amazing).
My "take" on the whole experience is this...we all had an opportunity to speak (independently, without interruption) about what we thought would make the next generation Hayabusa a better bike, what all manufacturers should consider in future design arenas, what riders would consider major upgrades to their machines, and so on. I walked out of that building feeling like I'd made a contribution to the direction of the design of future motorcycles.
I was a little skeptical of the potential for 'scam' in this invitation, but after a couple of phone calls and some assurances, I felt comfortable enough to ride up there and participate.
I made a pitch for Hayabusa.oRg, as well; hopefully we'll see at least a couple of those guys show up here.
Three of the eight of us are serious canyon guys and I'd love to get together with them, as well as all the other seasoned SoCal folk (you know who you are), et al., to go shred some of our incredible roads together.
I'm glad I went...and would recommend the experience to anyone reading this (just get your comfort level that it's not something designed specifically to rip you off). At no time did I have to present anything (except picture ID and only for a couple of seconds) which contained my home address. Very comforting.
On our way out, they handed us each a check for $100.00. How thoughtful.
If anyone wants to know more about it, please ask. I'm happy to share any information I can with you.
Scar
