I’m not sure I agree with the notion that the manufacturers drive the fashion/agenda.
I’ve been riding bikes and therefore going to bike meets for 40 years and it has always been the case that guys stand around talking about upgrades, whether that’s in performance or other. There’s also been the biggest crowd gathered round the newest bike with the latest developments.

Humans have always been drawn towards progression - even in the dark ages there were advancements.

Any company, no matter what they do, needs to make a profit and one of the best ways to do that is: pile them high and sell them cheap.
I’m pretty sure that Honda makes more money in the 2nd world from small bikes than it does from big bikes in the 1st world. If that’s true then Honda would be pushing small bikes in the 1st world….but, up until now, there has only been a small market for them so big bikes it is. I’m not including scooters in this but the high sales of them goes someway towards enhancing my point.

I believe it was the, unplanned, success of the 411 Himalayan that is driving the market for smaller bikes. The Himmie was designed for the Indian market but took off around the world and rightly so. So this penchant is being driven by the market and not the manufacturers.

Most fashions: music, clothing, food etc come up from the streets and are taken up and watered down by corporations for the mass public - I believe motorcycles are the same.
People were customising bikes long before manufacturers were producing cruisers. They were tuning and racing bikes long before as well…… and they were travelling round the world on standard bikes long before the Adventure Bike came along.

I kind of agree with some of what u r saying but u have to ask where has the Suv suddenly appeared from ? Who actually needs one if they were honest. Adv bikes are a result of clever marketing.......sports bikes were dead in the water so suddenly we have these things entering the market . Suddenly you now have mini sports bikes appearing as well.........The himmy is a hit no doubt about that but its small fry compared to other models .

Like everything, Chris, they came from demand.
SUVs, 4x4s etc…. I remember working in Chelsea in the 90s when 4x4s were becoming popular, known then as Chelsea tractors.
I asked a few women why they drove them and they said that the roads were getting so busy that they wanted a car that allowed them to see above the traffic and commanded presence on the road - the fact that they were also expensive acted as a deterrent for other cars to bump into them - their small cars were full of bumps and scratches.
Once a few wealthy people buy something, it starts a fashion.

The Adventure bike scene was started by E & C, I think we all agree on that - again rich and famous people.

I can’t find the research so maybe wrong but I do believe that for 1 year the 411 was the biggest selling, large capacity motorcycle in the world. It was certainly the second biggest selling Adventure bike in the UK for a while and the UK is a tiny market.

There’s a lot of talk about cheap Chinese bikes and the demise of the motorcycle- big bikes, Japanese bikes European bikes etc..
The world is in a down turn at the moment which could turn into a global depression. Belts are being tightened. But economics is cyclical, who’d have thought in the early 90s that BMW would be a massive motorcycle manufacturer.

With heavy sanctions china could easily go down the pan. No one knows what the world will be like in 20 years - speculation.
I’ll be buying an Indian bike, rather than Chinese - just in case hahaha.