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2 Feb 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
BMW, along with most manufacturers have being paying journalists to ride their bikes for years.. It's nothing new.
Moto Guzzi even gave their big adventure bike to 20 odd riders and let them do a Alaska to Ushuaia on them if I remember correctly.
They just made sure they had some support and everyone had a lot of fun.. That's what you remember when you get home.
How accurate ANY reports are are obviously questionable. Same goes with any magazine or bog paper rags like MCN.
The reviews are heavily weighed for many reasons. I have a friend who worked for MCN about ten years ago. He made it no secret that most of the reviews were made up or sugar coated by freebies and how many free drinks they got a the track days etc..
Then again, asking the average Joe is no good either. Most people praise their own bikes because THEY were the ones who chose it. To say "It's crap" would be a confession of a bad choice and a waste of money.
The ONLY way to see if a bike is any good is to try it yourself. That's why I've owned about 50 bikes. Buy, try, sell .... buy, try, sell ... And on and on
CCM are going the right thing by showcasing but they need to do a lot more than let people stroke it at a bike show.
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Having worked for a magazine I can confirm this as being absolutely true. The magazine ran tried and tested features that had manufacturers sending in products left right and centre. None of the products were tried. They were photographed, then reviews made up. The owner of the magazine then sold them on ebay.
When working as a PR manager for a large animal feed brand I was regularly told to make up Q&A type stories, and even invent pets and create a story around them. The stuff was published in major national magazines.
I couldn't get out of that job soon enough, and I've never bought another magazine since.
Now ride reports backed by photos of journeys of people we known or have been involved in the forum here, or advrider forums, would be something else entirely.
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2 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by c-m
Now ride reports backed by photos of journeys of people we known or have been involved in the forum here, or advrider forums, would be something else entirely.
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Sorry to say ... not all those reporting on the forums are as pure as the driven snow. Many have purely commercial, self promotion as their main motivation and seek a lucrative future career as RTW Moto ADV Hero.
Ever notice how many get FREE GEAR? - Free Parts? - Free Service? ... and lo and behold ... that gear is JUST FANTASTIC! Anyone smell a RAT? 
Just a few recent examples (out of DOZENS):
Noah on the 690 KTM:
http://giantloopmoto.com/giant-loop-...acking-system/
Simon and Lisa Thomas ... under contract to BMW and Touratech
http://www.touratech-usa.com/Adventu...nd-Lisa-Thomas
In the old days things were a bit different. ADV riders were not so easily Co-opted by corporations! Ted Simon thanked his sponsors but never Pimped or Pandered for them. Austin Vince and Lois don't sugar coat comments either. Different world today for most, different values.
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2 Mar 2014
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Who's Buying/Traveling on New CCM?
In an effort to steer this thread back on topic ...
I'm wondering if anyone has heard of any new owners out there planning, prepping or doing any longer range rides on the new CCM?
Any news at all? How are they doing?
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2 Mar 2014
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Nope don't usually read reports by people given free gear. Most of the ones I read are just people out on a jolly somewhere. Pretty similar to my own reports.
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2 Mar 2014
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Join Date: Feb 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog
Sorry to say ... not all those reporting on the forums are as pure as the driven snow. Many have purely commercial, self promotion as their main motivation and seek a lucrative future career as RTW Moto ADV Hero.
Ever notice how many get FREE GEAR? - Free Parts? - Free Service? ... and lo and behold ... that gear is JUST FANTASTIC! Anyone smell a RAT?
Just a few recent examples (out of DOZENS):
Noah on the 690 KTM:
Giant Loop Rider: Noah’s RTW trip on a KTM 690 Enduro with Giant Loop Packing System � Giant Loop
Simon and Lisa Thomas ... under contract to BMW and Touratech
ADV Interview: Simon and Lisa Thomas - Touratech-USA
In the old days things were a bit different. ADV riders were not so easily Co-opted by corporations! Ted Simon thanked his sponsors but never Pimped or Pandered for them. Austin Vince and Lois don't sugar coat comments either. Different world today for most, different values. |
As far as I remember, the only thing Noah haven't had problems with; is his GL ...
But yes many of the people who does high profile travel do get stuff from the vendors, and tend to say nice things about them - good on them, if I could do that I would be happy, as I would by spending 10 minutes at the keyboard earn a few hundred dollars.
Casper
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3 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by c-m
Nope don't usually read reports by people given free gear. Most of the ones I read are just people out on a jolly somewhere. Pretty similar to my own reports.
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However CCM should give the bike to someone to test 
C-M a bit of topic but i see you live in Norwich when i am in the UK i stay just down the road, do you know any green lane routes?
I need better offroad riding
If so PM me, cheers
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4 Mar 2014
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Oxford UK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog
Sorry to say ... not all those reporting on the forums are as pure as the driven snow. Many have purely commercial, self promotion as their main motivation and seek a lucrative future career as RTW Moto ADV Hero.
Ever notice how many get FREE GEAR? - Free Parts? - Free Service? ... and lo and behold ... that gear is JUST FANTASTIC! Anyone smell a RAT? |
I obviously don't move in the right circles (or I'm not pushy enough  ) as in 45yrs of travelling here and there no one has ever offered me anything that could even remotely be considered sponsorship (unless you count someone, years ago, offering me advice about what would happen if I didn't bring his daughter back in one bit  ). I suppose I'm just jealous. 
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4 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog
In an effort to steer this thread back on topic ...
I'm wondering if anyone has heard of any new owners out there planning, prepping or doing any longer range rides on the new CCM?
Any news at all? How are they doing?
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As far as I'm aware, no bikes have been delivered to customers yet, though there have been some loaners, see here.
__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)
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4 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Cullis
As far as I'm aware, no bikes have been delivered to customers yet, though there have been some loaners, see here. |
Nice write up, thanks for the link. Bike sounds better than expected, especially it's on road ability and MPG. 
The reported snatch-y-ness in low speed town riding does not bode well for slow, technical riding through rocks at a crawl, where delicate throttle control is important. But tester seemed to do fine on single track ... :confused1:
I'm surprised none have been delivered. The CCM has been out and around for quite a while now. (this thread was begun nearly one year ago!) I hope they've got financing to continue. Any word how many pre-orders they've received? I'll keep an eye on this thread and the one at adventure biker UK. Good stuff there. 
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4 Mar 2014
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Last week they were still talking about orders placed now being delivered in June.
I wonder whether the low-speed town riding is just an inherent attribute of enduro bikes. I'm booked in for a test ride on 15 March, so will post my thoughts.
__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)
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5 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog
I hope they've got financing to continue. Any word how many pre-orders they've received? |
I shouldn't worry about that - CCM are past masters at being gone today and here tomorrow. They've come back from the dead more times than Lazarus in charge of MFI (UK joke).
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5 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by backofbeyond
I shouldn't worry about that - CCM are past masters at being gone today and here tomorrow. They've come back from the dead more times than Lazarus in charge of MFI (UK joke).
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Right, I've followed CCM off-on for years. I know of two resurrections in the last 15 or so years. A local San Francisco, CA dealer once carried CCM (late 80's/early 90's? Not sure :confused1 
Always liked the look of the bikes. Back then they used Suzuki motors, IIRC. The dealer could not sell enough of them ... they mostly sat. Also saw very early ones while visiting in UK.
I'm still hopeful Triumph will step up and buy CCM. Seems like a perfect fit?
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6 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog
Always liked the look of the bikes. Back then they used Suzuki motors, IIRC. The dealer could not sell enough of them ... they mostly sat. Also saw very early ones while visiting in UK.
I'm still hopeful Triumph will step up and buy CCM. Seems like a perfect fit?
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Mine's one of the pre Suzuki ones, using a Rotax engine. I've had it for about 7-8yrs now and generally it's been ok but I bought it with my eyes open and a willingness to get my hands dirty. Typical CCM though - a mix of some great parts - WP suspension, Brembo brakes, Acerbis plastics etc together with some Disney level parts like the Dell Orto carb and airbox / filter and a total lack of fine tuning or setup before delivery. Definitely a bike where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts but you'll have to decide for yourself whether I'm being serious or ironic! 
I really hope CCM QC has stepped up a gear since they bolted my bike together but I remain to be convinced. They can obviously knock out well screwed together one offs for competition use but whether they can do it day in day out ... It all just reminds me of Lotus cars in the 60's where the concept of the cars was inspired but the execution left something to be desired. I'm still trying to iron out the faults in mine 45yrs later.
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7 Mar 2014
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Oh shit. I'm a sellout now
Its true. GL gave me bags to test for them. I beat the crap out of them in Siberia this summer, then sent them back this winter so my friends at GL could see where the weak points were. Not many people had 35,000 km mostly offroad this summer so it was great for both of us. Now, If I could only get a KTM to help me out with the bike, Dunlop as a tire sponsor and maybe Exon for fuel?
This is the world we live in. I have been approached by many companies and causes but I only work with the ones I like an believe in.
If CCM wants to hook me up with a bike, I'll gladly beat it into the ground and give you guys an honest answer about how it did.
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7 Mar 2014
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Careful Noah - some people around here don't like when you start talking sensibly!
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Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
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