Opinion: Straight Talk From the Motorcycle World

Every Saturday at 8:00 p.m., FellMotoFree publishes its digital column. We take a vlear, pointed position on motorcycles, manufacturers, technology, racing, and developments across the industry.

An opinion does not have to please everyone, but it should be supported by reasoning you can follow. This is not a place for manufactured outrage or loud brand-bashing. It is about clear positions, solid arguments, and subjects worth debating.

See it differently? Good. The discussion is open.

If the GS Stumbles, Does BMW Motorrad Stumble With It?

BMW Motorrad is more successful than it has ever been – and that is exactly why it is worth looking beneath the polished surface. More than 200,000 motorcycles a year, a premium image, option sheets packed with expensive extras, and the R 1300 GS, a motorcycle that has long since become more than just a bike. It is a status symbol, the heart of the brand, and a money-printing machine all at once. But that is precisely where the risk lies: What is left of BMW Motorrad if the big boxer GS ever stops overshadowing everything else?

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Is Harley-Davidson Screwed? How America's Greatest Motorcycle Brand Became a Prisoner of Its Own Success

Harley-Davidson has something almost every motorcycle manufacturer on earth would kill for: a name known by people who couldn't tell a crankshaft from a kickstand. It has history, mythology, dealers, clubs, tattoos, movies, merchandise, and one of the most loyal customer bases in motorcycling. And that may be exactly the problem. Harley spent decades building the perfect motorcycle for the Harley rider. Unfortunately, the Harley rider got old. Now Milwaukee faces an uncomfortable question: What happens when your most loyal customers won't accept change – but aren't buying enough motorcycles anymore?

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The Marc Márquez Phenomenon: The Man Riding With One and a Half Arms

Marc Márquez is 33 years old, his right arm is visibly scarred, and some of the muscle has wasted away. His doctor says he is currently riding, in practical terms, “with one and a half arms.” And what does Márquez do? He wins. Against younger riders. Against physically healthy riders. Against Aprilias that on some weekends work at least as well as his Ducati, and sometimes better. Perhaps that is exactly the secret of Marc Márquez: physically, he is worse off than he used to be – but as a racer, he may be better.

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The Pecco Bagnaia Mystery: How Does a World Champion Forget How to Ride?

Two-time world champion, twice runner-up, 31 MotoGP victories with Ducati – and suddenly Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia is riding the same motorcycle Marc Márquez wins on and at times fighting around 15th place. At Misano he crashes out of his home Grand Prix yet again, his fourth retirement in five Grands Prix. The strange part is that nobody seems to know exactly why. Not Ducati. Not Bagnaia. Apparently not even the data engineers. Is the GP26 to blame? Ducati? His head? Or are we watching a highly sensitive perfectionist despair over a MotoGP bike that no longer speaks his language?

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