You are a Banana – the sterilization of a generation

Have you ever geared up for a ride, walked out to your bike, eased your body onto the seat and thought, “Wow, I’m like a banana”?

Let me explain…

Since it’s inception, Motorcycling has been one of those things that has been exhilarating and polarizing. The people who tend to find themselves on two wheels are usually more adventurous and slightly less conventional than the general population that they live amongst.

Motorcycling has always been a little dangerous; from the early steamers whose boilers were mere inches from the rider’s genitals, to the 200mph plus race bikes that lap public roads in the U.K., motorcycles have never been designed with the general public in mind.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that riders of these machines are not cut from the same swath of fabric that comprises the rest of humanity. We are more like bananas.

I don’t know if you are aware that Earth’s favorite fruit is not grown from seed. It is cloned. Some scientists think that it might even be doomed as a result. Much like bananas, motorcyclists are also clones of one sort or another. Initially we were the progeny of equestrians.

The first humans to mount wild animals (mostly the equine variety) were the first to ride much in the same way that we ride motorcycles today. In fact, the bicycle and motorcycle were both technological advancements designed to replicate and replace or simplify the role of the horse in some way or another. Many motorcycle terms actually originate from archaic equestrian vocabulary.

But…what does that have to do with bananas?
Now that you’re thinking about it, you just now only realized that bananas don’t have seeds. Then how do they reproduce and grow? Well, to get technical, here is an excerpt from Scientific American to explain it succinctly:

“Fruit development normally begins when one or more egg cells in the ovular compartment of the flower are fertilized by sperm nuclei from pollen. In some plants, however, fruit develops without fertilization, a phenomenon known as parthenocarpy. Parthenocarpic fruit has advantages over seeded fruit: longer shelf life and greater consumer appeal.” – Scientific American (1)

So it turns out that nature’s sweetest yellow weiner is actually a sterile mutant. A seedless, sexless mutant. Parthenocarpy sounds like ancient Greece’s boniest fish, but it actually means that plants can still develop fruit without the birds and the bees.

Early farmers began to cultivate the banana in Southeast Asia over 10,000 years ago. Since the 1950s one main variety, the Cavendish, has taken hold in most developed countries. Generation after generation of banana has been planted and grown from grafting and planting cuttings. Navel oranges and clementines are also grown the same way, and are also consequently seedless.

Farmers use asexual propagation techniques in order to ensure that the progeny are exact replicas of the parent plants. That’s how Cavendish bananas all retain the signature shape, color, and qualities that they have been sharing since our friend Ugg Glugg planted them in her primitive post-ice age farm so many thousands of years ago.

One more point to make about bananas before we strap a motor on one and ride it off into the future:

Since bananas are exact clones of their parent plants, they have the exact same disease tolerance. In other words, not much. Bananas have replicated the same genes for thousands of years without much variation. In most other living things we see adaptation and mutation take place in offspring. That makes the next generation stronger, smarter, and less susceptible to disease. In the case of the banana, that includes resistance to pests and fungus.

Since bananas are sterile clones there is no chance to “throw the genetic dice” as Conservation Magazine (2) put it. There is no resistance or variation introduced into the fruit’s genetic chain. And this is where the parallel with motorcycles was made for me.

I have said recently that according to sales and insurance numbers for on-highway motorcycles, the ridership among younger people on sport bikes and standards appears to be waning. Like the banana, the “fruit” has become sterile and only clones are propagating.

This is not a surprise as nearly the same thing has happened in the motorcycle industry in the last 10 years compared to the 10 years prior. It’s true that there have been major refinements over the last decade, many occurring in the last 5 years alone.

Refinements are great, but fuel injection, ABS, cruise control, and even primitive renditions of IMUs and carbon frames have existed in some form or another long before they were buzz words or selling points in the industry.

BMW’s K100 featured fuel injection in 1983, an electrically adjustable windscreen in 1986, and ABS in 1988. Honda has had a variation of mechanically and electronically linked brakes for some time on its bikes. The batwing-styled fairing found on most tourers, but a staple look on bagger Harley-Davidsons, has been around since the 1960s. (Only recently have OEMs like Harley made refinements to the fairings to deliver rider comfort). Even carbon frames and components have been used as far back as the 70s. Now they are available as standard accessories from most OEMs.

Thus, like the banana, the same fruit has been plucked from the tree season after season, with only slight refinements to distinguish them from their ancestors. Bike and bikers too may be doomed to suffer stagnation and obsolescence if we fail to propagate ourselves and our products properly.

Without protection from disease, the banana has no chance. It is what it is – and always has been. Bikes – although more colorful and having possibly more varieties- still remain largely unchanged since the 1920s when they had their greatest refinements: pneumatic tires, some form of suspension, and the electric headlamp.

Market reports are showing that there is also a shift in the rider demographic. The median age of riders is growing older and older each year. These older riders are moving toward rolling sofas as a way to alleviate back and wrist pain that is often associated with riding sport bikes. As a result, the cruiser market is slowly growing, while sadly simultaneously losing money and manufacturers.

As people quit riding sport bikes, sales and sponsorship opportunities for American road racing has all but fallen off the table. Poor economic growth and mismanagement of racing series also created problems for racers and factories alike. 2014 saw anemic numbers in the AMA sanctioned road racing series managed by the Daytona Motorsports Group. Organizing 5 rounds in total for that year all but guaranteed that DMG would be stripped of it’s duties, and opened the door for the  KRAVE group to establish the MotoAmerica Road Racing Series.

In episode 44 we talked about the obstacles that manufacturers face when trying to make a new bike and successfully market it to the masses. The OEMs are usually 5 years behind the front line trends that builders and the counter culture deem suitable. Add to that the abrasive and stereotypical expectations of certain groups of riders and it’s no surprise that the largest manufacturers are reluctant to change their image or venture outside the box as far as bike design and performance goes.

So…There we are, back at square one… the banana in a leather jacket.

We need to mutate our genes, embrace electric bikes, and get people back into racing. Thank god for flat track (even though it will mostly only benefit cruiser style OEMs like H-D and Indian) because at least customers and fans alike can become engaged in the brand competition on track. That usually helps the competition on the showroom floor. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday only sort of applies, as most motorcycle dealerships are closed on Mondays, but you get the picture.

DMG’s aforementioned poor organization of the AMA Road Racing series took airtime away from sponsors and consequently took money out of teams’ pockets. It is also probably why Harley-Davidson got out of road racing altogether, and quit making the extremely cool and completely mutant (for H-D) XR1200 Sportster.

Bananas are sweet and good for you, and so are bikes in my opinion. The parallels are endless!

Well, it’s time to put this banana back in it’s peel for another time. In conclusion, I’d like to say that a few things need to happen before we suffer the same fate of the Gros Michel:

1. We need to get millennials on bikes. Your kids and grandkids, commuters, gamers, and dirt bikers. Now is the perfect time to get a MXer and take them on and ADVenture trip. Slap that controller out of your kid’s hand and throw a grip in it’s place. Get an Urbie off the Metro and show them just how much faster they can get to work by splitting lanes. And be a little happier when they get there.

2. We need new bikes. No one is excited about a CB1000RR or GSX-R1000 that hasn’t changed much since 2006. That goes for the XR650L and Concours14 as well. You’re not safe either Boulevard S40.

3. These millennials that we get on bikes? They’re going to be interested in new stuff, so that ’s what our bikes need. Electric motors. HUD helmets. Connectivity (of not through audio systems then through comms or phone apps). Even though I don’t like the self-balancing or self0riding bikes, I think our descendants might, so don’t deny them. Your grandpa didn’t stop you from ditching that 1960s tank for your 2000-something fuel injected, faired rocket.

4. We need to let small bikes become cool again. This whole new market of sub-500cc bikes just came out over the last couple of years. Groms are fun. The G310GS will be fun. Ride the CR250L and see if you don’t smile a li’l bit. Even the Street 500 and 750 can be made to look cool. They are not the V-Rod Redux, my hard-line Harley-Davidson 103 cu in riding admonishers of the small…. If you are too old to see their value, then they are NOT FOR YOU. You’ll be on a trike soon enough, and probably didn’t like splitting lanes in the first place.

Finally, it’s time to inject some genes into your banana!

Now get out there and build something that will make your momma proud!

-Cheers!

Sources:
(1.) Burr, Benjamin & Frances “How do seedless fruits arise and how are they propagated?” Scientific American. Scientific American, a division of Nature America Inc. Oct. 2. 2000.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-seedless-fruits-ar/#

(2.) Pearce, Fred. “The sterile banana” Conservation Magazine. University of Washington. Sept. 26, 2008.