Chris,
I truly hope you do not really believe commuters on motors are the "real bike riders"???
In fact, most commuters on motors are doing so to save money & time; similar in fashion to the car tire aficionados.
The true bikers are those who choose to spend their personal leisure time astride a motor riding through and sensing our great countryside!
Respectfully I disagree. World wide I bet more riders actually use them for transport than recreation.
Hobby riders are passionate about their mounts. We are therefore blinded. But they are TOYS. Big and expensive toys.
But as we can see on here - WE DO NOT DEPEND ON THEM. How many of us have more than 1 bike?. And I'll guess a car too.
Always will it be so. But MANY are attracted by a lifestyle - a sense of belonging. Not the vehicle.
I have the biggest production M/C - So what? - it is what it is. It is NOT why I bought it.
And I most certainly do not buy into the "brotherhood thing" , the bikers handshake etc - please!
If I wanted to join a brotherhood - I'd have followed my Grandfather into the Free Masons.
I know that transport ownership in the US is relatively cheap. This is NOT always the case elsewhere.
Do not therefore underestimate COST. Even when talking about toys - or maybe especially when talking about toys (oddly was discussing this paradigm with a mate in the airgun world this weekend past).
Commuters, dispatch riders, blood runners, Law Enforcement are day to day users. It has to be reliable, usable, practical.
If it is also your personal transport - it has to be multi-faceted. More-so if it is your ONLY transport.
Maybe I see this side as my entrance into 2 wheels was because I needed transport and had no licence (The "L" plate starter UK riders understand).
Any vehicle unable to carry some luggage is not practical. Not if you believe in ATGATT.
We each see the beast from our personal perspective. But the R3 is NOT an all-rounder.
It is the reason I do not use mine to commute. It is simply not enjoyable on the roads between home and work.
My old Guzzi is very well suited - but she is cosseted as befits her years.
And after several forays into the UK - nobody is going to convince me that an R3 suits current UK roads and traffic.