Ride or die wrote:
If you're a rider, what did you ride and why did you choose that brand/bike style?
Okay, I'll bite.
Cruisers: Owned one. Heavy, unmaneuverable, unsafe sitting position. First, you sit too low to see through cars in front of you. Second, you typically sit very low with your feet in front of you. You have no real dismount option in an emergency. You go pretty much where the bike goes and the bike goes pretty much straight ahead.
My last three bikes were all decent road bikes:
A 91 Honda NX250 dual sport. Upright riding position similar to motocross bike. Easy to steer. Easy to bail out as a last resort. Much more maneuverable, including going up curbs or off-road, 80mpg, cruised comfortably at 50mph and would go 70mph. The downside was that it was so lightweight it would get buffeted around by trucks on the interstate and wasn't fun to ride much faster than 55mph.
A BMW F650: Upright riding position, tall bike, maneuverable, disappointing gas mileage.
Kawasaki Versys 650: My current ride. Upright, 50mpg, maneuverable, sitting position similar to motocross bike, 430 lbs... still lightweight, and very powerful. Never ridden faster than 88mph, but it would probably go 110. Cruises comfortably at 65. Fuel injected so no carbs to worry about over winter.