What I See Is ....
Japan has become its own victim of "casual but effective innovation".
For the best part of 10 year, Japanese bikes have been nearly the same as each other, in-line, 600/1000 at various stages here and there. The problem starts at Japan and not the likes of Ducati and Triumph.
Small manufacturers, Triumph a classic example, have massive problems making a like-for-like-bike-beater because their initial budget/ technology/ manufacturing and set up is not geared as highly, or finely, as that fo the Japanese big 4.
Ducati HAVE to go their own way to establish their brand.
Triumph, thankfully, have followed suit with the 675, and eventually with the 1050 daytona ranges .....
Japan has also lost their own "development race" title to other manufacturers, as Honda, always known for innovation have been too obsessed with "safety aids" to really rival smaller riskier companies for newer tech. Bimota made the first mass produced fuel injected bike, Duacti are the first to offer TC as standard now.
Because Japan is so polarised to lead or rival the leader, nobody is willing to stand up and take a new route. this is possibly why MotoGP has become stagnant too, all the major players are too worried about the initial loss to take a gamble for the future.
The irony being that the companies that did take a loss, are now doing extremely well !! Ducati are the poster-company of this as 25 years ago, they where pretty much nowhere - same as triumph.
The Japanese hay-day for 1000cc bikes was 2004-2005 as all the major players had World Superbike fever, with that gone, they have reverted to being stagnant ... And with no imminent change due for the foreseeable future, Japanese bikes will continue to interbreed until all their good material in the gene pool is gone!
