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At Janus, we are often told that our motorcycles are “too expensive”. This statement reveals a prevailing belief, perpetuated by the motorcycle industry, that the primary value of a motorcycle should be reduced to its engine displacement, followed closely by its level of technological rider aids, NOT necessarily of its ability to enrich and augment the reason we ride in the first place.

A bigger engine (and heavier bike) and the necessary traction control to make it rideable can be wonderful additions to the motorcycling experience, but they are just that: additions. They are not essential to the reason we climb on these two-wheeled machines and launch ourselves into traffic, around corners, and over mountains. Ask just about any rider about their ideal ride and it will likely involve the most scenic winding road they can imagine with as many turns, twists, and views as possible. Or for the daily rider, it may involve a variety of streets and roads in urban traffic.

At Janus, we focus on offering machines “optimized” for this type of experience that is most rewarding on a motorcycle: short excursions on the twistiest roads we know, longer weekend trips on scenic byways, or short runs to the local coffee shop or motorcycle show. We call it “rambling”. In other words, slower-speed, scenic riding where the focus is on enriching and augmenting the whole experience of propelling OURSELVES through the world.

That experience is different for each rider, but there are some constants. It is an experience of engagement and attention with the machine, the road, and the passing landscape. It requires the participation of the whole body with shifting, cornering, braking, and accelerating, as well as of the mind with the thousands of split-second decisions, reactions, and thrills of navigating a motorcycle through the world.

At Janus, our motorcycles reject the prevailing axiom that more power and more convenience results in a better experience of riding. Our motorcycles seek to answer a different question: What is essential to the experience of riding? While the current market is engaged in a battle for differentiation in a largely indistinguishable field of increasingly car-like machines, we seek to return, not to a distant past, but to the reason we ride in the first place.