I was enjoying the debate there .... creative and logical.
The bike is a thing in itself ... not a lot of comparable bikes I have seen except "boutique" bikes which are equally or more expensive and often offer less .... and still don't have quite the style.
To me that is a "town" bike. With pretty straight bar, minimal sweep, and minimal extras, it is not necessarily designed for long comfortable commutes or light touring .... though it could do either adequately (I rode a Bridgestone MB4 for quite a while, which other than the paint and 3x8 drivetrain was very similar.) To me the tern is an around-town, light errand, go to the cafe, sort of bike. And it looks the part, and to me, it looks sharp.
A lot of people buy cars based on looks .... try to tell the guy buying the Camaro that he can get the same absolute performance figures from a hot hatch or a 4-door Civic with the right options for half the price ... see how that conversation goes.
A couple years back, Ford sold (I think) a version of the Fiesta---one of its small cars---with a I4 turbo which quite literally put down performance numbers on par with or better than Porsche's legendary 930 Turbo when that was new (well, that was back in 1975 or so.)
The point is the supercar had amazing numbers back then and the run of the mill hot hatch has similar numbers now. And the best part? Almost no one who buys those cars takes them to track days or ever uses half the handling or the top third of the speed. You can buy a basic Fiat 500 and thrash it and for the type of driving you can actually do on public roads, keep up with the supercars.
I saw a guy leave a 7-11 in a Lamborghini, pulled right around the corner and onto the highway. He ripped that sucker all through first gear and it was glorious to hear ... and then he dropped it into second at 2000 rpm and cruised along with the 65 mph traffic. My 2004 Civic wouldn't have kept up .... up the on-ramp. I would have caught him five seconds after he shifted into second, though.
The OP doesn't need a triple, or suspension, or a 17-pound bike .... probably he can ride the same routes at he same speeds on his Tern as he could on a brand new Emonda or Pinarello F10 or whatever. So ... why not buy exactly what he wants, which does exactly what he wants, and does it exactly the way he wants to do it?
I give three thumbs up on behalf of the mutant society.
Last edited by Maelochs; 11-19-20 at 11:59 PM.