PS I do make art. I have quiet a lot I haven't posted. But I've just been honing my skills and designing on sona.
Introducing myself : I am VioletQueen (Vi or V is ok). Gummy Shark Girl ^_^
I mean to be fair. I don't think Knockout cared about what side he was on. It's just that the deceptions were more convenient and he could maintain his paint job. Plus over time, he gained more interest in humans (such as racing). So part of him probably wanted megatron to fail.
It's logical for him to prefer men because he believes them as the dominating species.
Simple for a bottom to respect tops. And despise fellow bottoms because they are competition. It's why he also doesn't like starscream and Knockout
I think part of the reasoning was to also mimic what the car inside is suppose to be in the era. If you notice, more and more is being covered by shields and tucked away. And with a corvette being so low (the example for 2016). Modern vet might have lots of coverage now