What teenagers liked

[Voltaire]

I seem to like the bikes cars and music that were around in my Teenage years, so I have ended up with a few 70's bikes and loads of Led Zeppelin....
I lost interest in modern vehicles in the mid 80's after I stacked my Z1000J.

Wondering what Teenagers of the 80's and 90's liked and if that's formed what you buy these days?

[haydes55]

I'm 22 and I love motorbikes and Les zeppelin. I don't think it's because it was popular when you were a teen, I think it's just cool no matter when

[Rhys]

Currently a 900ss would be a 916 but 4 valve maintenance is a bit beyond me :facepalm:

[Grashopper]

Bikes didn't exist in my life when I was a teenager (or most of my life in general). I was a teenager in the 90s in the dance music and rave era and that is definitely not something I like to listen to anymore. When I was 18 I started listening to the music I still like today: gothic, dark wave, synthie, rock, alternative, celtic, country...

[nerrrd]

When I were a teenager ridin' around on my gp125 in the eighties I think I had a brochure for an rz250/350 on my wall? I thought those mvx Honda 250s were pretty cool too...the gn250 I ended up on was much more my speed of course. Owned a lot of 250s since then - even the bigger-than-250 bikes I've owned are all LAMS legal.

Led Zep are way too cool for me. Think Elvis Costello...LOTS of Elvis Costello. Wasn't all that keen on Flying Nun bands at the time but can't get enough of them now (must be a nostalgia thing) eg Chills, Clean, Verlaines and especially the Bats (I like my melancholy with lots of jingly-jangly guitars...)

[Akzle]

getting fucked up, getting fucked, and not, at all, giving a fuck.

[Geeen]

I was hooning around the farm on my DT175 as a teenager, road bike was an '82 CB250N, I was lusting after a cbr600. Have since owned one and moved on to bigger more idiotic bikes. As far as music anything from Tool/Rammstien to Dean Martin/Glenn Miller, the current crap of modern music aint great but thats a whole other thread...

[unstuck]

When I was a teenager in the 80s, I always lusted after a mk1 escort with a V8. And always wanted a VF 750. Listened to heaps of punk rock and smoked a heap of weed.
Now Im nearing my 50s and the escort has long gone, still got the VF, still listen to heaps of punk rock and smoke a heap of weed.:Punk::Punk:

[slofox]

I was a teenager in the 60's.

Even then, I was dreaming of a bike very like the GSX-R600 I ride today.

One of the benefits of being an old fucker is that the modern bikes are so far ahead of what I could even dream of back then that it is easy to be happy with the modern machine. Even if it isn't the latest model that has all the very latest bullshit aboard.

And not giving a fuck of course, eh Akzle...and shit.

[Akzle]

And not giving a fuck of course, eh Akzle...and shit.

one must always not give a fuck. And shit.

(srsly, if you dont shit you will die)

[scumdog]

one must always not give a fuck.

When I was a teenager in the late 60's - early 70's I was so self-centred that I didn't even know there was shit out there that I could not give a fuck about - let alone not give a fuck about said shit.

A bit like modern kids - only they seem to be more full of self importance without the necessary self confidence to go with it

Sadly they've also got too easy access to piss and easy loans.

And shit.

So get into the shit easier.

Cos today an 18 year old has all manner of freedoms and rights I didn't have at that age - but an 18 year old today has no more common sense than an 18 year old back 'in my day'...

Whew!

[FJRider]

So get into the shit easier.

As I recall ... I found it easy to get in the shit ... just more ways to do it now. A size nine Cop boot up the backside did wonders ... :pinch:


Cos today an 18 year old has all manner of freedoms and rights I didn't have at that age - but an 18 year old today has no more common sense than an 18 year old back 'in my day'...



At 18 ... I wasn't allowed in a pub without my parents there ... but could sign up to go overseas and kill people. Without my parents permission even ... Go figure .. :scratch:

[Stylo]

Is this a Baby boomer promotion ?

I miss the smell of the diesel motor in my model aeroplane and the sore fingers when it backfired.

[BuzzardNZ]

Loved the TZR250 and the RZ350. Never owned one but wish I did. MVX250 also looked great!

[Voltaire]

Is this a Baby boomer promotion ?

I miss the smell of the diesel motor in my model aeroplane and the sore fingers when it backfired.

No......er....I wonder if your allowed motorcycles in the retirement village and do they have a workshop? I hope they don't play Phil Collins music either.
I wanted a Escort Van or if the pocket money worked out a Holden Sandman, not the clapped out Kombi van I ended up with.:msn-wink:

[FJRider]

I wanted a Escort Van or if the pocket money worked out a Holden Sandman, not the clapped out Kombi van I ended up with.:msn-wink:

Luxury ... I had a clapped out Humber 80 ... :facepalm:

[scumdog]

Luxury ... I had a clapped out Humber 80 ... :facepalm:

And me

I ended up with a near new Vauxhall Victor 3.3, flash-as.

Only I really wanted a '39 Ford coupe hot-rod.

Bloody parents......:no:

[FJRider]

And me

I ended up with a near new Vauxhall Victor 3.3, flash-as.

Only I really wanted a '39 Ford coupe hot-rod.

Bloody parents......:no:

I had a hankering for a 23 T Rod ... it was just too bad "hankering" wasn't hard currency ... :(

[Motu]

I have no idea what influenced kids in the '80's, '90's and 2000's - it all seemed so bland. I'm rather biased to the '60's and '70's. In 1973 the Carpenters put out an album called now and then, and one side was a whole track called Yesterday Once More, where they did their versions of '60's songs...and in 1973, 1963 was just so old! There is no contrast in music like that anymore. It was the same with bikes, a huge difference between what was offered in the '60's and what we got in the '70's. Exciting times in music and bikes. From then on it just got boring.

I've never been into the latest stuff, so have always had old bikes...I get around to new stuff when it's old and and got some character.

[swarfie]

No......er....I wonder if your allowed motorcycles in the retirement village and do they have a workshop? I hope they don't play Phil Collins music either.
I wanted a Escort Van or if the pocket money worked out a Holden Sandman, not the clapped out Kombi van I ended up with.:msn-wink:

Not enuf room in a retirement village for this old fella and his ten old bikes :facepalm: As a teen in the 70's I had the MKI Escort...did about 200,000 miles innit (call us sick, but the missus and I find ourselves hankering for another one :Oops:) and Pink Floyd has always done it for me :wings:

[eelracing]

Wondering what Teenagers of the 80's and 90's liked and if that's formed what you buy these days?

I was an 80's teen and it was a great time for a learner in regards to bikes.I was into 250 two strokes big time and a love of lightweight
smokers has stayed with me ever since.
80's music was unfortunately dominated by men in lipstick and the tinny sounding drum machines and synthesiser's still cause a gag reaction to this day.

Cars are something i've never been interested in but they are handy towing my dirtbikes.

[eelracing]

At 18 ... I wasn't allowed in a pub without my parents there ... but could sign up to go overseas and kill people. Without my parents permission even ... Go figure .. :scratch:

As an aside that is not strictly true...I was part of the ready reaction force that was given 24 hours to mobilise during the first Fijian coup.But,and this was hilarious to us at the time,those of us under 20 years had to to get a permission slip signed by our parents to go into a (potential)war zone.

And I was still getting kicked out of pubs.

[T.W.R]

Glad to have gone through my teens in the 80s
Learnt to ride bikes in the 70s and the influences around me during those years ingrained an appetite for bikes of the same era. 30+ bikes later only one has been beyond 1989 and two have come from the 1950s.
Learnt to drive in a MkIII Cortina but took over 10yrs before bothering to get a car, lusted for a Falcon XC Cobra but had to settle for a XC ute with the old 4.1 crossflow.

[Mental Trousers]

I was a teenager in the 80's and I'm listening to lots of Tool, Manson, Godsmack, Chevelle, Blacklistt etc and race a 2005 CBR600RR. Obviously I'm not normal (the name gave it away I'm sure).

[sugilite]

80's teen, so for me it was all about the two strokes, TS185, RM125, KX125, Rg250 x 2, RG400, RZ500! Mmmmm 2 strokes seems like most things back then were more excitable and only needed 2 strokes :facepalm:

[ktm84mxc]

I was a teen in the 70's didn't get into bikes till my Apprenticeship then MX,Enduros,Hare Scrambles, Trail Rides etc every weekend had 2 road bikes, 2 off roaders then needed a car to tow them around you all know how it goes. Music- Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, The Cars, the Police basically any decent rock and roll etc.

[Mike.Gayner]

Born in '85, teenage years were turn of the 21st century, current bike is a 1971 and I'm about to buy a 2001. Music taste is shit.

I'm not seeing any real correlation to be honest.

[bigreddog]

being a teenager in the 80's had to mean....
tzr250,rd250lc,rd350lc,gsxr750,escort mark 1 and 2,ford cortina mk3 and 4,pints of snakebite with barley wine chasers
and crashing my rd400 into a lamp post.........:eek5:

[mansell]

I too was a teen in the late 70s and early 80s - ran around town mainly on an old RD200, but always lusted over the Triumph Bonnie and the Norton Commando.
Didn't own a car until I was 22, never really got into them, some of my mates had old MK1 Cortinas and the like which were quite quick - learnt to drive in the old man's HQ but always felt caged in by cars.
As for music my taste tended towards the alternative sound, mostly not what was being played by the majority back then, but it was a rather eclectic collection.

[Motu]

Only I really wanted a '39 Ford coupe hot-rod.


MkI Zephyr was the dream car at high school. I sort of grew up in 2 areas at the same time, one location there was definitely an American Graffiti/Grease scene (late '50's, early '60's) Bodgies and widgies, winkle pickers, stovepipe jeans and DA's. The teenagers (I wasn't) hung out at the Tearooms where there was a genuine jukebox, they drove '30's and late '40's Coupes, the odd pickup....some rode motorcycles, and of course they were all British.

When I was 18 I had a '38 Chev Coupe, I guess it was just something I had to do...teenagers had Coupes. And British bikes...I had 2 Japanese trail bikes in the '70's, other than that it was only British bikes, I had no interest in Jap bikes at all....still don't.

[Voltaire]

We looked at British bikes much like the cars, unreliable, old pre war designed tarted up each year.
Working at the Post Office confirmed that with Commer vans, CF Bedfords, Transhits. When the new Corrollas and Hiaces turned up they were awesome.

As for music I hated Disco and the crap that Radio Hauraki played, endless Beegees and Genesis. Only time you heard alternative was Barry Jenkins. Became a BFM listener, they might play some crap but at least it was not the same 20 songs day in day out.
By 1980 your old American cars were getting pretty pricy, guy at work had a mint 34 3 window coupe, was about 8K I think.
Could nearly buy a 10 year old Kombi for that :innocent:

[Motu]

We'll never see another van like the CA Bedford - a nice little leather strap supplied to slip over the door handle to keep the sliding door open, no seatbelts and a seat like a school chair. Cool as in summer...but the van wasn't. I had a CA Bedford with a Vanguard/Triumph 2000 engine...dunno if it was the Triumph, but it had the 45 degree Solex carbs because the side draughts wouldn't fit. It had a PB Velox diff, and the gear lever was behind the drivers seat. That was my bike hauler in the early '80's.

In the '70's we had 2 radio stations - 1ZM and Hauraki, and they played everything from Freddy Fender to Deep Purple. AM radio was the best thing for musical variety....I kinda miss it. Those poor buggers who didn't live in Auckland didn't have Hauraki - I think I would've hung myself if I lived in Featherstone.

[SNF]

I prefer the decade I was born in - the 80's. Some/most of the music was decent, that said I like most stuff from the 60's - 80's, a few 90's songs here and there. All went to shit after 2000. Same deal with the cars. 50's cars right through til the 90's (some of them).

When I was in my teens in the late 90's it was all rice - stickers, wings, on nearly stock civics, cut springs, chrome wheels, rap music.... nothings changed. Oh nope Justin beiber and all the emo stuff and rap, urgh.

Bikes are the one thing I don't mind. I would happily ride a vintage bike as happily as I'd ride a new one. Yes, the decade(s) I grew up in have made a difference in what music and cars I like. Strangely not bikes. I find a CB750 as good to look at as an R1 (before they stuffed the exhaust under the tail - urgh!). And I don't mind them stock or done up.

[Arronduke]

I remember seeing an RG500 parked out side a pub...It left in a cloud of smoke which I just inhaled. I was about 16 with a face full of zits. This was the coolest thing I had ever seen, a mental picture was taken and I said ONE day I would have one.
Only took ............. about 25,000 beers (ok maybe a few more) or 20years to make this dream come true.

Fait 124, Cortina Mk3 - sport with the bucket seats were my cars and I rode RD's, RZ followed by a NS250R . What great days.

Then got married, hair fell out and my leathers shrank... go figure, leathers today still shrink you would have thought they would stop them shrinking in the rain!

[Pedrostt500]

Dad for a couple of years before i could buy my first bike, woho the mighty Suzuki TS 185 ER, yep 15 yrs old, being a farm kid it was mostly trail bikes, Dr 250s, XL250s, a trike built out of a DT175, my first car was a Hillman Super Minx SW, then the mighty Triumph Herald sw, and a couple of GT 380's, yep a kerosene cowboy.

[unstuck]

my first car was a Hillman Super Minx SW,.

I still have one of those, 64 model.:Punk::Punk:

[seymour14]

Still got my KR250 Tandem Twin, think it was my first bike. The old "widow maker", probably getting collectible by now.

[Yamahardman]

Still got my KR250 Tandem Twin, think it was my first bike. The old "widow maker", probably getting collectible by now.

Pretty sure I saw a kr150 in my friends dads garage last time i was there, and heaps of those old aircooled dohc twin kawasaki motors too. Dunno what they were out of....

Those kr's are pretty damn cool.

[Voltaire]

I like that Kawasaki term " Widow Maker" did everyone get married at 19 back in the 90's :lol:

[ktm84mxc]

The term "widow maker" was first used on the Kawa H1 500 triple , fearsome motor woeful brakes and iffy handling great at the traffic light races but put a corner in and may god be on your side.

[Voltaire]

Friend of mine had 3 of them, he's still here, better shocks and tyres improved things a lot he says, that and disc brakes.
I've got a bevel drive Ducati that has never given me electrical issues and a Norton Combat that has never blown up, and a BMW ( The Pensioner Maker) that I don't wear slippers on :killingme

[ktm84mxc]

Yep better shocks, fork brace, frame strengthening, disc brakes, good tires, braced swing arm all helped with a H1 or H2. These bikes made Kawasaki's reputation as a company for fast bikes.

[gammaguy]

The first kawa 2t triples were edgy trigger happy mercenaries surrounded by a sea of boring diesel powered British grunts

Maybe the diesels would win the war, but you would die like a kamikaze on your screaming smoking banshee

And chicks dug that

[awa355]

Still got my KR250 Tandem Twin, think it was my first bike. The old "widow maker", probably getting collectible by now.

I had one. Was the bike that taught me the joys of flying through corners on a smooth light bike. At 120kph it was just coming into the powerband in top gear.

[Motu]

I always preferred the security of British handling, suspension and tyres - going apeshit fast on some foul handling bike with crap tyres was somewhere I didn't want to be. I'm still riding an old slow, heavy, 650 pushrod 2 valve twin - it's where I always wanted to be, and still loving it.

[AllanB]

Hmmmmmm I broke the stitching on my fly when I viewed a brand spanking wire wheel 1100 Katana in the Suzuki shop.

Almost purchased a rather ratty (even back then) warmed over Z900 - cosmetically messy but the mechanicals had had love and $ devoted on them. A test ride was most confusing - I wanted it so bad, but it scared the shit out of me! Funny really as it may have been pushing what? all of 90 horses?

I wish I had purchased it and kept it. It would be well fettled by now :yes:

[avgas]

I liked everything I don't have today lol

#FamilyChangesShit

[Akzle]

drugs, liqour and fucking.




...not much has changed, really.

[imdying]

Yes, it definitely did. Wanted a Fireblade, preferably brand new and unmolested. Have one of those. Desperately wanted an RGV250, have one of those now too. Spent too many hours lusting over the MC28... yup you guessed it, have one of those too. Would like a 1996 CBR900RR Tigerblade, but really there is no more room in the garage. Besides, unlike the can't buy 'em any more 2 strokes, it'll do nothing better than the one I already have.

[FJRider]

drugs, liqour and fucking.

Then ... your day started ... ???



...not much has changed, really.

Only frequency/quality/time taken ..... right ... ??? :lol: