riding in the 80's

[dangerous]

Hi all, Something that I have noticed here is the number of users that are in there mid 30’s that would put them in the 1980’s when they were learning and getting involved with bikes.

Now I’m in this age bracket as well and I reckon that the 80’s were just the best time and decade ever :o The music was awesome from the netherworld dancing toys, the Exponents, the Mockers to Guns and roses, Pseudo Echo to Pink Floyd. Pubs were full by 8pm closed at 11pm-1am then it was off to a party to raise all kinds of hell. We wore stone washed jeans pastel colored pants and shirts with a thin gray leather tie. And don’t forget the big hair or mullet and tuft over the eyes :whistle:

As for riding the roads were cage less and the cops would shake a finger at ya if you were cruising at 140k ‘bugger ya have to slow down for 1km’
The bikes we rode were hard work, heavy, crappie brakes often shocking handling and you were bloody lucky to hit 180 let alone 200k.
But it was our passion and we rode in any weather any time :rolleyes:

There just doesn’t seem to have been the same amount of bikes on the road since then. Maybe the boys today can pick up a fast cheap car for the price of a bike were as in the 80’s it was hard to afford a fast car so we rode bikes.

So my question here is has our generation always ridden, are we the last of the die hard bred or are you lot returning to bikes after a break to do the family thing etc and having a mid 30s type crises? :msn-wink:

Your thorts plz :ride:

[Motu]

Well,I'm just a little older than that...and I thought the 80s sucked,the music was absolute crap,even now with rose tinted glasses it's still crap....anyone who grew up in that era has turned out disfunctional for life,the lucky ones suicided at a young age.

But you're right,it was a great time for bikes,a last fling.I remember the dirt bikes...the street bikes still couldn't handle and were way overweight....but the dirt bikes,yeah,they were cool.Pro blink,Uni slack,Full bloater....12 inches(300mm) of suspn travel,drum brakes,big 2 strokes with no power valves,but plenty of power - like,right...wait for it...NOW! XR500s,pulling the front wheel up all around town,big power impulses that spun the knob in jerks on tarseal.Everyone rode a dirt bike on the street - you could hear the tyres howling before you heard the Supertrap exhaust.

On a personal level it was babies,sidecars,housetrucks,trials and moving a lot.

You shoulda been their in the 70s - now,there was a real decade!

[dangerous]

So I'm disfunctional am I :argh: and I knew no one that did suicided that seems to be the trend today with all the stress that wasent around in the 60,70 & 80's :kick: and as for your music coment thats proberly why I think the sounds in the 90's is absolute crap. Dirtys it was XR185s XR250r & PE175 for me but this is a road bike thread :apint: :msn-wink:

[Grumpy]

Yeah, I'd have to say the 80's was a good time for bikes.
I remember that there were bike shops all over Auckland back then. Didn't matter where you lived it was a quick ride to the local shop to do your business.

I remember the trips to Baypark to watch guys like the Hiscock brothers on those bloody big GSX1100's.

Riding down to Manfield for the 6 hour and the Superbikes.

And the best part, the average speeding fine was only 15 demerits if I remember correctly and if you got pinged all you had to do was do a runner and park in somebody's drive and the black and whites couldn't touch you..... or so I'm told :whistle:

[Motu]

Dirtys it was XR185s XR250r & PE175 for me but this is a road bike thread :apint: :msn-wink:

''if you don't know me by now'' um....tyres howling on the seal,XR500s lofting the front wheel around town - to me that IS road riding! I have 2 86 Hondas,great time for bikes.

[Jackrat]

None of the music after the late sixtys is worth listening to,pink floyd wasn't eightys it just took that long for Kiwi's to catch on.I still listen to James Brown,Muddy waters,Robert Johnson,John Myall ect,ect,Oh yeah an don't forget Frank Zappa,Jimmy Hendrix,Led Zep,ect,ect.
The seventys were the place to be,No second hand Jap import cars,Way less Drugs and violence,Less intrusive laws.The bikes were really new, not just an up grade on last years model,they may of handled bad but they were still better than the last effort.Nobody hid their face behind a black visor,nobody rode sports bikes,tyres lasted more than 5000km no matter what you rode,Harley Davidson was just a bad dream,And best of all,I was thirty years younger and had hair.

[digsaw]

:Oi: 60s an 70s yeeeehar :Punk: :scooter:

[KATWYN]

I was fifteen in 84 ...I would ride on the back of a boyfreinds
Katana 1100 (had a couple of goes riding it, with him
as a pillion..yikes) then I wanted to buy a m/bike myself at 16
(a shitty old triumph)...well I came up with so much
opposition......no way! the family really put their foot
down "if you do, you will kill yourself!"

So, I reluctantly listened to them and I waited another 13 years
and at 29 brought an off road and an on road motorcycle......the
dream never left me, come hell or high water I was going to be
riding a road bike in my thirties I told myself back then!!

And 6 years later I am still riding. I reakon bikes are in your blood!

[Ms Piggy]

I reakon bikes are in your blood!

Definitely! I did a tiny bit of riding on a trail bike back in the 90's and I've always wanted to ride. Although I only started riding now and I'm 32 but it's always been a desire of mine.

[pete376403]

Jackrat hit the nail on the head when he mentions s/hand import Jap cars. These pretty much killed the market for entry level riders. People could buy a semi-ok car for the price of a bike, and get weather protection and parental approval for free.
As far as the 80's music goes, it was better than what passes for music now, but still not as good as the seventies stuff

[dangerous]

Ohhh crap thats 4 all (4 votes 70's 4 votes 80's) you lot are a bunch of oll buggers ;)
But still prefur the 70's music to now days and the jap bikes to come out of the late 70's were big grunt buckets compaired to the euro stuff including the 2 strokes by Yamaha and Kawa the mighty CB 750 and even the small blocks like the 350, 360, 400's oh yeh dont forget the GT range.

And what ever happened to the street races that were held on a reular basis like in ChCh in the 80's there was the Sumner street race Sydnham street race out of town there was the Leeston street and the mighty un sealed street races at Cust. Ohh..... thats right SOMEBODY might get hurt well :doh:

[merv]

60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, doesn't matter to me I've enjoyed riding them all. Basically whatever we were riding we enjoyed pushing them to the limit.

[What?]

I'm with Jack and Motu.
Took my CB1100 out today (owned it for 19 years, now). It ain't specially fast, it doesn't handle specially sharp, it don't stop specially quick, but damn, I love it!

[Motu]

I hope we always have street races,but it's going to get harder and harder.We had street races in New Lynn in the 70s,that was fun,a couple downtown Auckland in the 80s.Shit,there were bike races around the streets at Bucklands Beach when I was a baby,but,um...that's a few years ago now - bet they wouldn't do that now!

[pete376403]

None of the music after the late sixtys is worth listening to,pink floyd wasn't eightys (snipping took place).

You like old Floyd stuff, Jack? Do you have the "Relics" album? First P/F I ever heard, "interstallar overdrive" late one night, bought the album the next day. Its a Mono recording FFS, how old is that?

[Lou Girardin]

They were great biking years, the Japs slowly started to realise that bikes had to handle as well as go. Cop cars were slow and far between, roads were damn near empty. You could do 215 km/h for the length of Takanini straight and have both lanes free to control the weaves.
The music was crap though. Jackrat is right, rock started and ended in the '60's.
And in '84 we got Roger, fucking, Douglas, the end of life as we knew it.
Lou

[MikeL]

The music was crap though. Jackrat is right, rock started and ended in the '60's.
And in '84 we got Roger, fucking, Douglas, the end of life as we knew it.
Lou

I think those two things are related. The great music of the 60s and 70s came from a unique combination of circumstances: intelligent, well-educated young people reacting against the older generation's materialism, hypocrisy, complacency (think Vietnam war protests, campaigns for social justice, environmentalism...) and searching for personal enlightenment (music + mind-altering drugs as a way to spiritual awareness). In the 80s, the era of Thatcherism, Rogernomics and the worshipping of the "market", the "establishment" captured the whole movement through rabid commercialism and the creativity died.
As for bikes, I was too preoccupied with raising a family and paying the mortgage to even think about that. Which explains why to some extent I'm stuck back in the 70s and "bike" still means Bonnies and CB750s.

[riffer]

Well, I'm 37 years old now, so I can definitely relate.

Hated most eighties music, still do - as a guitarist, particularly playing in hard rock and metal bands since 1980 (aged 13!) and putting up with crappy clubs to play in, the prevailing music at the time struck me as twee, boring and not very friendly to guitarists, particularly skinny, long-haired ones with obnoxiously large Marshall stacks to play through. I like a lot of older rock, and a huge amount of indy rock and alternative rock from the States.

The wife, however, just looooves eighties music (and also other stuff) J2 is a pretty popular tv channel in our house.

Anyway, I'm back on bikes for 6 months now after a 15 year hiatus - feels good.

The fast cars have got a lot cheaper - I recall spending 17995 on a six-year-old 1984 VH 4.2 SS, spending 23,000 in the next three years to keep it on the road and flicking it off for 7,995 when the ex-wife wanted a house.

[speedpro]

Started in the mid 70s on bikes and did the classic RD-CB-Z-XS-GSX thing. Each better than the last(except for the AC50 somewhere in the middle). Then got lost and kept going back to various Z/KZ/GPz bikes. Had a ball on every one helped by all the like-minded riders met along the way. Did all the piss trips to the 6-hour and Levels, and Puhoi and a whole pile of others. Listened to whatever music was being played and, apart from some tosser playing some country crappo way too loud on his Leadwing at some rally, most was OK.

Actually it doesn't matter what volume "country" music is played at does it?? Or western for that matter.

It was definitely more fun thrashing round some years ago without the current laws & attitude of the cops though even in the early eighties the pressure was coming on. Imagine doing the whole of the Napier-Taupo road as fast as possible, only slowing enough not to crash in the corners, sitting on 190+KmH wherever possible. My worst memory of these trips was my brother on his CB900 getting past me and the girlfriend
on my completely tapped out GSX1100 down one huge straight. I have various excuses and he only crept very slowly past, but still.

[Holy Roller]

Hi all, Something that I have noticed here is the number of users that are in there mid 30’s that would put them in the 1980’s when they were learning and getting involved with bikes.

So my question here is has our generation always ridden, are we the last of the die hard bred or are you lot returning to bikes after a break to do the family thing etc and having a mid 30s type crises? :msn-wink:

Your thorts plz :ride:
Always ridden, with breaks to purchase a cage for the growing family, the bike was usually my work transport as it was cheap to run and I spun a very good yarn to ensure that I have bike to ride. nufthing like the wind in ones face

[SPman]

Aah, the 80's..watching the wanganui Boxing day races, live on TV!

[Big Dog]

The fact that I still ride a bike from the eighties says as much about my preferences as it does about my paycheck.
while I agree that by comparison there are not too many modern 250's that could not catch if not pass my 1100 how many of them could I sit on without feelling like I just broke it?
Hell my knees touch the mirrors on some modern shit.
Many 90's MC Co's lost my respect when the possibiltity of my actually owning one vannished as they decided the best way to save weight and make them handle was to make it so that only Vern Troyer can fit on the damn thing.

I could have afforded the 90's RVF 900 as well but just looked damn silly on it.

And yes I am totally dysfunctional. I blame it on the 20inch plug in baby sitter. sure telly was around long before the eighties but more mums were at home. in the eighties I was often "baby sat" for hours on end before an adult came home. Did it kill me? No. Did it harm me? You be the judge.

[Two Smoker]

ahhhhh the eighties, simply great, can't remember shit all because my age ranged from 0-5 lol:bleh:

[pete376403]

ahhhhh the eighties, simply great, can't remember shit all because my age ranged from 0-5 lol:bleh:
At least one moment in the 80s was really great for your dad :)

[SPman]

Late 60's - early 70's....the great Japanese bike explosion..Stuff like Suzuki T20, Bridgestone GTR350, Kwaka triples, Honda fours....exciting bikes...better than all that tired old Pommie shit! I hated single cylinder 4 strokes...it was the eerie moan of a Yamaha YDS3 that turned me on to bikes...they could sound great!

The (early) seventys were the place to be,No second hand Jap import cars,...The bikes were really new, not just an up grade on last years model,they may of handled bad but they were still better than the last effort.Nobody hid their face behind a black visor,nobody rode sports bikes,tyres lasted more than 5000km (but not always engines....!) no matter what you rode,Harley Davidson was just a bad dream,. The 80's were crap, coz I had no bike for most of them........

Pink floyd wasn't eightys it just took that long for Kiwi's to catch on.yeah , Pink Floyd went commercial with Dark Side Of The Moon, anyway.

Way less Drugs and violence,Less intrusive laws.Way less drugs?...not in my neck of the woods..........:laugh: Less intrusive laws.....didnt seem like it at the time...not when you're leaping out the back window with the flats stash as the front door gets kicked in by zealous bobbys! :shit:


None of the music after the late sixtys is worth listening toDisagree -although late 70's and 80s and 90's pop is crap. But when was it ever not. there is some real good music out there now - just depends on your taste and where you look for it. Never to old to appreciate new good music!




And best of all,I was thirty years younger and had hair.
YES! :cry:

[Jackrat]

Suzuki's T20,Hell I would of listed that in the worse bike ever owned thread but I've been trying to forget.I used to watch the weather forcast to see how the bloody thing was going to run the next day.

[SPman]

Suzuki's T20,Hell I would of listed that in the worse bike ever owned thread but I've been trying to forget.I used to watch the weather forcast to see how the bloody thing was going to run the next day.
But, to an impressionable 17 yr old, they were, exciting. Dont nessescarily ? mean they were good :eek5:

[Motu]

I used to watch the weather forcast to see how the bloody thing was going to run the next day.

AH!...so there was a reason! I thought it was just me.

[Pickle]

It was definitely more fun thrashing round some years ago without the current laws & attitude of the cops though even in the early eighties the pressure was coming on. Imagine doing the whole of the Napier-Taupo road as fast as possible, only slowing enough not to crash in the corners, sitting on 190+KmH wherever possible. My worst memory of these trips was my brother on his CB900 getting past me and the girlfriend
on my completely tapped out GSX1100 down one huge straight. I have various excuses and he only crept very slowly past, but still.




Ah yes the memorys of riding in big groups really fast to the Castrol 6 hour, over the Napier - Taupo before it got straightened out
Speedpro you also forgot to mention that a certain CB900 also had more ground clearance, not a single scrape when the GSX1100 scraped everything :Pokey: :kick: then passed the GSX.

[F5 Dave]

Yeah fond memories of riding everywhere. Everywhere. I bought a car at one stage ‘cause I thought my girlfriend would like it but she preferred the bike so it never got used, when it broke down it got left for over a year ‘cause I didn’t care.

We went into restaurants with big groups & everyone was in leathers trying to find where to store helmets under seats etc, you just never see that in wgtn anymore. Motorcycle clubs where people used to ride to meetings, heaven forbid that now!

The bikes were garbage though. Just sold my GS11 touring barge which for its purpose was ok, nothing 20 yrs of chassis development wouldn’t fix.

As for the music the late 70s had classic stuff like the Stranglers & the Siouxie & the Banshees were sort of coming on. The 80s had some of the nastiest commercial music ever, Maddogga, Lionel Richie & Phil Collins trying his best to turn his back on anything decent he had done before (ie before Peter Gabriel left Genesis & the drummer thought he could sing).
But commercial music has always been tragic but the 80s did have a cool amount of underground music even in NZ, Blam Blam Blam etc.

I for one applaud since the late 90s -music has been getting better & better. Muse, Perfect Circle, Tantric. At 36 I’m no longer a kid, but I don’t see any reason to not behave like one -that’s for damn sure. Don’t cut yourself off from some good stuff that is happening because what you see on C4 most of the time is Pimps & Hoes ‘gettn’ jiggy with it’ or whatever (though it can be entertaining with the sound off).

As for the bikes, the brakes finally work, the engines are smoother revving, the suspension is still budget but way better than before. In the dirt the Trials bikes & Enduro bikes are quantum better & more fun for it.
& by now we largely have more money to play with.

Yeehaa!

[speedpro]

by now we largely have more money to play with.

Yeehaa!

Money??????????

Oh yeah, "you" aren't married to Jane.

[speedpro]

CB900 also had more ground clearance, not a single scrape when the GSX1100 scraped everything :Pokey: :kick: then passed the GSX.

If I hung off and the pillion hung off me it wasn't too bad.

What was your best time at Meremere?? 11.3@121mph?

[Morepower]

Late 70's /Early 80's ( i think ) Lets see Carless days , 80kmh speed limits , no fuel sales on weekends combine that with a thirsty 2 stroke GT750 and you were not going far.
great ...

Despite the cop issue things are much better now , Bikes are light years better , tyres actualy grip the road you can get fuel 24 hrs a day most places and honestly some with of those bikes ( XS 650 yamahas come to mind ) only the very brave got them to 100mph plus.
The very stupid would attempt to ride 750 Kwaka triples in the wet.

I like it now .

Dave

[LB]

Plus we now have lattes, flat whites and paninis when we stop (instead of a pie or a hot dog).

[F5 Dave]

Since the gangs stopped riding bikes Public perception is better & getting a motel isn’t like the Spanish inquisition.

Actually I did see a Gang member riding a motorcycle the other day. I suppose these days they don’t want to be confused with the Lawyers & Accountants.

Remember Bikie gangs? Only the occasional Harley but mostly Triumphs & Nortons with coffin tanks. You got to have a close look as you went past & they were broken down on the side of the road.

[jrandom]

yeah , Pink Floyd went commercial with Dark Side Of The Moon, anyway.

Well, DG did once say "it's only rock music". I suppose many would beg to differ.

While we're on the subject, I hear Roger Waters is still sour about the Phantom of the Opera leitmotif (if you don't understand, go listen to 'Echoes' on the Meddle album some time - that was recorded several years before PotO was written).

[merv]

I still have one 80's car at home with an AM only radio. I was never really into music and my car through the 70's I never even had a radio in it. My kids have trouble understanding that but I say I was more interested in hearing the sweet sound of the engine and concentrating on my driving.

Bikes are definitely better now but me being a short arse has brought its problems as the dirt bikes got taller, but you've all heard already how I lowered my WR250F so all's sweet.

I've ridden dirt bikes on the road since the 70's and have never worried about tyre grip as I was happy on knobby tyres. The latest phenomenon is that the dirt bike tyres are DOT or ADR compliant to be put on a road registered dirt bike. I was used to tail steering my dirt bikes with normal soft style mx tyres but now the damn things are so hard in the carcass and grip that well that the handling of the bikes has changed completely. I am running my WR with 10psi in the back tyre and it still too hard for my liking but being a cheapskate I won't change the tyre until its worn out. It was fine on the gravel roads of the Pukemanu though as it would slide at will on those surfaces.

[Bonez]

Just stumbled on this thread. I'm still in the 70s/80s re m/cs. If ones chose the the right model they are reliable enough if looked after. Tend to agree with Motus comment re "innovation" simpler better. There was soooo many models. A bit like whats happening now-there seems to be a renewed interest in two wheeled transport. Some models had about only a year model run (CB250T) and being sold new years after the model run had ended-the market was flooded, 16 inch front wheels (ooops), and a lot of uneeded "extras"(well to me anyway). It's nice to see some models being produced still around that have stood the test of time (H-Ds, air/oil cooled GSXs and GN250 anyone?). I do have a wee giggle when a see a Suzuki 1200SS on the showroom floor for less than a 80s CBX1000 six :) . You certainly get a lot of bike for your dollar if you go Suzuki these days.

[Bonez]

Should also add that a hell of a lot of roads that where just gravel tracks back then are now sealed (still plenty unsealed though to add variety ;).

[Motu]

I'm off to do some gravel today,it's all I've ever wanted to ride on,getting harder to find it now,but still plenty close to Auckland.It makes me laugh with all these young guys and born agains raving about all these great roads to ride - I've been on them for 30 yrs and most were gravel...this Coro loop they are all doing today,well there has only been a Coro loop for a couple of years,until then Coro to Whitianga was gravel...and they wouldn't do that would they?

[Bonez]

I'm off to do some gravel today,it's all I've ever wanted to ride on,getting harder to find it now,but still plenty close to Auckland.It makes me laugh with all these young guys and born agains raving about all these great roads to ride - I've been on them for 30 yrs and most were gravel...this Coro loop they are all doing today,well there has only been a Coro loop for a couple of years,until then Coro to Whitianga was gravel...and they wouldn't do that would they? Nap. I'm not fast at all in the stuff but don't mind it one bit. Never owned an off roader so all my gravel stuff is on "road bikes' ;) (must get one one day). Poor things at the Cold Kiwi in the slush had a hard time of it I beleive. :beer: Skinny tires rule lol.

[KATWYN]

anyone who grew up in that era has turned out disfunctional for life,the lucky ones suicided at a young age.





:Oi: Motu, 80's was my era. Whats wrong with being dysfunctional
anyway!

Dangerous, I learned to ride on a Suzuki Katana 1100 when I was
16 and I also remember being on the back of it with my boyfreind riding
it at the time doing 200kmph on the Thames straight. I think back to those times of stupidity and cringe

Then there was a time when I was a pillion on a trike on a day trip up to
Kaitaia from Dargaville - I thought I was gunna die. Holding on for dear life to the rider who was about as wide as he was tall. It had a king and queen seat shaking all over the place - and I was trying the whole time to stay on

[Bonez]

Actually I did see a Gang member riding a motorcycle the other day. I suppose these days they don’t want to be confused with the Lawyers & Accountants.. Now days they ARE lawyers and accountants :killingme:

[toads]

real[/B] decade!

well agree to a point with both of yas,we did drugs, and housetrucks and generally all things dysfunctional and anti-pc, I was into bikes but only as an affordable form of transport on my crap wages, but yes Motu the 70's music was better, but generally it was good to be a teenager in the 80's, my mates had cars that wouldn't qualify as demolition derby material these days, the rules were way fewer and futher between, and it was great to have so many bikes out on the roads, a lot of youngsters died in car/bike accidents though.
i hate the political correctness and legislation crazy world we are now in, but we are all stuck with it. We will have to change if we are ever to cope with anything as sinister as war or famine in the future.

[FROSTY]

My early motorcycle riding was in the 80's I was one of those blokes that really diddn't buy into the booze drinking /drug taking.I just loved to ride my bike and got the racing bug -actually watching the bucket racers at whenuapai.
Memory distorts reality but I remember my first yamaha. The xj650 being a sweet handling bike with fantastic brakes.
The racing we did around manukau city before it went into 7 day a week trading and the nightmare street "track " on the auckland waterfront. -the one where ya diddn't worry about tyre wear you worried about the road peeling away under you.
Dare i say it I remember the midnight cowboy days where you'd cruise into town and thered be 50 or so other guys to chew the fat with and head off for a ride with.
I remember the days the cops could and would issue 24 hour helmet excemptions if your helmet was stolen off your bike .
actually yea i loved the 80's ---let the good times roll

[Da Bird]

Ah, the 80's... when I first became addicted (at 14) to motorbikes through the "Kiwi Rider" magazine, drooled over the new Honda CBX750F and finally got my first bike, a Suzi GP125 which I successfully stalled doing a hill start for my licence in front of the traffic cop.
The late 80's... when I first started thinking if I could be a traffic cop, I could get paid to ride bikes (funny how things turn out!)... Also have memories of taking my brother's Honda MVX250F out to see how fast it would go and thought I was going really fast when it hit 140km/hr.

I've nearly always had a bike bar a year here and there...

[750Y]

ahh the reminescing thread lol. it was all good except for the bad bits.

[SPman]

To me, it was all bad, except for the good bits!

If there were any!

SP

[Lou Girardin]

One instance encapsulates riding in the 80's for me.
Carving a perfect line through left hand sweeper at the end of Takanini straight at 215 - 220 km/h on my GPz while a mate on a VF750 is using both lanes to control the weave. Mad, bad times. But we survived.

[bloodnut]

The eighties (through to early ninties) was the best era for road racing in New Zealand, full fields, lots of tracks and even tv coverage.

Also two stroke road bikes ruled- love that smell.

cheers
Red

[What?]

The eighties (through to early ninties) was the best era for road racing in New Zealand, full fields, lots of tracks and even tv coverage.

Also two stroke road bikes ruled- love that smell.

cheers
Red
Funny, I would have thought the first half of the eighties way better than late 80's, early 90's; live coverage of Wanganui on boxing day stopped around 85(?). Delayed coverage of the 6 hour went from an hour in 85 down to a few minutes in 87. In the 1988 (last) 6 hour, I think there were about ten spectators and even less competitors. In the 1978 6 hour it was a struggle to find somewhere to sit.
The National points races at Puke were a similar scene - huge crowds up to about 84, then it started dwindling to the pathetic turn-outs we see now. The only crowd-pulling bike meet at Puke these days is the Classic Rally.

[Hooks]

Yeah the 70's & 80's !! that was where the fun was for me .... and getting hold of the bike I have now was a big aim which I achieved just before the 80's ended !! :done:
Before I did the responsible thing and became a family man I was always out on a bike of some description or other ... PE 500, XL 450, CB 360, GT380 & 550, GS550, RD 350 & 400 .... they all had their good points, the best of which was that they had 2 wheels and were mine !! :spudbooge It was cheap to get them on the ferry and cruise the South Island and the roads were mainly empty & great for nailing it on !! :apint: .... Then came reality ... and marriage .... :sneaky2:
Now it's back into it .... but without freedom factor !! ... too many kids at home still ... :brick:

[scumdog]

I still have one 80's car at home with an AM only radio. I was never really into music and my car through the 70's I never even had a radio in it. My kids have trouble understanding that but I say I was more interested in hearing the sweet sound of the engine and concentrating on my driving.



HAH! I still have one 80's car at home - it's our NEWEST car! the rest are 50's and 60's. :laugh:
I know where you're coming from regarding not bothering with a radio/stereo too!!

[Sparky Bills]

I was born in the 80's!!
But still learnt how to ride then too.
Good old PW50!! :headbang:
Was able to ride that by 3years old I think! :scooter:

[bloodnut]

Funny, I would have thought the first half of the eighties way better than late 80's, early 90's; live coverage of Wanganui on boxing day stopped around 85(?). Delayed coverage of the 6 hour went from an hour in 85 down to a few minutes in 87. In the 1988 (last) 6 hour, I think there were about ten spectators and even less competitors. In the 1978 6 hour it was a struggle to find somewhere to sit.
The National points races at Puke were a similar scene - huge crowds up to about 84, then it started dwindling to the pathetic turn-outs we see now. The only crowd-pulling bike meet at Puke these days is the Classic Rally.

I guess we all favour our particular era, however I was refering to the quality of machinery and riders competeing.

I remember lining up beside the likes of Robert Holden, Jason McQ and stroudy on the brittens, Tony Rees and Chris Haldane, Russell Josiah, Simon Crafer and such international riders on very expensive machinery.

Racing at Manfield alongside all the World Superbike Stars on there factory machinery.

Now what have we got?


Cheers
red

[What?]

All is not lost - Tony Rees is back on 2 wheels this summer!
I agree about the quality of racing late 80's / early 90's. Shame the public never really supported it like they had in previous years. Last big turn-out I saw was the pan-Pacific meeting at Manfield.

[gsxr750]

the 80,s ... music was crap... bikes just got faster. was a courier in melbourne in the 80's, london in the 90's now I'm back here driving trucks. Always said: whern i get to old for dogeing the .... I'll drive a truck and they can dodge me. hasen't worked like that , am dryer in a truck but still get the needed buzz you can only get doing a corner just right on a bike.
Nick

[swanman]

I am 36, and was brought up in the UK. I got my first bike at 17, and have been riding pretty consistently ever since. Funnily enough when I first came to New Zealand years ago I bought the bike that I lusted after when I was 16, a gpz 1100.
I remember drooling over this bike in the magazines in 1984, and journos being blown away by the speed ("the world going backwards") and its solid handling.
Anyway by the time I got on it, hey it was still a fast bike by any one's standards, and stable. But god it was heavy, a slow handler, and had very average brakes. The other big change is what was considered sports riding position then would be considered touring now. Ironic as the human body hasn't changed in 20 yrs.

Still to say all bikes in the 80's were overpowered and poor handlers is wrong. The rd350, 500, rg500, ninja 900, cbrs and gsxrs were all good handling bikes as an example. At the beginning of the 80's you had gs1000's and z1000's etc by 1989 you had single shock swingarms, great brakes, wrap around frames and racy bodywork. Imagine the FZR1000 came out in 1987 (I think) 150 mph plus, delta box frame and good brakes ( I have ridden one and they are good).

As for the music well I thought it was pretty good, it was the music of the time and it was the time I was a teen, what else was I going to like? ;)

[Jinx3d]

I agree that the cheap car has spelled the end of bikes. We will be the last generation of m/cycle riders. The ones left will be too few and the paul swains of this world will out law it "for our own good."

The poor racing turnouts and lack of telly coverage are just a reflection of the fact that there are no grass roots.

We lived in the golden era of motorcycles and when we die no one will remember or care.

Pass the beer.
oh yeah, - channel 4 is not a reflection of modern music, its a reflection of what 14 yr olds listen too.

Tell me I'm wrong...I hope I am.

[hondav2]

I started riding in 1967 nickin the old mans bike and going for a fang.Denis Ireland (Isle of Man winner ) went to same school. Bought a CBR350 Yeeeeeeeee Haaaaa, no brakes ,skinny tyres 80mph every where. Guy I bought it off got a Kwaka 500 triple but sadly got killed on it. Had a collection of trail bikes and after the mid life crissis bought 3 bikes, I hate selling something I like so keep them . Planing a trip to Alaska ,Canada, Rockies and Sturgis starting June 05.Met 2 bikers from there a month back and they invited me to a bike rally at Dawson City on longest day so gotta go. I have found that since trading sex for food Im having trouble getting into my own pants now. Cheers Toddy

[inlinefour]

Hi all, Something that I have noticed here is the number of users that are in there mid 30’s that would put them in the 1980’s when they were learning and getting involved with bikes.

Now I’m in this age bracket as well and I reckon that the 80’s were just the best time and decade ever :o The music was awesome from the netherworld dancing toys, the Exponents, the Mockers to Guns and roses, Pseudo Echo to Pink Floyd. Pubs were full by 8pm closed at 11pm-1am then it was off to a party to raise all kinds of hell. We wore stone washed jeans pastel colored pants and shirts with a thin gray leather tie. And don’t forget the big hair or mullet and tuft over the eyes :whistle:

As for riding the roads were cage less and the cops would shake a finger at ya if you were cruising at 140k ‘bugger ya have to slow down for 1km’
The bikes we rode were hard work, heavy, crappie brakes often shocking handling and you were bloody lucky to hit 180 let alone 200k.
But it was our passion and we rode in any weather any time :rolleyes:

There just doesn’t seem to have been the same amount of bikes on the road since then. Maybe the boys today can pick up a fast cheap car for the price of a bike were as in the 80’s it was hard to afford a fast car so we rode bikes.

So my question here is has our generation always ridden, are we the last of the die hard bred or are you lot returning to bikes after a break to do the family thing etc and having a mid 30s type crises? :msn-wink:

Your thorts plz :ride:

I got pulled up at least once a night by the magpies. They were more interested in a chat and we knew each other by first name. All they checked was the reg and WOF and only sometimes checking licience. Never go breath tested at all (I never was that bloody thick to ride drunk). Good days they were, but the present is much much better. :cool2: I can afford what I want and ride what I want. Yea I might have to behave a bit more than then but thats not a bad thing I believe.

[badlieutenant]

eeeerr im still riding a bike from the 80's. :blink: Would be nice to have a later model but I still love thrashing this one around. 110,000 k's. doesnt use any oil, handels better than when I got it and sounds different to most bikes. I still manage to surprise my mate on his motard at managing to shovel it around the twisties and keep up with him., this activity does seem to gobble tyres tho.
shoulder pads, big hair, pastel colours and faded jeans are not missed.

[MSTRS]

I agree that the cheap car has spelled the end of bikes. We will be the last generation of m/cycle riders. The ones left will be too few and the paul swains of this world will out law it "for our own good."

Tell me I'm wrong...I hope I am.
I hope you are too....but I think that we will have futuristic scooters & big, exciting road bikes with precious little in the middle. Oh yeah....they'll all be 4 strokes too. Dirty, smelly yappers got to go. Don't blame Paul Swain, he only does what that dick from Canada at LTSA tells him

[avgas]

i know im a youn'n, but for me, the most sexy loking bike ever made was one of those pop-up katanas. I love them to death.
Any body willing to donate one to a poor student ;)
Damn that bike was futuristic for the 80's

[Storm]

The 80's were great- I got to ride my first ever bike - a q50? (not sure of mode) at age 6 1/2 and my uncle who lived iver the back fence was a good home bike mechanic :) :cool2:

[moko]

got my first bike,CB200 honda in 1974 and spent the first 3 months trying to kill myself,almost succeeeding on one occaission that I`ve still got the scars from.Got in with a gang of mates with similar size bikes and we stuck together until the early 80`s when the weddings started happening.Looking back we were a bunch of arseholes kicking up shit wherever we went but it seemed like fun at the time,I changed my bikes all the time,XS650,GS850,RD400,GT550 were the ones that stick in my mind.We lived on our bikes and I wish i could have back even 10% of the money that I poured down my throat.We were lucky enough to have a major venue a few miles down the road so it was live gigs by the Stranglers,Stiff Little Fingers,Motorhead,Saxon,Def Leppard and many more.Great days,I never did get round to buying a car,moved on but I hear a couple of the guys still ride,one everyday the same as me.most of my mates ran Export Bonnevilles,had a real head-in-the sand attitude about them for a while,one joker insisting that his Bonny could out-run my mate`s GS750 then couldn`t believe how fast it was compared to his machine.When I gave his Trident-owning brother a similar lesson on my GS850 they got the point and changed to Jap,albeit reluctantly in a few cases.As time went on I rode bikes mainly as a cheap way to get to work then re-discovered what I was missing a few years abck and got back into them properly again.Modern bikes are 100% better than the older stuff,my Fazer out-does say a GS1000 in every respect big-style.In the U.k the situation is that you can pick up a legal half-decent car for about £1000 quite easily,pay any less than 2 grand for a 600 bike and you`re looking at buying a heap of crap so the kids cant afford them if they want them,some insurance companies won`t cover anyone under 26 either.I`d say I`ve had the best of the biking days,newer riders seem more interested in looking good than anything else,their bikes are brilliant,standard of riding diabolical in too many cases.The old cameraderie has gone,bikers had a bad image back in the 70`s and you pretty well had to stick together,there was serious talk of banning them completely at one point.Another thing is the standard of car-driving now,I`m having far too many near-misses for comfort and 99% of the time it`s some dork doing something totally stupid and/or illegal,on a bike you always come off worse.If I didnt already ride I doubt I would start from what I see now,I keep having idiots coming close to wiping me out and wondering how someone straight from riding school would have got on when I`ve had to brake hard in the wet or whatever to save my arse.