I like to collect/clip/keep period articles of my bikes. Here is one from Two Wheels magazine 1979 when they were actual journalists and not regurgitating the factory blurbs like today. I scanned it for you guys that have/had the XS or the GS shafties. Enjoy
So they put the GS850 at the top of the list, the Yammie as the surprise package and the Guzzi as ...well...a Guzzi. Fair call, when you look at the Guzzi for $4,500 and both the Yam and Suzi are a little over 3 grand it is a huge difference especially in 1979 I know if I was in the market for a big bore sport tourer I would have gone with the Suzi too They are right about the brakes, I had a GS850 at the same time as a Mk2 LM and even though I rekitted the Suzi calipers and put braided lines on them, they were not as good as the Guzzi ones even in std form with ancient rubber hoses. Mind you the Suzi has another 40-50kg to haul up, brings a whole new meaning the the movie 'Whale Rider' But if you hung onto and looked after any one of the 3 bikes until now you would get your money back on the Yam and Suzi, maybe make a few bucks. Good luck finding a tidy and original Mk2 for under 10K Thank goodness someone did buy the Guzzi so I could bottom feed on 3 or 4 of them 30 years later And if you had bought the even more expensive BMW R100RS you would probably lose money if you sold it now
I know if I was in the market for a big bore sport tourer I would have gone with the Suzi too TLTR.....however ...yes Guzzi's and BMW's can wait until your older and slower...hey!!!! you have both.....old chap.... If I was going touring and had a choice between a MK 1/2 Guzzi and an R100RS it would be the BMW.... I've blasted accross Europe on one of thoses two up and they are very comfortable...at the time in the UK I don't think I even looked at Guzzis as a serious all rounder.....they had far too much 'character" .price is not not always a good indication of value...
The photo at the top of the second page looks like one of our BFTP ride pics..how cool is that?? We really should do a 'dress to your bike's period' ride eh? The photos for the group album would be priceless As an all round tourer I would still go with the Suzi, the BMW was $4,700!! Don't forget Volty, you did not buy the BMW new. For the change I had in my pocket I would have a Windjammer and hard bags fitted and still have a healthy wad of cash left over. That's like buying the K1200RT now or the Kawasaki GT at 10 grand less, I would go the Kawasaki and spend the 10K on my holiday- it would make the difference between 1st class accomadation and 3rd class all for the bike?
We must also remember that the bags on the BMW were extra $$ as well. Some were lucky to get a model run out with the bags on as an incentice, most people bought the bags with the bike* *Perhaps Max can fact-check that statement?
Had a chat to Max about the BMW bags, he is 'pretty sure' they were a very expensive extra... Very expensive in BMW speak
Cheers Dodgy, a very good read. See, it's not all bad being "Shafted" It all depends on what you expect of your ride as to which bike comes out on top! I was impressed with their obvious impartiality during the evaluations. That's rare for Aussies! The LeMans sounds like it just loves the twisties.
I bought a new set of bags from BMW in Sydney in 1988...$600.00 if I remember....exactly one weeks wages before tax ...and that was real dollars not the Kiwi Shekel.
Cheers Dodgy, I never had a Guzzi but had (have) the other two from the top of the list
No worries guys. I have a report on Bathurst August 1979 I will scan and post up in the near future from another Two Wheels mag, it is super cool for those who have read the Croz book It shows Croz with beer in hand in leathers, and Croz trackside with beer in hand. The caption reads: Notice the similarities between these two pictures Ahh.. the glory days of racers..the racing is still cool now but the racers are verging on nerds. I never considered the Yammie triple as a potential bike. The XS650 was a good 'un but I always thought the triple was too cruiser for me and one extra carb to keep in tune and heavier than the 650. From the review it seems that the triple was a good 'un too. I double checked their test results on my Mk2 today with 108kms of challenging terrain and found everything up to scratch
Talking of being impartial, this add was in the first part of the article on a reverse page. Cool picture of the internals. And to think you could buy one from good old Percy Coleman in NZ:
Why do the Americans always get the cool ones?
Hardly Changed Really
