What is it? It can't just be be the riding as most of them are overweight and fast or fragile and slow..... I bought my first big bike a 12 year old Honda 500/4 because it was very stylish looking, a huge 500cc and candy apple gold. As I had no biker freinds I thought the performance was fine. Pulled it to bits and put it back together.... Maybe the other 57 members of BFTP have a similar story...
I had previously owned small Hondas and a Matchie in my uoof. I looked at getting back into riding in '03 and took some 650 Matchies for a test ride. I couldn't believe what I saw in those HOS, way back when! So..... Japanese classics?......looked firstly at the the Honda 750/4 but everyone wanted moon bucks for any decent early examples. Then saw a very tidy old school '79 GS850 shafty for sale. Fell in love and bought it. I had done some tuning work on a mates GS1000 for the Thunder Park drag strip back in the day, so had a good appreciation of it's tuning potential. Sure she's heavy, but the weight's not a big issue with well balanced handling, decent tyres and good brakes.
I am an old idiot stuck in a time warp... Besides, the older style bikes suit the type of riding I do. The body won't bend into the shape required by a modern sprotbike.
A lot of people seem to be attracted to bikes of the era they grew up in and I'm not really interested in owning something that I can see riding past any day of the week
I want to keep my liecense and stay upright as much as possible
A lot of people seem to be attracted to bikes of the era they grew up in and I'm not really interested in owning something that I can see riding past any day of the week Yep, the burning desire for some of the bikes when you are a teenager can't be erased from the grey matter. Modern bikes are incredibly capable but they are all so similar, that to get something a bit different you have to turn the clock back.
I've always liked old stuff,even when a teenager. When I started work in 1970 we were still getting in cars from the '30's and 40's,and cars from the '50's were bread and butter....that's like stuff from the '90's now. A 1948 Ford Mercury Coupe was waaaay more interesting to me than a new HQ Holden.The only time I've been interested in new bikes was with dirt bikes in the early '70's - trail bikes were the new big thing,and I bought a couple off the showroom floor....and so ended being up to date,from then on it was only old stuff. It was value for money for me - for $600 you could buy a brand new 125...or a BSA Goldstar. For guys buying brand new 125's it was a no brainer,for me buying a more powerful bike that handled better was a no brainer too. Spending my formative years riding British bikes (and the odd Italian and German) I found Japanese handing just too horrible to consider,and I don't feel they got any better until near the end of our BFTP era. And it's history,I like history....and a bike doesn't get enough history until it's old. When we can look back on the economic climate the bike was built in,the reasons for it's coming into existence,who rode them to fame and the reason why production was stopped....then we have a bike worthy of BFTP.
I like the style of the 80's and early 90's biles, before they started looking too "futureistic", also they stand up better in a "spill" than moden bikes.
Yep, the burning desire for some of the bikes when you are a teenager can't be erased from the grey matter Hence my liking of the XJ550,they were the first road bike I ever got to ride and the first bike I ever saw an indicated 180kmh on
I like older bikes (and cars). They take all the worry out of how to spend discretionary funds . . .
I like them because they are cheap....I would much prefer a new bike to ride and an old bike to hide in the shed with........
Something hand made instead of robot made. Solid construction, built to last Something with history Something lusted after when it was new and we were poor Cheap Rego!!!!
I never lusted after a 1987 BMW when they were new,I didn't even know they existed.
They're like old friends, you can trust em to go whenever you hit the starter, well My one did tonight! OK, she turned over when we hit the starter switch. Seriously though I have yet to see a better looking bike than me TR1, sporty and stylie all at once and a real pleasure to ride. Have bothered to rebuild it because I simply could not find the shape or style I wanted in the new stuff. No Character.
Character and soul are the key ingredients. They look good to the eye and make you want to ride them. New(er) bikes just don't do those things for me.
