Why were the 70s and 80s so good?

[MattRSK]

[smokeyging]

Wasn’t there a shitload of bikes pranging in the late 70’s?. From memory around then didn’t the government put a hefty tax on bikes and it was then they died off?, anybody remember this?

[MattRSK]

Wasn’t there a shitload of bikes pranging in the late 70’s?. From memory around then didn’t the government put a hefty tax on bikes and it was then they died off?, anybody remember this?

Funny I can't remember that.

[MattRSK]

Gosh Indy. You are letting the side down. I am leaving the Top Gun, Indiana Jones, Footloose etc.. for you. Please hurry.

[Bonez]

Wasn’t there a shitload of bikes pranging in the late 70’s?. From memory around then didn’t the government put a hefty tax on bikes and it was then they died off?, anybody remember this?

Nope. Plenty of bikes about. Most of my mates had them. In fact between 78 and 83 there where a shit load of different models coming out. Then there was all the surplus new bikes from other markets coming in a few years later.

The yanks put a tarrif on jappers over 700cc. The auguably saved HD by giving them a bit of breathing room.

[Morepower]

Did carless days apply to bikes?

Richard

Nope , but the no petrol sales on weekends made life tough when you rode a large 2 stroke.

Dave

[beyond]

Nope , but the no petrol sales on weekends made life tough when you rode a large 2 stroke.

Dave

Weren't renowned for their frugal petrol consumption were they?

[Indiana_Jones]

80s BIKES

-Indy

[miSTa]

Another reason could be that now its so damn easy to buy a car with no money. I remember in the early 80's you needed a 33% deposit to buy from a car sales or if you went for a commercial then the deposit was 25%.

[pete376403]

Motor vehicle finance was incredibly regulated in the 70s. A car required a 50% deposit (new or second hand) whereas bikes were only 33% deposit unless is was 50cc or less, then it was (IIRC) 10%. That was the kicker for a lot of bike sales. There wasn't really that much difference in pricing. When I worked for a Hillman/ Chrysler dealer in the 70s, a new VH Valiant Ranger was a little over $3K, a Hillman Hunter was about $2K. The very first CB750 I saw at Lawton & Boyle in Adelaide Rd was $1999. My 1972 Kawasaki F9 350 was $1169 brand new.
Trail riding was HUGE. Every man and his dog had a TS250 or a DT1. I remember going on an organised ride at Karapoti which must have had 200 or more riders.
Lots or road race events (eg the Marlboro series) with the international riders attracted lots of coverage. (Yamahas TZ700 had its first outing, and win, in the Marlboro, ridden by Dale Wylie)
And I was a lot younger. THATS why the 70s were better

[Swoop]

From memory around then didn’t the government put a hefty tax on bikes and it was then they died off?, anybody remember this?

That cu*t muldoon taxed EVERYTHING, so it wouldn't be surprising.

-Indy

You took your goddamn time!
Fixing your hair or something???


The carless days thing is interesting. I never took notice of whether bikes were exempt from all that rubbish. Everyone had exemption stickers anyway...

[Ixion]

Remember also that petrol was much dearer by the values of the day - maybe three times as expensive as it is nowadays.

And bikes back then could be very economical (not the sports two strokes !). 100mpg was not at all untoward to expect from a commuter bike. Best cars were maybe 35mpg, so a bike cost only one third as much to run as a car. Apprentices didn't get paid much!

And there were still a lot of older commuter riders, because most families couldn't afford two cars. So often Dad would have a little motorbike (though often it was a 350 single they were very popular for commuting) to go to work on .Motorcycles then were regarded completely differently to what they are nowdays. Back then they were workaday transportation, nobody bought them as toys to be kept for riding at the weekend. even the enthusiasts expected to use their bikes to ride to work on during the week, it would have been very unusual indeed to find someone going to work by car during the week and riding a motorcycle at the weekend.

[Swoop]

Remember also that petrol was much dearer by the values of the day - maybe three times as expensive as it is nowadays.

I seem to remember that it was in the very early '80's that the pumps were changed to have 3 digits before the decimal place. Up until then there was no chance of being charged MORE than a dollar per litre for fuel.

[Motu]

I used to get 100mpg out of this thing...had all the fruit man.And it was used for everything - ride to work,ride to mates place,ride to parties,ride on trips,it was no toy.I rode bikes like this because you could pick them up for bloody good prices,I bought a couple of new Jap trail bikes....but much preferred to pay cash for something with more performance.

[Ixion]

Yes, but people earned less. In fact it was only 3/4d a gallon when I started, But then I only got paid (I think) ₤10/17/6 a week. Compare that to today, even on the minimum wage. I did some calculations a while back, when it was very dear, and worked out that it would need to be $2.70 a litre to be a dear as it was when I started riding, relative to wages.