Another Japanese Classics bike thread...

[Hawk]

heres another brit site for hard to get honda parts http://shop.wemoto.com/index.dyn

econohonda here in nz, I have found to pretty good also

[toycollector10]

The June run will be this Sunday, the 24th. The weather forecast looks pretty good so we will be meeting outside Eric Woods in Manchester St at 11.00 AM for a kick-off at approximately 11.30 AM.

It will be just a short run to Sumner for lunch then over the hill to Lyttelton and back through the tunnel and out to Ruapuna to check out the BEARS racing.

Check this thread for a cancellation/update if the weather looks dodgey. The ride will be cancelled and held the following Sunday if it's wild, wet and windy on the 24th. Feedback from the guys is that it will be no more than a handful of riders on Sunday for various reasons. All new riders are welcome.

Our group have decided to limit the motorcycles on our runs to pre 1980 only. That was always the original intention. It's not that we don't want to meet you but it was felt that the year thing might start to creep out and out etc and we formed up specifically for the 1960's and 1970's bikes and 1980 is a definite cutoff.

I hope to see some new riders on Sunday, so, be there or be square!

[dangerous]

and out to Ruapuna to check out the BEARS racing.

Keep an eye out for ya fellow KBer's on there old shitty post classics, numbers to look out for 68,99,81,83,88,12...

[moko]

I think 1975-79 was the best biking years of my life,in the early 80's people got more affluent and went straight to cars,before that just about everyone rode a bike first and there were 2 million bike riders in Britain.Great days,bikes everywhere.Some of the stuff I had of that era(even if owned used after 1980),CB200,CB250,Z250,XS250,GSX250,RD400,XS500,XS 650,Suzi GT550,6 CB250Ns,3 RD250sGS850,XT250,GT500,Z650 and a few others.Favourites were the RD400 and XS650 with the big GS a close second,worst,the XS500 and 250,most under-rated the Suzi GT550,lovely bike,better than the disappointing 380 and the over-weight and over-rated 750.
Why so many 250s? Because of the learner laws here they were by far the best-sellers.When the Govt bought in the 125 limit almost overnight(as a result of the industry and riders ignoring anything done to stop the horrific death rate)a lot of people got stuck with bikes they couldn't sell and prices dropped through the floor.For several years you could pick up a really nice 250 for peanuts.For a few years after that the bike industry here came close to toppling,commuters with a full license could pick up all those 250s for nothing so the dealers lost that market,new CG125 for a grand or a 2 year-old CB250N for £250,not a hard choice.The whole 125 thing left a lot of people very pissed off with bikes in general,125 law was zapped through while the CB250 was still the best-selling in Britain and a lot of guys caught a serious cold,learners couldn't ride them at all,anyone passing their test wanted a big bike anyway..Only fairly recently that bikes have become anywhere near the level of popularity as in that era,and the majority are fair-weather riders.Once again the fatality rate is getting noticed,8 people killed in my area this year already,and I can see history being repeated.

[HenryDorsetCase]

I am definitely a "fair weather only" rider these days.

I may join you on the 400 while I still have it.

[toycollector10]

Hi Moko, thanks for another good post. My 4 cents worth again. When I see a line-up of modern sport bikes from about 20 yards away (I'm still imperial although my bike is metric) I can't tell one model from the next. Probably because I have no interest in them. In the pre 1980 days you knew a Waterbus from a Mach III. There was more variety in styles. In the early 1970's Suzuki had 10 product lines from 50cc to 750cc. Modern bikes today are dangerously quick and reliable but they just all look and sound the same. The only "modern" bike I ever liked the look of was the Honda RC30 and even that design is about 15 years old now. Oh dear, how boring and old fashioned of me.