Is it a "cause I'm getting old" thing or what?

[Motu]

old ferckin' dungers that you spend all week getting ready for a few hours on Sunday are not worth the effort.
Nice things as your 'third' bike.

Some people may have been scared of learning about things like points and tappets - but these days it's something I'm scared about forgetting! Definitely nice as the third bike.

[Big Dave]

Some people may have been scared of learning about things like points and tappets - but these days it's something I'm scared about forgetting! Definitely nice as the third bike.

It never stranded me, but only because it was the evenings in the shed that kept my Bonneville and the 'mighty' GS850G on the road.

Swing arm bearings, cam chains and all that other 'every 100,000km' stuff have a habbit of getting in the way of the romance. And the corroded electricals and the...

If you can get one that someone like you has owned then it might not end in tears - but I know of some horror stories of inheriting other bloke's bodgey work.

[MaxB]

It is not all that bad FFS. My 30 year old airhead BM is still used for rallies, tours and commuting. At Easter I put on another 2000 kms on tour.

Back in the day when 80mph wasn't considered a crime up there with genocide you could pitch it into corners and it would stay where it was put. No fuss or drama.

I had to do heaps to it to stay in touch, things such as new rims for more modern rubber. But doing stuff to it is part of the fun and the reason I do it at all is that it is a bloody riot to ride. I guess will always have a big bore Jappa 'cos I love them but there is something special about getting the ride just right on an older bike.

[mstriumph]

mmmmm yer... i see where your coming from...

for some reason though.. the smaller one does it for me.. but saying that .. having both in my garage..... with the buell....
i would not need a woman!...(yer right.. someone would need to cook)

except that any woman worth her salt would be OUT on the buell






.... so can you have those eggs cooked over easy for when i get back, Honey, please?

[BigG]

Agreed mate though lately in search of some inspiration ive regressed to youthdom anticsSome great pics here.http://www.caferace.com/cafepix.html

That was delicious, I like the Dresda Triton one little boys dream.

[Thunder 8]

I did a series of comparisons a few years ago. Old V New.
Short conclusion:
Taking money out of the equation, underbraked, lead clutched, skinny tyred, old ferckin' dungers that you spend all week getting ready for a few hours on Sunday are not worth the effort.
Nice things as your 'third' bike.

Theres old and theres "old". Lots of awesome motorcycles have been made over the years some of them better than others but putting handling etc aside styles gone out the fuckin window.Youve got the style fairies tryin to redesign the wheel adding features to bikes that look like a kid designed them and the lovely metallic paint jobs that are becoming matt paint botchups that to me just look cheap and shitty.
The buell at the start of this threads got an exhaust like a belly pan
blah blah blah......
Im not knocking new bikes some of them are farkin awesome but theres a lot that just arent.Rant over.

[Big Dave]

Im not knocking new bikes some of them are farkin awesome but theres a lot that just arent.Rant over.

Name one.

Name a new bike that doesn't do what it is designed or budgeted for - better than one did 20 years ago.

?

[Ixion]

But that is acircular argument. New bikes may do what they are designed to do well enough. But that "what they are designed to do" may not be so well suited to the users needs as that provided by an older bike.

To give one rather extreme example - where is the new bike that will do as good a job of hauling a DA sidecar as an older bike (say, an A10 )? Granted that is a specialised and extreme example, but there are other less extreme ones.

One reflection of this is the ongoing popularity of machines like the Maggot - simply because no new bike provides the same degree of cheap reliable commuting performance.

It has changed somewhat in the last two or three years, but for many years motorcycle manufacturers concentrated almost exclousively on four "what they are designed to do"

City commuter and scooters. Fine for riding round town but very limited beyond that
Sprots bikes. Designed simply to go as fast on the track as possible with all else sacrificed to that
Harleys and their clones, designed for the "look"
Off road competition machines

With the repetoire rounded out by a few specialised rare and expensive niche market marques like BMW.

Anyone whose requirements were not catered for by one of those four would be faced by a short list indeed. Such machines as were on it were usually just 'munged' versions of one of the four types , eg a 'tourer' made by taking a now obsolete sprotsbike and changing the handlebars.

Not every road rider's requirementsfall into a choice between 'speed speed and speed' ; scooter ; or 'who cares how it rides, what's it look like'. And riders with such unmet requirements have often found that older machines, from an era when motorcycles were designed to cater to a wider audience, may well better suit their needs.

And what new bike will you put forward that matches an RZ350 or RGV250 for sheer "fun". On a low budget.

[Thunder 8]

Name one.

Name a new bike that doesn't do what it is designed or budgeted for - better than one did 20 years ago.

?

Did i mention anything about not doing what they are designed for??.

[Big Dave]

Did i mention anything about not doing what they are designed for??.

>>some of them are farkin awesome but theres a lot that just arent<<

[Big Dave]

And what new bike will you put forward that matches an RZ350 or RGV250 for sheer "fun". On a low budget.

A late model 250 motarded.

Do you blokes have a supply of rose tinted, backward facing visors somewhere?

UJM - bolt what you need on and job done - remember?

[Thunder 8]

>>some of them are farkin awesome but theres a lot that just arent<<

Yea thats right some are not awesome.

[Max Headroom]

I write this at the risk of sounding like I'm trying to justify my opinion. Maybe I am, but anyhooo, here goes.....

I ride an old bike. It's almost 33 years since it rolled out of a factory. Although it happens to be a BMW, this diatribe could apply to many bikes of the 70's. Who knows how many miles my bike has done or what it's suffered at the hands of previous owners.

So, why fester around with an old bike? Well, in my opinion it was built at a time when bike manufacturers were never quite sure what their products were going to be used for, so they built bikes that were capable of performing many tasks competently and their customers were happy to adapt a bike for their specific purposes. If it happened to be touring, the bike would be fitted with a huge barndoor aftermarket fairing and panniers. If was club racing, the lights would be taped up, mirrors and indicators removed and an aftermarket airfilter and muffler would go on. If commuting was the priority, an aftermarket clear windshield would be fitted. While that still happens these days, modern bikes have become much more specialised, with market categories within categories. The current focus is mostly on recreational use now, whereas until 30-40 years ago there was a much greater priority given to cummuting/general purpose needs. Any competition-oriented bikes were usually hand built factory specials not generally available to Joe Public.

The result for me is that there aren't many bikes currently available new that offer the range of capabilities that I'm looking for, in a package that "ticks all the boxes". In an age of laser guns and police helicopters I don't need high speed mega performance. (I'm probably not as fast as I think I was anyway!). I don't want expensive fairings that get damaged if the bike falls over, or require tedious removal just to do basic maintenance. I don't want to visit a chiropractor after a weekend ride. I want to be able to take a pillion who feels like he/she is sitting on something that was actually designed for the task rather than an afterthought. And maybe I'm picky, but for me the few genuine all-rounder bikes from Japan and Europe these days just don't spin my wheels/tickle my pickle etc. I am one of these weirdos who believe that any more than two cylinders is unnecessary. Most modern bikes have too many cylinders, cams, valves and black boxes for my liking.

With my engine reconditioning background, I'm a firm believer that form follows function. I also appreciate the words of a clever American inventor, Charles Kettering who once said "parts not fitted cost nothing, and never fail." Like him, I like things to be strong and simple. I also like things that were designed to be dismantled and repaired. For me, many modern bikes are manufactured with a "disposable" mentality, and that bugs me.

So, why don't I ride a modern "retro" like a Kawasaki W650 or a Triumph Bonneville?

Those bikes weren't available when I started restoring my bike, dammit. I had already spent too much on the restoration and had gone well past the point of no return.

In hindsight, I suppose I like the fact that it's the Real McCoy, not a modern copy. And with a few discreet updates to the brakes, clutch and gearbox by using later components that conveniently retro-fit, it is much nicer to ride than it used to be. The brakes are quite capable within the limits of both me and the bike. The clunky gearchange (a real frustration with older BMW's) is gone, and the effort at the clutch lever is now only a two-finger exercise.

Reliability hasn't been an issue either since it went back on the road just over two years ago. Apart from regular oil changes and a failed tail light bulb, it has proved to be very undemanding and easy to live with. It is a first time starter from cold or hot.

Any regrets?

Whether I like it or not I'm stuck with it for life, partly to recover some value from my outlay (I went substantially over budget!), and partly because my kids are already arguing about who's going to inherit the thing upon my demise.

Can this philosophy work for others? I think it can, but it is definitely better financially if you can do the majority of the work yourself. Paying someone else to do a restoration on your behalf can make the cost of any project blow out. Anyway, it's difficult to describe the sense of satisfaction completing a project like this.

Anyone remotely interested can view a few photos in my album.

[The Lone Rider]

There an '86 softtail on trady that I've had my eye on for yonks.

Sure I can get a boulevard for less and more power and fuel injection and easy parts

But man that '86 softtail low rider with flames and mini apes screams sexy to me.

[Ixion]

..
I am one of these weirdos who believe that any more than two cylinders is unnecessary. Most modern bikes have too many cylinders, cams, valves and black boxes for my liking.

One's enough; two's plenty; three's luxury; four's a car.

All four strokes have too many valves and cams and black boxes. But I wouldn't call a 1976 model 'old' .