The best years of riding – are they gone?

[Edbear]

True, for the most part. It's all relative. Best 'ping' (other than the odd warning) was back in 1975. I gave the old T500 it's head and saw 110Mph on the clock. Unbeknownst to me, a Hutt City snake was on the job in his 1600 Cortina. Never knew he was there so when he eventually caught up with me, he 'had a chat' and handed me a ticket for 'estimated 65mph' and if I remember right, the fine was $10. Cool! Won't get that today.

If I ran Champion L78's I could run out to 112mph indicated but they would oil up around town, so I used to swap between L82Y's for low-speed riding and put the L78's in before going anywhere out of town. If I left the L82Y's in it would start detonating at 105mph... Figured I didn't want to burn holes in pistons...

Only real tank-slapper I ever had was on that T500, but I loved that bike! Never had a cop pull me up in those days despite the usual 100mph averages...

Ha - the good ol days
crap suspension, worse road conditions with massive potholes, the riding gear and helmets that you could buy were very basic (if you could afford them)

Riding gear? Open face helmet with leather face mask and goggles. Army Greatcoat and my forestry boots. Shame I haven't got a pic!

[Howsie]

Enjoyed your post Howsie...and its very true.

Some on here will post about the 'good ole' days' on KB....its evolved and changed sure, but its just over six years old!!!

To answer this thread though.....
Things do change, you just have to get wiser in your approach, choose your roads etc, if you are going to stay on SH1 then things will probably not be to you liking for very long.

Sounds like im an old fart aye?? haha and iv only been riding for a few months and loving every km that i do

I have already seen posts about exactly that "the good ol' days" on KB!

I agree, there are plenty of other roads to take eg when i travel to Napier from Auckland i usually go to Ngaruwhahia then take SH39 to Te Awamutu then through Mangakino (fantastic roads and scenery through there!!) to Taupo and on to Napier. Something a bit different and more exciting than SH1.

[doc]

I ride a bike because I enjoy it, not necessarily because I want to speed everywhere and make a loud noise doing it. In saying that, I do speed and I do enjoy it and I love the sound of my bike. My version of “speeding” isn’t fast compared to other riders.

Sounds like your'e ready for a Hog . Mind you they get criticized for exactly that attitude.

[DEATH_INC.]

Na, things HAVE changed orright, I've done plenty of stoopid shit you'd never get away with now, been from my mates place just norf of the bridge to my home in whangarei in under an hour the day after I brought my first roadbike, driven an XA falcon at 125+ mph all the way down the southern motorway (on a weekday), been from waihi to mt roskill in a shade over an hour in my V8 mk4 cortina etc etc.... no way you could do that shit now....
I also remember getting busted on a KX125....no reg $40, no wof $25 no licence $25 ..... The cop in the V8 falcon had a good giggle at my trying to outrun him on the road....ah, getting all misty eyed now....things have changed...

[Ixion]

It's easy to look back with rose coloured spectacles, but the reality is that the good old days had their draw backs.

Sure, when I started riding, cops weren't such a problem. They didn't much go outside the towns, and the only radar they had they had to put it on the roof of the Zephyr, and it was as big as a small refridgerator.

But, as against that, almost all roads outside towns were gravel, or the dreaded pumice. And often bad gravel. Many bikes didn't have rear suspension (at all); some didn't have front brakes (at all) .

Very few (as in very very few) cars could reach 90mph (about 150kph), let alone sustain it for more than a few minutes. Not many bikes could genuinely crack the ton , either, though a bit bigger proportion than cars. And bikes could usually run rings round the wallowing , overturning cars of the period in the twisty stuff.So the cops turning a blind eye to 140kph was rather irrelevant (actually they wouldn't have had much choice, top speed of the Zephyrs was about 135).

Wasn't anything like as much traffic on the roads, cos Mabel didn't drive at all, and the top speed of Cyril's Ford 10 was about 40 mph (seriously) so most people never went far outside the towns. But against that, as noted the roads were almost all gravel, bridges usually one lane and wood paved (very slippery), tyres were shit by todays standards, brakes non existent, and headlamps a mere flicker in the darkness. And when you broke down (which was inevitable) there were no cell phoens ot call for help , and damn few phones of any sort. No air ambulances either.

And while the MoT were on the whole pretty reasonable the local cops in the small towns could be the biggest bastards ever whelped. Back then cities and boroughs could run their own traffic cop department, MoT dealt with the ones that didn't want to and the in between towns stuff. Auckland City cops were OKish but the small towns, if you were an outsider they'd rip you to shreds, cos the township got the fine money amd it was a significant part of their revenue.

Only real good thing was there were no demerits. No tickets either actually, you got a summons.

The reason it's all changed is that now Mabel and Cyril have cages that can do 200kph. Back then cops assumed if you had a car or bike capable of 100mph you probably knew how to handle it. And such vehicles were so rare that they didn't much worry about them . Now, any plonkwit can jump in a 100mph++ car , and 90% of them haven't a clue. And the roads now being so good they all belt along out of town. The cops have to clamp down on it.

The "carry a jerrycan for fuel" thing was a bit of a short lived abberation . around the car-less days era. Earlier on, most general stores had a primitive petrol pump and usually opened weekends. Fuel consumption on most bikes was incredibly better than nowadays (100mpg was considered averagish) so ranges were much longer , maybe 600 , 700 km.

Maybe there was a short golden age when the roads were good, bikes were fast and reliable and had brakes, and the cops were still easy going and Mabel and Cyril hadn't invaded the highways. But if there was, it was only ever going to be a short lived thing.

[Forest]

Things are better now then they have ever been.

Bikes handle better, stop better, and have more power then ever. Manufacturing quality has improved massively and maintenance requirements have been reduced. They're also remained affordable relative to NZ wages.

Petrol is cheap for what it gives you. It's available almost everywhere. Fuel quality is (for the most part) consistently good and it can now be purchased at 24 hour stations and on Sundays.

Roads are better designed. Road signage is good and and road surfaces are better then they ever were. Yes there is more traffic around, but once you get out of the cities that extra traffic tends to stay on the main state highways.

Coppers are better organised and there's more of them. However the flipside of this is that they're better able to respond to road accidents and road emergencies.

[Ixion]

Good point about the cost of fuel. Back in the day, petrol was only 3/4 a gallon. That's about 7 cents a litre. BUT -- a wage of $20 a week was damn good money. So to fill y' tank with , say 20 litres took about 7% of your weekly income. Equivalent to over $70 nowadays. Or, in other terms , compared to wages , petrol cost about $3.50 a litre. Which is one reason why motorbikes were so popular for transport.

[MotoGirl]

Things are better now then they have ever been.

Bikes handle better, stop better, and have more power then ever. Manufacturing quality has improved massively and maintenance requirements have been reduced. They're also remained affordable relative to NZ wages.

Petrol is cheap for what it gives you. It's available almost everywhere. Fuel quality is (for the most part) consistently good and it can now be purchased at 24 hour stations and on Sundays.

Roads are better designed. Road signage is good and and road surfaces are better then they ever were. Yes there is more traffic around, but once you get out of the cities that extra traffic tends to stay on the main state highways.

Coppers are better organised and there's more of them. However the flipside of this is that they're better able to respond to road accidents and road emergencies.

So you're effectively saying that we have awesome bikes and well-built roads? I accept all that but my thoughts were based around how we're not allowed to utilise them. The likelihood of being caught breaking the road rules has increased dramatically and so have the chances of walking home.

Edit: Someone said earlier in this thread

[munterk6]

ok, so the gummint have upped the ante with new technology to "catch" us BAD BAD bikers for going faster than their prescribed speed limit, we also need to get with the times and beat'em at their own game.
I saw an experimental device that can put out a pulse of radio frequency waves powerful enough to cook the on coming police car's ECU...wow.
Result is the tax collector/gummint agent/highway patrol officer's car is last seen in your rearview mirror pulling over to the side of the road and incapable of issuing any more infringement notices to unsuspecting bikers.
ya gotta be quick on the trigger tho, coz they will have the same device as well!

[geoffm]

Been riding since 1987. THings have got worse - yese bikes might be better - but how many people can use their bikes ability to the max anyway, and there are still some pretty dire pieces of cost accountancy in the showrooms.

More to the point - there is more traffic on the roads, and more trucks.
The roads are worse by far - sure they may be better than the gravel tracks of 1963, but I don't recall the melted tar and tar snakes in my yoof. This is relatively recent - maybe the last few years where it has become so commonplace.

Geoff

[Motu]

but I don't recall the melted tar and tar snakes in my yoof. This is relatively recent - maybe the last few years where it has become so commonplace.
Geoff

No,it's been around even longer than ancients like me.I remember my father moaning about melted tar on his beloved Hillman Minx in the 1950's.They used to lay sand on the melted tar on the roads in my area - I used to enjoy sliding on the sand in the corners.But bikes,riders and tyres of the day were up to the task.I ride a bike from the '80's,with tyres from the '60's....don't no measly surface conditions catch me out.

[pritch]

This year it will be fifty years since I learned to ride. My first bike was only good for 74mph. Another one would keep vibrating your feet off the pegs if you tried to sustain 80mph.

It'd probably be possible to buy bikes like that today if you looked hard but no thanks.

We couldn't have even dreamed up the bikes that are available now back then. They were completely beyond our comprehension. 2009 looks like being the best year ever for motorcycling, possibly only to be surpassed by 2010. And so on, until the oil starts to run out. It may eventually become socially unacceptable to use oil on such frivolous pursuits as recreation...

This thread reminds me of a fishing book I read years ago. There was a passage that went something like,
"The rivers today are all polluted, and where once you had the stream to yourself the bank is now crowded with other fishermen. Recent improvements in equipment though, more than make up for the disadvantages."

The Practical Angler by W C Stewart, was written in 1853...

[Gizzit]

Cmon MotoGirl ..... you were laughing at me a little while ago for getting a cruiser !!! lol ....

But .... I'm having fun and still enjoying my ride ....

Keep the Aprilia for the track, and get something slower for on the road ..... and enjoy the scenery !! You can still have fun !!