Self-gratifying/investment?

[ManDownUnder]

...because stock standard just does not have enough "bling"

Exactly - for some.

I value funtion over bling personally, but others value bling over functionality. Each to their own, and how it all washes out in respect of the $$$ value of a vehicle is totally subjective anyway.

Market forces being what they are - the price of anything is only what someone's willing to pay.

[Maha]

More self gratifying more than anything else .


Basicly comes done to what you want from a motocycle. As long as you're happy doing the changes why not go for it.

Yes Bonez, nail and hammer collide.
I ended up selling my Triumph for what it would have been sold for on the floor. And I was happy with what I had done to it, overkill on the Ohlins looking back, but hey, its gone now and the new onwer has brilliant bike thanks to me....

My bike is all about me, it's the only thing I own that's truly mine. I don't have the skills, money or facilities to make a bike, so I have to buy a mass produced item then set about making it the way I want. It needs to handle, stop and look the way I want it to, it's an on going and costly venture but it's my hobby, every time it improves, at least from my perspective, it makes me feel good. How many things do we own that we can say are better today than yesterday.
So yeah, for me, self indulgence/gtatification but I enjoy it and I've sure as hell indulged enough people in my life time to deserve a little self indulgence.

Yes they become a passion in a sense eh Marty?
And a bit of passionate self indulgance never hurt anyone....

[Maha]

I think it is for personal satisfaction, my bike might look original now, and I am proud of that, but as time goes by I will change it to what I like (and as budget allows). after all beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Your GPZ is now classed as a classic??

Which beg's the question, would anyone tart up Bonnie or a Norton etc, or leave them stock standard. Surely it be frowned upon by 'senior' bikers if they viewed a classic wearing anything else but its original bits?

[Bonez]

Your GPZ is now classed as a classic??

Which beg's the question, would anyone tart up Bonnie or a Norton etc, or leave them stock standard. Surely it be frowned upon by 'senior' bikers if they viewed a classic wearing anything else but its original bits?

There are some folk who are just plane anal about that ah? As bad as train and plane spotters.

[AllanB]

Much has been tweaked on this Norton but it is very true to the original look.
YUMMY

[Maha]

There are some folk who are just anal about that ah? As bad as train and plane spotters.

Well yeah but, they way I see it, those sort of bike should be left as original as possible. You will pay good money to pick one up in mint (or close enough) condition, and they are ment to have a bit a harden attitude about them aren't they? (the bikes i mean)

On a side not: the Yamaha we have in the garage is a few years old and it gets nothing but tyres (it has to safe so I wont stop at tyres) but you know what I mean? Its worth $1000 and thats it!

[pritch]

Surely it be frowned upon by 'senior' bikers if they viewed a classic wearing anything else but its original bits?

Well those bikes were "tarted up" to a degree by the guys who owned them back in the day. ManyTriumphs had crash bars and/or spotlights. Some guys put alloy guards on bikes that didn't have them standard as I recall.

There were also performance bits offered by some of the Brit manufacturers but these were internal and not on display.

There was probably a lot less customising than today though. I've replaced standard shocks with Konis way-back-when but only because the OE Girlings were stuffed.

It's only in the last four years or so that I've added or changed things on a whim rather than because it was necessary.

[Bonez]

Well yeah but, they way I see it, those sort of bike should be left as original as possible. You will pay good money to pick one up in mint (or close enough) condition, and they are ment to have a bit a harden attitude about them aren't they? (the bikes i mean)

On a side not: the Yamaha we have in the garage is a few years old and it gets nothing but tyres (it has to safe so I wont stop at tyres) but you know what I mean? Its worth $1000 and thats it!

Yeah. But it's interesting to prices rise as the years go by though. Todays shit can be tomorrows treasures.

[SPman]

The XJR has had lots of little tweaks - goes a lot better, sounds a lot better but still looks bog stock standard - complete to the thick smearing of insect life across the front (bikes are to use, not slavishly pander to...). Cost - most parts sourced through Ebay, so, not a lot. The expensive bits are to come - if I feel like it - although there are better things to do with the money a.t.m. - stainless collector box replacement - thats just bling - although it would provide a bit more go as well....a visit to the local suspension man for front springs, etc, would be nice, but, it's not vital....and a set of Renthall bars.......coloured braided lines......the list could go on and on and on.......
I think, the main thing is we like to personalise our bikes, so they're just that bit different, if possible, from all the others out there - some people achieve it by throwing heaps of money at it, others just fiddle about here and there - guess it depends on the size of your ego.........

[keithbuckby]

Your GPZ is now classed as a classic??

Which beg's the question, would anyone tart up Bonnie or a Norton etc, or leave them stock standard. Surely it be frowned upon by 'senior' bikers if they viewed a classic wearing anything else but its original bits?

didn't think it was old enough to be a classic yet, but yeah, some people I have talked to have just about had heart attacks when I talk of anything not stock

[martybabe]

There are some folk who are just plane anal about that ah? As bad as train and plane spotters.

In England, those chaps are called 'Anoraks', well known for statements like....." oh I see you have plastic bolts holding your number plate on, of course originally they would have been zinc platted items from the GKN factory in Birmingham"

To be fair though, a Brough superior in metallic pink flake paint or an Ariel square four with yoshis, would be bordering on the criminal.

[AllanB]

I heard of a guy a while back who had a restored Z900 that he entered in to a USA show – apparently he got second place because he did not have the original running-in sticker on the tacho ………..

And the people who restore yank cars and hang every bolt on a piece of wire at just the right angle so when repainted the paint runs at the same angle as the original factory painted bolt ……….

And the guy who only let his 60kg wife sit in the car an steer it when rolling it off the trailer as she left the smallest indent in the leather seat ………….

[James Deuce]

It's not an investment. A stock 05 Z750S is worth exactly the same as my Ohlins, Renthal, Traxxion Dynamics, Ventura pimped out 05 Z750S.

It's not about the "Kiwi way" either. Mine is done from a safety perspective. Shaun Harris has criticised my criticism of stock suspension as being dangerously inadequate, but then I think he spends most of his time dealing with sportsbikes that get all the decent fruit on them from the manufacturer.

A couple of tiers down, and the average street bike has the price slashed on suspension, brakes, and engine feel (CDI, EFI, etc) to pay for the good stuff that goes into top end sportsbikes.

Brake pads, and either reinforced "rubber" lines (better feel, good power), or braided lines (less feel more instant power) can make the difference between hitting something and stopping. No amount of bleeding gave the Zed brakes. So new lines and scintered pads went in. The stock discs then warped. Somewhere else expenditure was moderated I guess. At peg scrapping lean angles the forks were too soft and the rear shock undersprung and over damped from a compression perspective so you bashed your way from ripple to pothole and back again. You didn't pick a line so much as hope you didn't bounce into oncoming traffic. Interestingly, I'm wearing the front Metzler Sportec M1 out quicker than the rear. Must be time to steal Jeremy's Ohlins forks off his Z1000 while he isn't looking.

The steering was weird, but the steering head bearings had been over tightened. Greased and re-tensioned and all good.

The engine went flat at 5500rpm. A DNA air filter fixed that. The stock air filter element passed about as much air as a plastic bag full of wet concrete.

The only "bling" I have on my bike are my bar end mirrors, but they give a much better rearward view than the stock "Objects May Be Less Numerous Than They Appear" elbow-wind-deflectors. Mirrors. Heh.

Spend money where it will save you money. Brakes as insurance, suspension for comfort and to make your tyres last longer. A chain lubing device or the good habits to regularly clean and lube your chain. It looks expensive, but 5 sets of tyres instead of 7 and no chain and sprockets as opposed to the 2 sets some people seem to go through in that interval means savings of a couple of thousand dollars.

[Bonez]

didn't think it was old enough to be a classic yet, but yeah, some people I have talked to have just about had heart attacks when I talk of anything not stock

I've got an '81 GSX750 with around 30,000kms on the motor. Been roll, bowled and arseholed but someone spent a lot of effort to get it tidied up.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/at...4&d=1137287039

Still needs a few bits n bobs done to it.

[AllanB]

There's no way James is getting a Harley - all that money spent on performance bits when he could have purchased bling.......