Is this bike a classic Jap bike

[G-spot]

Sorry guys I have to go, thanks for you comments

Chaio

[MVnut]

Yeah it's a classic, TTs were always good bikes, but if you have an old bike that was crap when it was new, then now it's just 'old' (and still crap) .....not a classic.

[pete376403]

Classic to me means when something changed so radically that overnight stuff that went before was, if not obsolete, then outdated. EG the CB750 at a time when H-D had just discovered an alternative to side valves.
The Kawasaki Z1 raised the bar in terms of power. The GS750 Suzuki showed that Jap bikes could handle well.
There is a lot of older stuff that is termed classic just because it is old, but had no redeeming features then and doesn't now, apart from age.

[McJim]

"Japanese Classic" is an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned.....they just don't leak enough "Character" on the garage floor. Mind you I'm just a European snob (albeit a poor one who can't afford a modern bike

[Voltaire]

How about a music analogy.

'Staying Alive' is a classic as its over 25 years old.

where as 'Child of Mine' is not.....

[toycollector10]

My two bobs worth.

I think a classic is a bike that represented a radical shift in thinking about what a bike could be. I'm biased of course. Think first year of manufacture. Kawasaki Mach III, Z1, CB750 K0, CBX, Norton Commando, RE5 Suzuki, Goldwing, Hayabusa, GSXR, Ducati Super Sport, Benelli 6 or whatever it was called, Honda VFR, and dare I say it, the early HD XLCH models.

The introduction of the model had to get people buzzing about it and wanting to see and or own the bike. Subsequent refinements of the model to me are a bit of a yawn. Think Kawasaki 400 triple. I just doesn't have the raw emotive in your face "here I am" that the Mach III had. The 400 is just cashing in on the triple theme, in my opinion.

A CB750 K6 Honda is just a 6th year model down the track refinement of the K0 and a bit of a bore. Like grandma. She got old, slower, dowdy, her pipes were all baffled up and she lost the hot cam and became just plain boring in the long run.

So think "what's this new model I have heard about" and "Bloody hell, I've got to have one!"

[Bonez]

Hey, if goe blow rocks up you me and says thats a classic. Its fine by me.


Yip your TT500 is a classic.

[PeteJ]

The "same model" question was answered many years back - even before we (I, actually) wrote the first rules for post-classic racing in NZ. Later-made examples of an existing model are allowed in where you have a cut-off year.

The 25-year rolling cut-off is common world-wide in ther historic vehicle movement.

"Classic", like fairness, taste, and humour, depends intensely on where you stand. That is why the "classic" definition of most vehicle clubs relies on nothing more elaborate than a 25-year cutoff.

[jim.cox]

Yip your TT500 is a classic.

I concur

classic++

[Dodgyiti]

The Yamaha TT500 started production in 1976 through to 1981.
The bikes were vertually the same from year to year with colour being the major difference.

I agree that pre 1980 is the cut off point for classic bikes

but what about the 1981 Yamaha TT500H
its the same bike as the 79 and 1980 Yamaha TT500's except for its colour would it be classed as a classic since it is the same bike.

I have fond memories of my TT500, the kickstarting, the crashing into trees, the rebuild on apprentice wages.
It cuts it as a classic with me, for sure.
It was pretty unchanged from conception, there was a swingarm change but not sure what year.

Enter
the

[G-spot]

I have fond memories of my TT500, the kickstarting, the crashing into trees, the rebuild on apprentice wages.
It cuts it as a classic with me, for sure.
It was pretty unchanged from conception, there was a swingarm change but not sure what year.

Enter
the

Cool dude, 79-81 was the swingarm change and a couple of other minor changes.
unfortunately I can't give mine shirt on the dirt as I spent to much money on it, got my 1980 suzuki DR400T to fill in for it, plus the DR doesn't hurt my kidneys as I go over the bumps.

[G-spot]

I concur

classic++

I think the general consensus is that it is a classic bike. Hey man I own a classic bike yeah ha.

[Dodgyiti]

I think the general consensus is that it is a classic bike. Hey man I own a classic bike yeah ha.

Not just a classic bike, but a classic chookie!

They are even more rare because people like me thrashed and trashed them and rusted them into little piles not even fit for the crusher, damn the dunes and their frame destroying salt

[G-spot]

The "same model" question was answered many years back - even before we (I, actually) wrote the first rules for post-classic racing in NZ. Later-made examples of an existing model are allowed in where you have a cut-off year.

The 25-year rolling cut-off is common world-wide in ther historic vehicle movement.

"Classic", like fairness, taste, and humour, depends intensely on where you stand. That is why the "classic" definition of most vehicle clubs relies on nothing more elaborate than a 25-year cutoff.

Hi, was the same question asked many years ago of the same model, no way Jose you wrote the rules. Hey thanks for your input.

[G-spot]

Hey, if goe blow rocks up you me and says thats a classic. Its fine by me.


Yip your TT500 is a classic.

its looks like its leaning towards that from others comments.