That Was A Great Bike

[MichiganBob]

The thread on first bike ridden makes me think about all the times me and my buddies would see an older bike we had or just knew about and say "Now that was a great bike." And I just laugh because it was in its time but compared to newer bikes, they just weren't. Low power, vibrate, cracked frames, lousy suspension and brakes,  oil leaks, poor electronics and so on. It's surely a romantic-emotional attachment and selective memory. It's why I love those bike museums. What do you think?

[MichiganBob]

Of course, at least you can work on them and sometimes fix them.  

[RandyShields]

Horsepower alone is a separator.  Just look at the early gold standards of a Honda 750 and Kawasaki 900 vs today's bikes.  They were good back in the day, but the overall quality of today's bikes is super impressive.

[JCtx]

I'm like you, OP. And same thing with cars. As much as I liked previous cars and bikes, they're crap compared to new machinery, so I'd never own one... because I'm lucky to be able to afford a new one. And yes, I still like to see them around, and admire them (when in pristine shape). But I'm definitely not the nostalgic type. Ha ha. But if I was, I'd probably own a Gen5 VFR800 FI with gear-driven cams. I owned a '96 VFR750, but needed a bit more power, and was carbureted, so should have bought one of those. But moved to larger sport-touring bikes, like the CBR1100XX, Hayabusa, etc.

[Scott9999]

44 minutes ago, RandyShields said:

Horsepower alone is a separator.  Just look at the early gold standards of a Honda 750 and Kawasaki 900 vs today's bikes.  They were good back in the day, but the overall quality of today's bikes is super impressive.

That's a fact.   Honestly, given all the time I spent working UNDER my bikes back in my college and Navy days, I'd have just KILLED to have almost any modern bike.   They are super reliable, low maintenance, and over the long term, still a pretty decent deal cost wise.   (Well, I guess $15K or $25K can leave a large hole in your pocket, but in comparing todays cost of cars/trucks with motorcycles, the bikes today almost seem cheap (a.k.a. "inexpensive") to own.

[Hosstage]

Nostalgia plays into it as much as anything else. Those bikes were great. They still are. The older kid in the neighborhood that had THAT bike that made you want one too, he was the coolest dude around. And got all the chicks! Or an event, or article, or race, something just made that bike the coolest. Anybody remember when the FatBoy became the coolest bike in the world? Nobody had ever seen a bike ridden like that before.

They pushed the sport forward, and deserve their place in history, both the bike and the cool kid!

 

[wbw6cos]

3 hours ago, MichiganBob said:

Of course, at least you can work on them and sometimes fix them.  

 

 

Well that is if you can source parts.   A long time ago, I bought an '85 V65 Sabre as a project bike and found out a lot of old hardware became an issue; it seemed like every other time I tried to undo a bolt, they would break or strip.   Ugh,  The Showa air shock was another issue - replace with a similar used one from another Honda bike of that era and modify it to fit, or buy an exact one on fleabay and hope it works.

 

Just depends on the popularity of the model run and the overall mechanical condition, I reckon.  

 

I still long for my long-lost '85 Kawasaki VN 700 LTD.   The problem is:  everybody is proud of their stuff and want you to pay for it.  If you know what I mean, and I think you do.

 

[MichiganBob]

I wonder what it would feel like to drive my first bike, a 68 BSA Victor, or my second one, a 71 R75/5. It would be interested in how it feels now compared to what I remember.

[81delorean]

11 hours ago, MichiganBob said:

I wonder what it would feel like to drive my first bike, a 68 BSA Victor, or my second one, a 71 R75/5. It would be interested in how it feels now compared to what I remember.

I have wondered that about the RZ350. I was riding one of them in the late 80's when I was 15yo. I remember how quick, how fast and how I could take curves with it, wonder if I would get the same feeling now. I wish I had it back anyway.  

[AviP]

My 2001 Enfield Bullet C500 is a good example of that was a great bike. Because it 'was'. Right now, it just sits in the garage and makes me wonder what was I thinking!

[TEDZ]

I had several V65 Sabres and though they were the ultimate sport touring bike.  Until I rode an R1200RT through a curve.  I do miss the torque thought.

[RTinNC]

Yup ... have to agree with most posts.  The old bikes (and cars) were great memories but when you actually think about them in comparison to today's bikes there really is no comparison.  Mark Tuttle, former editor in chief of Rider, wrote a good piece on buying old bikes and recounted all the reasons why if you buy one understand WHY you are buying it and what the ownership entails.  More maintenance, questionable reliability and lacking some of the features that today we take for granted.  I see the same with older cars that required a tune-up every 15K, drum brakes, etc.  That along with features .... even most mid-size bikes (what we call "mid" today) in the 800cc +/- range some with better brakes, cruise control, ambient temp gauge, gear indicator, better suspension, tubeless tires, hydraulic clutch, etc.   Remember when car accessories like power windows, tilt steering wheel, electric seats, cruise control, etc. were pretty expensive options.  And what about reliability .... today 100K on a car and even a bike is not a big deal.  Back when I was starting to drive a car with 100K was about done.  Yup ... old stuff is cool so long as you understand what it is and how it will function.  

[SDCRJohn]

I owned this 1983 Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans for about a decade. Really enjoyed Sunday morning rides on this one…

[JCtx]

Hey, it looks a lot nicer than the more 'chopperesque' CX500 I used to own. And I'm sure it has a shaft too. Did it have hydraulic valve adjusters, like the Hondas? Both the CX500 and CB700 NightHawk had them, plus shaft and air cooling, so almost maintenane free. Ha ha. I liked the NightHawk a lot more. But no way it can take the curves anywhere close to my current R. Chassis, suspension, and brakes (and tires too, but you can buy better ones now) were crap, compared to modern bikes. Not to mention all the amenities, including cornering ABS/TCS, cruise, heated grips, TFT, etc.

[MichiganBob]

How was the saddle on that Guzzi SDCRjohn? The ones I rode were on the firm and narrow side.

[SDCRJohn]

25 minutes ago, MichiganBob said:

How was the saddle on that Guzzi SDCRjohn? The ones I rode were on the firm and narrow side.

The original owner told me he rode it from Atlanta to Philly, back in 1983. After that ride, he ordered a Stucchi saddle from Italy. This saddle is made of foam, with a vinyl covering. I found it fine for 200-400 mile rides, actually more comfortable than my R1100 RS seat.

 

The original Le Mans seat, was a piece of foam, covered with some type of spray on covering. Not comfy.

[mophead]

Same applies to old muscle cars.  Go back and look at most of the 1/4 mile times.  They were dogs compared to today.  If you had a 14 second car that was fast back then.  At least they were sexy and easy to tell apart.  Nowdays everything looks like a Toyota Camry.  Headlights, tailights, all the same.

 

Back in the muscle car days they changed up the bodywork every year.  New shapes, fins, redwall tires, hood scoops, and the hated fender skirts (at least for me).

 

Ah the good old days.............when you better carry booster cables.

[MichiganBob]

I keep eyeballing the new Chargers. They stir up sweet memories, look good, and have all the new stuff that works.

[9Mary7]

14 hours ago, MichiganBob said:

the new Chargers...........all the new stuff.....

The blind spots are huge as well.........

[Hosstage]

1 hour ago, 9Mary7 said:

The blind spots are huge as well.........

Isn't that the truth! Everything I read about the Camaros was that it was like driving a pillbox with gun slits.

Go Mustang!

[9Mary7]

5 hours ago, Hosstage said:

like driving a pillbox with gun slits.

Sounds like my son's Challenger...

[mophead]

Cannot accept a four door Charger but they do haul ass.  Followed the Dust Ball Rally through eastern New Mexico one Saturday morning.  The Dodge Charger will hang with the Corvettes.  Does not take long to go 60 miles behind this bunch.  What a great day to have new tires on the FJR.  Pretty sure there was zero carbon left on the valves after that adventure.  I would post some of the speeds but that would just be evidence.  Let's just say the FJR was at redline more than once.

 

Dust Ball participants are accompanied by some very shiny ladies.

[JCtx]

A friend of mine did it once, and said they got pulled over nearly a dozen times. Not fun. We did a 1-day version of it, on m brother's Ferrari, and we got pulled over 3 freaking times, and lost so much time we had to turn back before the best part (Gila). They never caught us speeding, but still pulled all of us over, and wasted hours of our time, interrogating everybody (both in NM and TX). A group of exotic cars on the highway draw the wrong kind of attention. So never again.