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Post by veg on Jan 23, 2024 9:28:42 GMT 1
What do you like dislike in bikes/accessories? 1970’s Suzuki two strokes (bar x5/7) awful bikes a waste of metal and I especially dislike the gt750 everything a two stroke shouldn’t be. Heavy slow poor handling and ugly. Mz two strokes love them, utilitarian and aren’t pretending to be anything else. 1980’s Japanese Turbo bikes Gpz-cx-xn-xj it may have been a motorcycle dead end but the excitement as a kid as they launched wow. Modern bikes eurrghh leave me cold design wise I don’t care how fast or how well they handle they all look the same
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Post by JonW on Jan 24, 2024 8:44:34 GMT 1
Ohh Tim!
I agree with you on most of what you said tho...
Im not an MZ fan, but can appreciate why they exist.
What I also liked is that back in the day manufacturers made a huge effort to attract young riders into the fold. In the 70's/80s we had some great 50>125cc bikes that were supercool to teens. They were workhorses that would still run and get you to school/college/job even if you 'fixed' em with a hammer and a file at the weekend too. Many of us cut our teeth on those and are the better for it. Why cant manufacturers excite the kids of today?
My first bike was a 70s Suzuki... well it was a 1981, but its roots (and engine) were in the 70s. The TS50ER. twin shock and nothing clever or smart in any of it. Worked well til it ended up smashed against a motorway bridge pier, at least the other party's insurance paid out.
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jan 24, 2024 9:36:47 GMT 1
Got to disagree on a few things there 😂
70's Suzuki 2 strokes? What about the TS and smaller GT bikes? Even the 550 is still nice to ride
The GT750 - yes the early ones were ugly, yes they were heavy but it was essentially a tourer and the liquid cooling on a road bike was way ahead
MZ, meh 😕
Nothing I like, nothing I don't like, just saw them as a budget commuter
80's turbos I agree somewhat. They were scary fast, especially he GPZ, way ahead of tyres, brakes and handling of the time. Wish I'd kept mine 😫
Dead end? I'd say missed opportunity and maybe for the future. The fact is that a modern car is more fuel efficient, cheaper to insure and close in the maintenance costs now than a new sports bike
Gsxr7/11's were a hoot, why don't they properly turbo a 600 so it's lighter but more powerful and more fuel efficient
Oh and here the controversial bit, I like a lot of 90's/2000's sports bikes 🤫
Steve
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Post by Robbieben on Jan 24, 2024 11:28:00 GMT 1
Personally I'd disagree with you on a bit here, but thats why we like what we like and are all different in our choices of bikes. 1970's 2 strokes are great if you respect what they are and the era they were built and what they were built to do. I've owned Kawa KH 350, 550 & 750, good fun except the 750 which has more power than the chassis can deal with and its a bit nuts I've owned Suzuki T500's, GT380, GT550 and still own a GT750 which I love and is very much underestimated by many people, it isn't the fastest off the mark, it was never built to be so, however it will cruise all day at 80 mph comfortably, apart from fuel stops I've ridden from Durham to Plymouth and back to Durham non stop in total comfort, my current GT750 had 76,000 miles on it and never had a rebore prior to me rebuilding it 2 years ago, since the rebuild it has covered 3000 miles trouble free. MZ's and 80's Tubo bikes I pretty much agree, my old man had a C90 step through and a 250MZ for about 10 years, rode them to/from work, both used and abused and just kept going. Modern bikes are what they are, design wise the choices are huge, something pretty much out there for everyone.
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Post by JonW on Jan 24, 2024 13:13:25 GMT 1
Oh and here the controversial bit, I like a lot of 90's/2000's sports bikes 🤫 Steve Yes, me too! Id still love a mid 90s ZX*R (insert engine size you like, Id have any of em from 6to9) CBRs were amazing as well, whats not to like about a blade, it was the king back in the day... til the R1 came and rendered it obsolete... I did so love my R1. happy days, great bikes!
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Post by veg on Jan 24, 2024 14:33:28 GMT 1
The pinnacle of sports bikes was late 90’s early 00’s since then they’ve just become too generic and imo too angular. I’ve owned modern bikes but traditional in looks eg R nine T, 1200 monster, modern sports/hyper bikes leave me cold mate has a H2 naked fugly doesn’t cover it. Others have street triples ok ish, but honestly I have more fun on my Lc than just about any modern bike, I no longer need 150 hp. 70’s strokers kwaks and yams love em. I just cannot get past the look of Suzuki 70’s bikes leave me cold. Ideally I’d build another hybrid based on an lc2 with a big bore modern ish suspension. My dream garage is 1960’s to 1990’s bikes can’t think of any modern bike I want to own other than as a utilitarian transport.
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jan 24, 2024 16:14:42 GMT 1
Oh and here the controversial bit, I like a lot of 90's/2000's sports bikes 🤫 Steve Yes, me too! Id still love a mid 90s ZX*R (insert engine size you like, Id have any of em from 6to9) CBRs were amazing as well, whats not to like about a blade, it was the king back in the day... til the R1 came and rendered it obsolete... I did so love my R1. happy days, great bikes! Had a 97 ZX9R after my 1000 exup, taught me corner fast. The exup was fast and planted but tipping it in was scary. The Ninja was the first bike that I could actually feel what the tyres were doing and was happy to understeer/oversteer 2005 R1 was way beyond my abilities, too easy to get into trouble if not 100% concentrating 96 Fireblade helped me get my bottle back after a fast off (see R1 above 🙄) Not the highest HP bike but was just so easy to ride fast and smooth All great bikes Steve
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Post by Gunny on Jan 24, 2024 19:11:36 GMT 1
Here's one for accessories, ready ? I don`t like pro am fairings
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jan 24, 2024 19:30:07 GMT 1
Here's one for accessories, ready ? I don`t like pro am fairings Belly pan, yeah Fairing, oh no It's not that I find them offensive on people's bikes, just not on mine 😂 Steve
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Post by veg on Jan 24, 2024 21:09:31 GMT 1
Noooooo they look great, red lc2 gully seats that’s offensive 😘
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Post by JonW on Jan 24, 2024 21:57:27 GMT 1
A +1 on the Pro Am kit, yuk!
and yeah, do agree on the YPVS gully seat...
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jan 24, 2024 22:17:02 GMT 1
I think you'll find I don't have one of those ugly Guilly seats 😇
And at least it's comfy, not like one of those LC planks 😁
Steve
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jan 24, 2024 22:19:03 GMT 1
And technically when you take the white panels out it and remove the hump is it still a Guilly seat 🤔
Steve
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Post by donkeychomp on Jan 24, 2024 22:30:36 GMT 1
I have to agree with Tim about modern bikes. They all look the same to me (much like the cars do) and leave me cold. No flair in any of them. Then there's the 'Katana' and 'Z650' so called replicas that look nothing like the real thing.
But 70's 2 strokes were pretty cool. A/C RDs etc and without that there would be no LC...
Alex
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Post by steve63 on Jan 25, 2024 0:04:13 GMT 1
Dislikes: GT250's (apart from the X7), GT550 and especially the GT380, awful bike, opposite to what a good bike should be, like a Harley, fat, heavy, slow, sound awful and don't do corners. Oddly I like the 750. It is what it is, a GT, grand tourer. We met a group of GT750 riders in Spain as we were disembarking the ferry. Still touring all over on them. Modern bikes look ok. But at £9,000 plus for an R7 (that is the underpowered new one not the best looking bike ever made). I don't think buying a new bike is where my money is ever going to go. 'Adventure' bikes, nope, I don't know why 99% of the bikes on the road are 'adventure' bikes but I 'm happy to be the 1% that has no interest in either buying one or looking at them. I think those gully seats and Pro-Am fairings and belly pans look terrible. Especially the seats. It's that big daft lip at the back. Wish I had one though so I could get the money for it that people seem happy to pay to make their bike look much worse. I'm trying to think of something I do like now 😀 MZ's. Nah, only kidding, hideous things. Add to that CZ's, Jawas and anything similar. I love my VFR800. Still annoyed that a breakdown company wouldn't insure my VFR for Spain because it was over 19 years old when they would happily insure a guys 3 year old Ducati adventure bike. They think a near 20 year old Honda is less reliable than a 3 year old Ducati. They evidently don't know much about bikes then.
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Post by JonW on Jan 25, 2024 0:36:21 GMT 1
I love my LC Gully seat... to look at... its a period accessory that people enjoyed back in the day and Id see out n about, but the YPVS version I never saw, only more recently. hmm...
My first love with bikes wasnt going far on a it, that came later, instead it was riding the city streets like a hooligan with my mates. For me the LC/YPVS and the smaller bikes was where this was at, nippy and lithe. Thats why I became a huge supermoto fan in the late 90s. These were the LC of their time and allowed you even more access to the streets (and parks and pavements!) with their slim and pointy nature, plus they had the LCs low weight vs small (in real terms) HP. Ahh happy days...
I cant think of many a modern bike Id want really, they are all a bit 'grown up'. Too fast for old me, too hard and too expensive. Id love a Husky 710 SM tho... or a GasGas or a KTM SMR... (all the same bike lol)
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Post by JonW on Jan 25, 2024 0:39:43 GMT 1
One accessory I hated was a bike alarm... I never had one that worked properly in the 2000s. Expensive junk... ran the battery down faster than leaving your car lights on overnight and the constant bleep, bleeping if you had multiple bikes in the garage was like water torture!
1990s DataTag was horrible too... dealers often fitted it to new bikes. Their time/money equation meant they etched the brand new bodywork on the outside as they were too lazy to take the panels off... claiming this was to deter thieves as they could see the marks... yep, and also meant the panels were worthless for anyone but you, sigh.
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Post by donkeychomp on Jan 25, 2024 0:52:03 GMT 1
Baja foam grips. WHY???
Alex
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Post by JonW on Jan 25, 2024 1:24:52 GMT 1
Baja foam grips. WHY??? Alex Cos soggy wet sponge is delightful to hold in the UK winter...?
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Post by steve63 on Jan 25, 2024 7:19:46 GMT 1
Baja foam grips. WHY??? Alex They were cut off within minutes of arriving home on an LC I bought fitted with them. Riding with grips 20 mm larger than was needed was not nice at all. My heated grips went off the VFR for similar reason. That and they were so hard and smooth my forearm would cramp trying to keep the throttle open.
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Post by steve63 on Jan 25, 2024 7:24:53 GMT 1
One accessory I hated was a bike alarm... I never had one that worked properly in the 2000s. Expensive junk... ran the battery down faster than leaving your car lights on overnight and the constant bleep, bleeping if you had multiple bikes in the garage was like water torture! 1990s DataTag was horrible too... dealers often fitted it to new bikes. Their time/money equation meant they etched the brand new bodywork on the outside as they were too lazy to take the panels off... claiming this was to deter thieves as they could see the marks... yep, and also meant the panels were worthless for anyone but you, sigh. Forgot about both of those. My R1 has an alarm. The insurance company insisted on it being fitted. £300 to make the bike less reliable. I have it on an Optimate permanently. I would remove it but I'm too lazy. My lads YZ that was nicked had Smart water, similar idea to Datatag. little micro dots. After it was nicked no one was at all interested in the details.
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Post by tonyd123 on Jan 25, 2024 9:16:39 GMT 1
I disliked MT09's and MT10's when they came out, thought they were ugly. Then I test rode one and have owned it for 7 years I really dislike the modern trend for short back ends, Your back gets covered in crap, no storage space, seats are tiny and you normally end up with a boat anchor to hang the light on. A tailpiece where you can stash pair of waterproof trousers is so useful.
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Post by steve63 on Jan 25, 2024 14:04:27 GMT 1
Back in the day neither me or my mates could afford to buy stuff like Gully seats and Pro-Am kits even if we thought they looked good. We could barely afford petrol and 2 stroke oil never mind draping them in tat.
I was about the richest and bought a set of Allspeeds for £89.00. Probably a week and a half's wages after Tax, NI and board.
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Post by steve h on Jan 25, 2024 14:16:18 GMT 1
"Slightly controversial bike thoughts"?
Ban all 2 strokes?
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Post by steve63 on Jan 25, 2024 14:19:47 GMT 1
It will happen.
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Post by liffy16 on Jan 25, 2024 16:46:32 GMT 1
Modern bikes too fast ,all look the same,overtyred, depreciate, and you've got to tax them ! don't think I'll bother 😁
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jan 25, 2024 19:24:09 GMT 1
I don't really like RD500's
Steve 😬
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murp
Drag-strip hero
Posts: 239
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Post by murp on Jan 25, 2024 20:09:19 GMT 1
Me neither
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Post by veg on Jan 25, 2024 20:42:07 GMT 1
I don't really like RD500's Steve 😬 Why would you have an rd500 when for far far less Money you could have say an F1/2 with updated spenders, big bore making more power with better handling for less than half the price? I do however hanker after an ns400 (with 465 big bore) or an rg500. 👍
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jan 25, 2024 21:58:52 GMT 1
I don't really like RD500's Steve 😬 Why would you have an rd500 when for far far less Money you could have say an F1/2 with updated spenders, big bore making more power with better handling for less than half the price? I do however hanker after an ns400 (with 465 big bore) or an rg500. 👍 Totally agree with you, especially on an RG5, should have bought one years ago Now out of reach ☹️ Steve
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