lets have some good points about owning a classic

[johnakay]

over to you guys. lets hear it!

[H2RICK]

Slow Monday, eh John ??
Well, it's snowing here for the fifth or sixth consecutive day which makes it a reallllyyyyy slow and sucky day, too. Grrrrrr......winter.....grrrrr......

Back to your post.....

Hmmmm.....

1) A "classic" bike can't go faster than my abilities to ride it.....at least not with my current abilities and my current stable of rides. Ten years on, I may have a different take on this aspect.

2) Bikes are the best "classics" to own because they can take you places....whereas a stamp collection/Louis XIV
table/Rembrandt painting/Franklin Mint medallion collection/Honus Wagner baseball card can't.

3) Bikes are the best "classics" to own because you CAN work on them in your basement if you don't have a properly heated outside workplace. You can't do THAT with your Hemi 'Cuda. We financially challenged snowbelt types really appreciate that about classic bikes.

4) You meet lotsa people when you ride a classic bike.....some become friends....and some don't......but you DO meet people, as most of you have experienced.

More to follow if my fevered mind will start working properly....

[h2okettle]

Ridng classic bikes is a lot of fun and its always a converstion piece where ever you go.. When Bobbi and I rode to visit Allan and H2Rick in Canada on the GT750 we stopped at Sturgis in South Dakota during the Harley rally... We were parked in a long line of Harleys along the side of the road..We were the "only" 2 stroke.. Parked next to bikes that the rear wheel cost 5 times the value of my bike, but it took about 30 minutes after removing the riding gear to step away from the bike to walk the streets.. So many people remember the old bike or had a good story to tell about a friends brothers nephew cousins uncle who had one and the wheelies it would pull in 5th gear.. Most people who ride got there start on some early 60-70s bike and when they see one now its like a walk down memory lane.. So with the few of us who are still stuck in vintage world we are having fun and helping others reminence the good old days..

Allen..... You meet the nicest people riding and "old honda" or smoking (2 strokes) down the highway....

[Cliff]

For me it's a bit different. It's not just owning a classic, but riding one too! I'm the original owner of my GT550L. I took her out of the box at the dealership, did the PDI and drove her home that night. I'm the only one that has ever riden her on the road. I know every nut, bolt and screw in her, and I've also put every dent and scratch on her! Two of the most common conversations at a set of lights are "I had (or my father had or my uncle had) one of those years ago." and "You're smoking quit a bit. I think you're pushing some oil."!! It's amazing how many people had a bike like ours! Where are those bikes now? Smoking quite a bit?? I have to laugh! I've given up trying to explain that it's a 2 stroke!!!

[Craig380]

To me, classics are simply more fun to ride than modern bikes.

Modern bikes go incredibly fast, stop on a dime / sixpence, and handle predictably and stably. And for me, that's the problem. Unless you're going REALLY quickly, they don't "talk" to you, there are no sensations at sane / license-keeping road speeds.

My triple demands that you think ahead (because the crappy brakes need a lot of stopping room); it lets you know loud and long through the bars and your arse if you're pushing a bit hard in the corners; and the engine has SOUL with its siren song and the creamy way it delivers. 75mph feels fast, and 90+ reminds you why "the ton" was such an emotive target. Every ride, fast or slow, feels like an occasion.

My 10p worth

[650hardtail]

at the primarily harley attended bike nites people will walk past all those 30k cookie cutter
dipped in chrome billet bikes and check out your vintage smoker..
amazing the heads that turn when they hear the 2stroke pull in

[rbond]

I find that a 'classic' bike to be more fun, more practical, and also being able to work on it the best for motorcycle involvement. It really is ironic, everyone used to complain about the UJM every Japanese manufacturer was putting out. Now those old UJM's are unique in this present time of (UJCR, UJC) that everyone is making now and not just the Japanese. You have to read the badge on most of the bikes now to tell who made it! Oh, that means' universal japanese crotch rocket' and 'universal japanese cruiser'. As everyone use to say, 'they all look alike'. Now they do, but our 'classics' stand out. You want to cruise around town, go slow, you want to road race, go fast, you want to travel. load luggage, all on one 'classic' bike that does it all, for a lot less in cost to buy and maintain. Most will not do 'stoppies', I say that's a good thing, I just want to stop safely, not stupidly.

[Madbuffalo]

"You're smoking quit a bit. I think you're pushing some oil."!! It's amazing how many people had a bike like ours! Where are those bikes now? Smoking quite a bit?? I have to laugh! I've given up trying to explain that it's a 2 stroke!!!

Hence my signature. I ride with my dad and his Harley group quite a bit and it's amazing how often a concerned rider tells me there's something wrong! In my opinion if the smoke cloud is passing you it's probably running as it should be.

I ride vintage because it's something different and always draws a lot of attention. I could park my bike next to one worth 10 times the money and people will walk right past it to look at mine. Although I can't honestly say I share the same nastalgia since the bike is 10 years older than me.

[rbond]

A '75 Gt750? That is when I got out of high school! Well, I can fully relate, started with a 'tiddler' and moved up, it's almost a shame you did not have the full experience, growing up in the 60's was a blast. But it is still an honor to have you join us older wiser folk, who will be glad to show you the 'good 'ol days' stuff! Problems and all, so much new things happening, new music, cars, bikes, BABES. Hormones did not really kick in 'till early 70's. (just got into high school- discovered girls) Mostly a wonderful invention....

[jabcb]

Modern bikes are refined machines. They function the way you want them to. Ride them when you need to get somewhere.

The flaws and limitations of vintage bikes provide a personality for each bike. You ride them the way they want to be ridden. Ride them when you want to enjoy the experience of going for a ride.

[cyclebuster]

To me, well the first time i saw a BSA Rocket 3 i was in love. 12 years later i got one. Sometime just after that i was looking through a classic bike table book, and there was my Rocket 3. Well that was so cool, i decided to go get the other bikes i always wanted. So now When people look through a table book at the classic bikes, I have 6 bikes that are in every one of them. Call it what you want, i like it. Now if i could only find a Benelli 6, a Laverda triple, another GT750,
and a nice trident i may be satisfied for a week or 2.... Nah CBX, 68 XS650, RZ400, Triumph Rocket 3, and i shudder to say it, a 65 Panhead.

[oldjapanesebikes]

The flaws and limitations of vintage bikes provide a personality for each bike. You ride them the way they want to be ridden.

Exactly !

[H2RICK]

68 XS650

Yeah, I'd like one of those too......

[jkevinlilly]

The looks.
The sounds.
The smells.
The feel.
The cost.
The simplicity.

Kevin

[Fritz500]

Gee, I could go out and buy a Harley which apparently is the age appropriate thing to do and will apparently give me street credibility and I could ride around with like minded individuals (LOL) and talk about beer and scratch my fat bum and say "fargin this and fargin that"...


Or for less than a third the price I could go and buy a 38 year old two stroke and do it up like I was still 20 and relive those glorious days of just riding for the pure fun. And the tinkering and fiddling. And cleaning and standing back and saying..."ah".

Let me think about it for 10 nanoseconds...