Any riders gone vintage? | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any riders gone vintage?

Forum Sponsor
I had a 1980 CX500 as a first bike, 1988 NT650 as a second, and finally now a more modern (but still late 1990's) Triumph.

The CX was great for around town and even taking it up north for some twisties, but the suspension and handling simply wasn't as solid as with a newer bike. Electrical was sometimes a nightmare as well and at the least you need a place to work on your bike, the tools and know-how, and no mental block on learning new things.

I'm personally more happy with a newer machine, though I still plan on going back and having a 2nd bike as a project, but even then I would be upgrading the suspension and electrical so it's a reliable bike that you can throw in the corners.
 
Walms said:
This is a buddy's 500 triple, he can still mix it up with the 600 sport bikes. (Street) so that's not so bad for a 70's vintage bike. CDI iggy though. :)



500race10inch.jpg
Click to expand...

That's one bad a*s bike! love the chambers.
 
mindactivated said:
http://modsandrockerstoronto.com/

Swing by Town Moto on August 15th starting at 6pm. It should be a mad house up and down Ossington.
Click to expand...

I will be there 200%. Maybe we can get a little ride going down for those in the area.

mindactivated said:
I had a 1980 CX500 as a first bike, 1988 NT650 as a second, and finally now a more modern (but still late 1990's) Triumph.

The CX was great for around town and even taking it up north for some twisties, but the suspension and handling simply wasn't as solid as with a newer bike. Electrical was sometimes a nightmare as well and at the least you need a place to work on your bike, the tools and know-how, and no mental block on learning new things.


I'm personally more happy with a newer machine, though I still plan on going back and having a 2nd bike as a project, but even then I would be upgrading the suspension and electrical so it's a reliable bike that you can throw in the corners.
Click to expand...

I agree with the suspension being a bit lofty. I have new rear shocks going on, and will eventually think about doing a Upside down forks swap.. For the time being, it's a great bike to putter around in and hit the twisties without having to fear my license being revoked.

Jesse-Hayes-CX500-1-700x509.jpg
 
crankcall said:
there is a difference between vintage and just old. '90's bike are just old. Carb'd is fine, and really no worse than starting any other power equipment or older car.
Like anything, handling and stopping and reliability tend to evolve over time and bikes have gotten better brakes, smoother power and better electrical, and generally better balance and handling. So the "ride" is not better or worse on vintage stuff, its just different. I've had and still have some bikes from the 40's through to the 70's and have modern machinery in the shed. They are fun, mostly reliable and entertaining, but if you expect anything close to a current Japanese bike's characteristics you'll come up short.
Click to expand...

It's hard to go back from modern reliability, power, EFI and brakes.

Some stuff got lost, like fashion over function seating position on sport bikes, centre-stands, decent fuel gauges and gear indicators. Don't miss roasting in summer with an air cooled bike, heat induced power loss, clunky trannys and warm-up rituals or just bad carb days.
 
mindactivated said:
I had a 1980 CX500 as a first bike, 1988 NT650 as a second, and finally now a more modern (but still late 1990's) Triumph.

The CX was great for around town and even taking it up north for some twisties, but the suspension and handling simply wasn't as solid as with a newer bike. Electrical was sometimes a nightmare as well and at the least you need a place to work on your bike, the tools and know-how, and no mental block on learning new things.
Click to expand...

People mod CX500s because they are cheap and easy to work on, tons still around the US, but in Canada, we got the CX650, which was just much better.

CX650E_1.jpg
 
I don't know why people compare the performance of vintage bikes to new bikes. To me they are both entirely different experiences but both are enjoyable for what they are. I love the mechanicalness of an old machine, you can feel all the little parts moving. You never hear anyone say, "A 1967 Corvette Stingray sucks compared to a new ZR1." Sure the performance of an old Vette pales in comparison to a new one but both are very cool to drive in their own way.
 
I'm into vintage bikes because I enjoy wrenching as much as I do riding. It's a challenge to keep an old bike in top form but the rewards are worth it.
 
RetroGrouch said:
I don't know why people compare the performance of vintage bikes to new bikes. To me they are both entirely different experiences but both are enjoyable for what they are. I love the mechanicalness of an old machine, you can feel all the little parts moving. You never hear anyone say, "A 1967 Corvette Stingray sucks compared to a new ZR1." Sure the performance of an old Vette pales in comparison to a new one but both are very cool to drive in their own way.
Click to expand...

It's much easier to keep a vintage bike on the road today. Ebay and the internet finds you parts, often NOS, or better parts or upgrades (like electronic ignitions from points). Some companies are understanding this is a market, Suzuki just launched a vintage bike parts service.

But, some bikes were crap then, and crap now.
 
Walms said:
I'm into vintage bikes because I enjoy wrenching as much as I do riding. It's a challenge to keep an old bike in top form but the rewards are worth it.
Click to expand...

Agree. Add to that, for me at least, the bike needs to have a real pragmatic component to it ie, it can't just be rolling history.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom