Am I the only one? Old bikes vs new bikes
 

I wonder if I'm in the minority here, I actually like the older bikes better than say the 08-09 models when comparing the big 4. For instance I'd take an 08 Honda CBR 1000RR for sure, but I like the looks of my 04 better. Ok you want to talk about the fact that the 08 is lighter, more powerful etc.... For a rider with my skills big f-ing deal, none of that comes into play at my skill level.

I personally think that the bikes in the 2003-2006 era depending on brand are about the best blend comfort, styling, performance. Most had fuel injection during that period.

I just feel like the supersports of today each year are heading more and more away from the street in terms of being practical.

Am I the only one? Lookswise at least, I know performance is better no question

looks wise, yea. some older models are more eye pleasing than the '09 versions

Yea omg I saw the '09 ZX10 yesterday and wow what a butt fucking God awful ugly ass bike!

My favorite street 600 of all time is the 2 seat F4i, Bars are high enough for long rides. Has plenty of power even had better 1/4 mile times than the first RRs. Plenty of bike for the street. Not a bad track bike either.

I have an 02 F4I that my wife rides, the F4I will go down as one of my all time favorites for sure.

Look at the fact that Yamaha makes the YZF600r, and for Kawasaki the zzr600. Those pretty much are the older style of the same bike.

The older bikes looks much much much better than the new ones.

I think older looks better. :)

And not the '06 ZX-10, either!! :)

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...n/HPIM1996.jpg

as far as im concerned, the RC51 I owned was the best sportbike i've ever ridden. Close second being a zx7r I used for a day. Both inferior in every way, yet more fun than my 06 cbr1000rr ever was.

I love the old bikes too!

yeah, I like the older bike styles too.

SOME yes... Kawi, yes... Honda... 1000rr yes.. 600RR no. Yamaha... R1 GOD yes... R6 no... Suzy... 06-07 was the best year for the 600 and 750 IMO... have yet to like the 1000.

:zowned:

I agree the 06-07 Suzuki's were the best looking GSXRs for sure.

That is an older bike, not "last year's model". OTB's '84 GPz550 that he just got qualifies as an older bike.

BTW, my first street bike was a '77 KZ750 that had 1200 miles on when I bought it in '81. I put a LOT of miles on that bike.

Jeff

I agree.

Funny you mention the GPz550. Are rebuilding an '85 GS550 in the basement for a friend as we speak. He cross threaded one spark plug, so the head is off getting a heli coil this afternoon. Other than that, only the forks and other odds and ends need to be redone. At least I can test ride it when we're done, the seat is low enough!! :rockout:

And I love my KZ. Lots of power, decent ergo's and no plastic to worry about. :)

My brother still have his '85 GPz550 that he bought new. He had me check out the new bike at the dealer to make sure everything was good ( including his deal ) and when he was signing his paperwork, I was wondering around the showroom. I was looking at the straight six Kawasaki 1300 ( for $3800 ) and a brand new looking '82 GPz750 with 800 miles for $1800.

I went home with the 750 :rockout:

I definitely agree, sportbikes are getting uglier by the year. I like the older r1, 06/07 gsxr 600 and 750, 07/08 gsxr 1000, and the last gen zx10 that was out before the new ugly one. The only new bikes I like are the the cbr600rr, gsxr 600/750 (just not as much as the 06/07), and the r6.

The 1300's are downright scary.

The new sportbikes are awesome, there is no doubt. But for those of us who would kill themselves on one, the old sportbikes fit the ticket.

I like how you said you don't need all that for your skill level...but you have a litre bike. Why?

Because it's what I wanted, because I use my bike to commute back and forth to work weather permitting and I like the powerband and torque and the lower end of the liter bike, and finally because I also own a Ninja 500 and Honda F4I:pat:

FWIW, my trackbike will be a 600cc bike

If you can't tell by now, I really like the flowing lines of older bikes; I care not for the folded-origami-sharp edge look of the newer stuff. I also like simple...I like stuff I can work on myself without a hundred special tools and a laptop...I like to be able to see where the plugs are.........

Im pretty sure I can take apart my entire bike with the tool kit under my rear seat...Bikes are still very simple to work on...Even the Fuel Infucted Ones.

Wrong.

Well it certainly isnt as complicated as all the new cars and trucks nowadays...If that was my basis on buying a new bike Then thats just fucking silly

he's good if he typed that straight faced. :D

have you been under the fuel tank of your bike? it's not that easy.

I wasnt dead serious...Maybe I needed to use a smiley??!!

I havent had to go under my fuel tank yet...so No. :idk:

Says the Buell guy.

Exactly. Pain in the ass to work on this bike. Major pain in the ass to reach shit.

Why? Why would I buy something that I have to spend 1000's of dollars on tools and diagnostics computers to work on? Why is that F***ing silly? With most of these newer bikes you need to be able to measure outputs from lambda sensors, O2 sensors, airflow sensors, throttle position sensors, god help you if you have a problem with ABS, Traction Control, fuel mapping.........

It all works great when it works.....it just sucks when it doesn't. I keep and ride the stuff that I can fix in my garage, or limp home after doing a roadside fix..in the rain....at night.......

I don't think it's because I'm a techno-fuddy duddy. I was writing code in Fortran (look it up), C and Basic before most of you were out of diapers; I designed, built and installed computer POS sytems for ten years...I build my own systems today. I don't WANT a bike I can't work on myself....I've got that with all the OTHER motor vehicles I have....

With my hobby of buying and selling bikes, I spend more than my share of garage time delving into the innards of the bikes.....and I admire what they enable the systems on a bike to accomplish. I just don't want one like that for myself........

fortran? you ARE a fuddy duddy lol. bet you know cobol too eh?

Shit...I'd take that Bimota over just about any bike on this forum.

Yep....and I'll bet you've never run code on a paper tape, either...........

best-looking maybe, but the 04-05 had the best riding position IMO.......

I would agree with that too.

Also, I'll bet you didn't know that when IBM started selling mainframe computers, they would sell them at or below cost.............

IBM made it's money selling the CARDS the code was punched on..............

Personally, I prefer the 80's and 90's kawi and Honda sportbikes over the newer ones. the Hurricane, and F2 600's were and still are my personal faves, along with the ZX1000A/B series bikes. I LOVE my ZX1000A1, well, aside from having faggy16" rims(soon remedied btw) this bike is great.

The new Ducatis rock looks wise. The Japanese bikes have gotton uglier over the years for some reason.

AAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!

I haven't seen those evil cards in almost 30 years!


AAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People make fun of my old bike, but I know what's wrong with it when it dies before the truck comes to pick it up. I never have to worry about a shop screwing it up because it's too old for any shop to work on!! :rockout:

You were a programmer??? Both of my parents are programmers. My dad writes code for the Limited Brands (Victoria Secret, Lane Bryant, Limited, Lim Too) all retail stuff, and my mom writes claims code for Nationwide Insurance.

Would you consider my bike easy...... or kind of inbetween old school and new school?

Or did back ups on cassettes Tandy FTW! Computer programming classes circa 1979-1983.

not the monster... fuck that thing looks like shit imo

I like it.

nope. but i used to rewrite programs from Ti-basic so i could play them on my 80808 :lol: ironically, my 80808 is long dead while my 99'er is still sorta running

my dad has many stories of the old days of being an engineer where they had to hand solder ram chips together for more memory :lmao:

I like the newer bikes. I hate the exhaust on the new bikes but that is an easy enough change.

I figured

:wtf: does that mean?

:lol: there's no accounting for taste with you

I totally agree. I think by and large, ALL the major Jap bikes looked better from about '03 or '04 to '06. Just a wee bit bigger and overall not as extreme (but still sharp).

Blasphemy!!

Same here. :drool:

blah... I hate the new headlights... :idk:


the new streetfighter looks fuck'n pimp though

I think my 01 RC looks better than the 08-09 sportbikes, all of them.

My 06 cruiser looks just like the 09 version, so it matters nothing to me. At least until I can get the fuel injection system from a Honda Fury and put it on my VTX (exact same motor).

I have no preference for any decade. for the most part I'm indifferent to how the bike looks and I am more concerned with function.
There are a few standouts.
1984-1986 GPz-900r - My first sportbike. Loved the look and at the time the best bike I'd ever ridden. Others were faster...but I didn't care

D-Series ZX-11 - Liked it so much I bought one and still have it.

FZR-600's - Great little bikes. Yesteryears SV-650.

Kawasaki 92' ZXR750 Ninja - badass

Ducati 916 - No explanation needed

Original Yammer R1

Oh I just think the whole damned thing is tits. :drool:

That was just a classically well designed bike. Recognizeable from 1/4 mile away (both sight and sound of it). Just a bad ass bike all around, IMO.

I spent my whole life buying practical, reliable bikes. I put a lot of miles on, went to a lot of out of the way places and wanted something that wouldn't leave me stranded. SO I bought heavy and slower GS shaft drive Suzuki's and BMW's. Yawn.

I got into the bike buy-sell swap hobby because I didn't have a lot of money, wanted to keep riding, and knew I wanted something DIFFERENT>>>>SNAZZY>>>>>WILD>>>> and couldn't justify spending that kind of money unless I could do so without touching the household budget.

SO I started doing a bike here and there, not really having a goal in mind. I had wanted a Bimota back in the 80's...I ALWAYS though they were special...and then Bimota went bust and I put that dream on the shelf....

A couple years ago on the internet I stumbled on a dealership in Miami that had three new out of the crate Bimotas on the floor and I fell in love with the little DB4. When I called, it had already been sold, but they told me that the original importer still had a couple they were selling at deep discounts...and they were only a couple of hours away. I called and set an appointment, drove out the following week, and got the grand tour.....and decided that somehow I was going to have one of those. I flipped a dozen bikes that summer, praying that the importer wouldn't run out before I had enough money. He called me in July and told me he was down to two, and if I was serious and really wanted one, he'd hold one with a deposit, even if it took me a few month's to finalize the deal.....

I did, he did, and the rest is history......

That's awesome. Very cool the guy held it for ya!

I totally agree, the older bikes are better.

Of the new bikes I saw at the bike show, I liked the R6S the best. Why? Because it's pretty much the left over pieces from those older bikes (or something like that).

I just posted in another thread that I couldn't every sell my current bike for a new one because I know I wouldn't be as happy - ever.

And I have NO IDEA what the hell Kawi is thinking. Their designs have gone down hill since 2005.

exactly...

Nice to know I'm in good company

this is funny , being a gsxr owner (o4 750) i, with a lot of other people, in fact everyone i ever spoke to about it, thought my model year was the best, and the 06 - 07 was dead last. until the 08 came out, and i think that is fucking beautiful and is the first one to be better than my model year. i have not seen a new 1000 in person (thats 09 , no?).
so IMO for Zuke :
08 > 04> 01>>>>> 06

I think 92 was the best year for the GSXR.


HEY OH!


http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...138/clean2.jpg

My 08 was beautiful but the exhaust was huge and ugly.

[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...0/100_1433.jpg[/IMG]
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...0/100_1434.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...0/100_1438.jpg

Suzuki's got their shit together. Their bikes still look good. Some of the older Zuks look better...but at least the new ones are nice.

i have to strongly disagree (but you already knew i was gonna right? :lol:) the new kawi's remind me of that scene in privateer when you go to look at th centurion and the salesman starts waxing on about its hard edges and aggresive lines.

the gsxr...well it looked cool when it came out five years ago. getting a little old now though and the nose on the latest versions are so goddamned busy i dont know what im supposed to look at

the exhaust doesnt really matter, almost everyone puts a new pipe on it.